or is the economic climating necessitating the product patterns!

i'm talking of the tendency for nigerians to develop softwares of the same
essential types.
it's now:
sms-based solutions (they'll be a flock of dev's here)
otherwise its "manager" apps.

supermarket managers,
church managers,
hotel managers,
school managers,

then, microfinance softwares--
essentially this kinds of software form the bulk of what our industry is touting.
they've been programmers with over 10years+ experience in software
development and common , they're game has stopped at this
'counting' apps.
counting applications cuz,they essentially deal with discrete quantities,
discrete quantities with similar price and other characteristics.
I recently was a prometric center and the java tutor there was saying
the bulk of the testers preferred the simpler certifications -
cisco certifications etc,
if this is the case in the nigerian software arena,then its really about
an attitude of mind.
Dont get me wrong,in my opinion even typical software can be very hard
to do- very hard-but not aspiring to our edge is even a worse sin
against humanity and God - cuz it deliberately choosing to settle for less.

sms-based solutions (they'll be a flock of dev's
here)
otherwise its "manager" apps.
supermarket managers,
church managers,
hotel managers, school managers,
then, microfinance softwares--

I wonder about that too. Its probably because they don't read enough sci-fi books or watch enough cartoons.. or maybe the developers are just business men that can code..

we mainly program what we can sell. am speaking for my self here. i mainly make what i knw pple will be willing to pay for.

it doesnt mean am settling for less and just flowing with d demand

Aafulenu: we mainly program what we can sell. am speaking for my self here. i mainly make what i knw pple will be willing to pay for.

it doesnt mean am settling for less and just flowing with d demand

are you saying that only managers are on demand?

Which programmers? you mean those PHP Script kiddies that flaunt this section with their annoying adverts? Most programmers in Nigeria fail to understand that programming is much more than learning language syntax and creating database applications...

Javanian: Which programmers? you mean those PHP Script kiddies that flaunt this section with their annoying adverts? Most programmers in Nigeria fail to understand that programming is much more than learning language syntax and creating database applications...

word

who writes softwares that wont sell?
how will you put food on the table?

Javanian: Which programmers? you mean those PHP Script kiddies that flaunt this section with their annoying adverts? Most programmers in Nigeria fail to understand that programming is much more than learning language syntax and creating database applications...

Gross misunderstanding of the term "script kiddies".

Javanian: Which programmers? you mean those PHP Script kiddies that flaunt this section with their annoying adverts? Most programmers in Nigeria fail to understand that programming is much more than learning language syntax and creating database applications...

They refused to learn their algorithms. How do you solve complex problems and come up with good solutions. Nigerian programmers are all consumers of API. They prefer to learn a plethora of programming language instead of specializing in a few and really making something serious out of those few. The trend will continue......

lack of hacker mentality....

muztapha:

Gross misunderstanding of the term "script kiddies".

well, am only responsible for what i say and not what you understand...

this is the problem in this field.
any non programmer who sees an "html programmer" "coding html" as they say,
( i wonder when html became a programming language on par with javascript,c++!)
will be so impressed he'll think the person is a guru in the same class as
richard stallman or any top programmer - and the html
guy will so love to swim in that guru aura he's created because of his
skill and pressing angle brackets quickly!!.
unfortunately graphics guys can't get away with such deception,
that's like p square passing themselves off as maths dons - they just cant fake it!!
but some really no ambition peeps can.
and if they muster courage to know databases(sql) and server scriptiong (php)
forget it - their price quotes will stretch into 7+ figures !!
I think its these class fellows that coined all this
grand qualifiers for their counting apps - "manager"
. they take one abstract idea and redundantly replicate them in
so many domains with fancy names.
one counting app for supermarkets (i mean "store manager")
one counting app for churches ("church management")
one counting app for schools aka "school manager"
the contradiction is that some software shops with large swarms of
these kind of programmers are doing very well !
because they've filled the market with their grand named counting apps!!
what can't marketing do.
but the down side is seeing the dollars roll in,these folks are saying
that this is how to do software.
And yet we wonder why the next facebook,twitter,google is yet to come out of
africa!!.

Poster, it's good to read your environments, demands, etc. before creating softwares
or one day, your trouser wont touch the ground anymore.

Javanian:

well, am only responsible for what i say and not what you understand...

Gross misuse of the word "am".

muztapha:

Gross misuse of the word "am".

First of all, SHARAP!!!



Then, Gross misuse of the word "SHARAP"

Rubbish!

muztapha:

Gross misuse of the word "am".

First of all, SHARAP!!!



Then, Gross misuse of the word "SHARAP"

Rubbish!

Then, Gross misuse of the word "Rubbish"

Gross misuse of comments.

But really @Javanian try not to get use to 'am' cause it might embarrass you when you least expect.

Truth is there is not much money in programming when you consider the hours of work spent coding and brain storming. It's the Project Managers that get the credit, in addition to the big pay.

When bills start piling up nobody will tell you to convert your 'next facebook, twitter, google...' to a 'counting app'.

xcitedjay: But really @Javanian try not to get use to 'am' cause it might embarrass you when you least expect.

Thanks for the correction

nice 1

Lack of innovation
Lack of creativity

more oft than not, the simple pleasure of a challenge or problem being translated into a solution sends many a train off tracks... in essence there is little integration of all the skill required to deliver an A+ solution.
Let's say Mr A. wants to develop an application and thus he hires Programmer B.
B. May not be an expert on interfaces, or understand that the most ingenious of logic amounts to nothing if it is not intuitive(easy to use and comprehend), but he starts all the same ; inadequately prepared - thus he uses his 95% programming prowess to produce a 25% product.
Any attempt at abstracting a real world or albeit fictitious problem is not implicitly dependent on the problem and solution domains alone, a lot of times projects are started without proper documentation, preparation, planning, funding, blah blah and more blah blah...
It takes time, money and a lot of man hours to produce some of the simple but intuitive apps/Solutions that garner so much usability and aesthetic praise: teams ranging from hundred to thousands of programmers, designers, testers, and analysts with requisite experience.
... And to be candid, the unhealthy inclination to solitary existence of "we" programmers (Nigeria) is a tragedy.

A programmer can only be as good as his environment. The aim of the programmer is to develop a software that he can sell easily and make his money(this is the motivating factor of most programmers).

Afam4eva: A programmer can only be as good as his environment. The aim of the programmer is to develop a software that he can sell easily and make his money(this is the motivating factor of most programmers).

I don't agree. Linus didn't write the Linux OS for money. The benevolent dictator "Guido van Rossum" didn't write the python programming language for money either. Some programmers solve problems using better approach and better way of doing things. As a result, innovation occurs and good software comes out. So, it is not always about money. In the open-source world, it's about solving problems.

alexis:

I don't agree. Linus didn't write the Linux OS for money. The benevolent dictator "Guido van Rossum" didn't write the python programming language for money either. Some programmers solve problems using better approach and better way of doing things. As a result, innovation occurs and good software comes out. So, it is not always about money. In the open-source world, it's about solving problems.

From my first sentence you can deduce that i was referring to Nigeria. Don't compare Nigeria with America. There's poverty in the land and the first thing in people's head is money and more money.

Afam4eva:
From my first sentence you can deduce that i was referring to Nigeria. Don't compare Nigeria with America. There's poverty in the land and the first thing in people's head is money and more money.

Afam4eva -I wasn't trying to say otherwise. If you write software as a profession, then by all means - it makes sense. However, the deep desire to solve problems with technology has always lead to amazing software whether in Africa or America. For example, look at this tool from Kenya - http://ushahidi.com/

Afam4eva:
From my first sentence you can deduce that i was referring to Nigeria. Don't compare Nigeria with America. There's poverty in the land and the first thing in people's head is money and more money.

please... There is poverty in every country but it doesn't affect them.
Nigerians just like making poverty a priority.
Don't even blame this problem on the need to make money.
there are plenty of softwares to be written that will make outstanding impact

this is caused by laziness and lack of imagination

have you ever had the idea of a software to develope that you feel will be useful? If you have, then you will understand that hotel manager softwares cannot pull you away from developing it