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CodingUnicorn
5y

➡️You Are Not A Software Developer⬅️

When I became a developer, I thought that my job is to write software. When my customer had a problem, I was ready to write software that solves that problem. I was taught to write software.

But what customers need is not software. They need a solution to their problem. Your job is to find the most cost-effective solution, what software often is not.

According to the universal law of software development, more code leads to more bugs:

e = mc²

Or

errors = (more code)²

The number of bugs grows with the amount of code. You have to prioritize, reproduce and fix bugs.

The more code you write, the more your team and the team after it has to maintain. Even if you split the system into micro services, the complexity remains.

Writing well-tested, clean code takes a lot of time. When you’re writing code, other important work is idle. The work that prevents your company from becoming rich.

A for-profit company wants to make money and reduce expenses. Then the company hires you to solve problems that prevent it from becoming rich. Confused by your job title, you take their money and turn it into expensive software.

But business has nothing to do about software. Even software business is not about software. Business is about making money.

Your job is to understand how the company is making money, help make more money and reduce expenses. Once you know that, you will become the most valuable asset in the company.

Stop viewing yourself as a software developer. You are a money maker.

Think about how to save and make money for your customers.

Find the most annoying problem and fix it:

▶️Is adding a new feature too costly? Solve the problem manually.
▶️Is testing slow? Become a tester.
▶️Is hiring not going well? Speak at a meetup and advertise your company.
▶️Is your team not productive enough? Bring them coffee.

Your job title doesn’t matter. Ego doesn’t matter either.

Titles and roles are distracting us from what matters to our customers – money.💸

You are a money maker. Thinking as a money maker can help choose the next skill for development. For example:

Serverless: pay only for resources you consume, spend less time on capacity planning = 💰

Machine Learning: get rid of manual decision-making = 💰

TDD: shorter feedback cycle, fewer bugs = 💰

Soft Skills: inspire teammates, so they are more productive and happy = 💰

If you don’t know what to learn next — answer a simple question:

What skills can help my company make more money and reduce expenses?

Very unlikely it’s another web framework written in JavaScript.

Article by Eduards Sizovs
Sizovs.net

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  • 2
    5y
    I've read this somewhere recently 🤔
  • 8
    5y
    Me am pretty sure I'm a software developer. "Interesting" article though
  • 0
    5y
    @AkashM
    Maybe on hacker news
  • 1
    5y
    @SevenDeadlyBugs i guess it's a matter of business view. is it a shitty situation? absolutely. is it true? i am afraid it is.
    as well as it is for other professions.
  • 1
    5y
    The original post by Patio11 is better.
  • 0
    5y
    @bkwilliams can you send link please
  • 2
    5y
    @CodingUnicorn sure.
    https://kalzumeus.com/2011/10/...
  • 0
    5y
    @bkwilliams thank you 😊
  • 4
    5y
    I am whatever you want me to be as long as you pay me 6 figures.
  • 4
    5y
    I agree with the intro, a dev's job isn't to churn out code. It's to manage complexity, which may very well mean to not add code. But I disagree vehemently with "You are a money maker".

    Yes, you and the company make money. No, that's not the goal. It's a result. A company wasn't founded "to make money", it was because its founders wanted to do or provide something. At this point I should refer to Simon Sinek and his golden circle: With the "why" (goal) at its center, the "how" around it, and the "what" around that, making money falls into the "what" - third place. "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it". Generation Y happened, and the beginnig of the 21st century happened.

    Imagine asking in a job interview: "Why would I work for you?" and the answer was "because we make money". Does that sound compelling? No. Any other company makes money. "We challenge the status quo that supposedly nobody is interested in electric cars". Now we're getting somewhere.
  • 7
    5y
    Errors = (more code)^2 ?
    Maybe for your code...
  • 3
    5y
    @JhonDoe This
    @SevenDeadlyBugs This

    @erroronline1 Stop buying into other people's worldviews. The worldview you're buying into is that of a manager looking at a sales person, not that of an architect. You solve problems. You design solutions. And ofc try to do so efficiently because otherwise your solution is useless. You don't exist to make someone else money -- and if you do, what a depressing existence. Find a problem with the world (or even your world) that you can improve and work to make it better. That is what you should be doing. Anything else is a waste and a disgrace.

    @VaderNT All of this.
    @broseph and this too, honestly.

    Everyone that tells me I'm just there to do my job and make them money is exploiting my time and my abilities. They deserve nothing less than absolute scorn.
  • 2
    5y
    @broseph was thinking the same thing.
  • 2
    5y
    Nah, sounds like bullshit. Absolute bullshit actually.
  • 1
    5y
    In the private sector, yes, the goal of a business is to make money or they won't be in business for long. There are a few ways to do this - which don't necessarily mean the software has to be good or even usable (think "Enterprise" software vendors who peddle literally the worst software in the world and make money from their army of highly paid consultants and ridiculous support contracts).

    However in other sectors (such as public / nonprofit) the goal of software is not necessarily to make money - but help people do things better / more easily / more efficiently etc
  • 1
    5y
    @Nanos
    > It's how I would answer !

    But it wouldn't answer the question. Generally "why would I work for you?" roughly means "in what way (that may be relevant to me) are you different from others?". The answer is supposed to help me choose.
    You make money. That's good, but so do most, otherwise they won't exist for long. So this doesn't help me.

    A company that states its goals clearly gives me the impression that we can work together as team, maybe achieve great things - if my and their goals align.
    A company that says it's in there for the money sounds to me like it will sooner rather than later screw me over. It sounds directionless. It probably bends over backwards for angry customers so they don't take their business elsewhere, even when the customer is clearly wrong or unreasonable. In short, it sounds *greedy*.

    Worst case, the company culture becomes self-selecting for employees who are okay with doing whatever at the right price. Basically, code monkeys and sleazy salesmen.
  • 0
    5y
    @Nanos I don't quite understand. Are you describing a situation where there's only one employer around?
  • 0
    5y
    If you don't repost article's on devrant that would be nice
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