

Too Much Specialization Is Making Programming a Poorer Experience - ks
http://thecodist.com/article/too_much_specialization_is_making_programming_a_poorer_experience

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kruhft
I feel for the author and I do miss the type of programming and programmers
that he is reminiscing about. But I just have to wonder how we would feel if
our new home was put together by a bunch of craftsmen (framers, electricians,
plumbers) without an architect and other managers working above them, and how
the end product would be int terms of consistency, reliability and quality.

The new software development model is following the same model that any group
development work has taken. While the handyman in construction is still
useful, you won't be seeing any job ads for handyman on a construction site.
But you do see handyman trucks driving around as successful consultants fixing
the issues that come up with the products derived from this group development
process, or at least I do, but they are few and far between.

Building software is different than building a house, so say us people that
build software, but to the people above the actual coding and systems, to them
it is just a project with the goal of getting finished. They don't know what a
programmer does much more than most architects know how to wire a house or
pour concrete. yet houses get built, and somehow software does as well.

I'm all for the small groups and lone coders producing ground breaking
software, but software has turned into so much of big business that it can't
be helped that the other people have followed the money and put project
management into the mix. All you can do as a programmer is choose which side
you would like to be on and do the best you can in the situation you are
given. Specialization is for insects, so they say.

