Wallie:

I'm a little late getting back to this thread!

@Kambo, can you please “throw” some carriage returns in your post to make it easier to read? I skipped your first post but decided to read this because I think you made some interesting points but the post is very hard to follow.

Anyway, I think you’re trying to say that one should stick to what he/she does best? I agree up to a certain extent. You also seem to state that being a software developer is mutually exclusive from being an entrepreneur? Are these your positions?

Personally, I think entrepreneurs are just people with varying skill sets that try to build a company out of an idea. However, before your idea becomes a successful company, you need to develop it which is where your skill set will come into play! If you do not have the requisite skill set, you partner or hire those that have it.

Having said that, almost all the techies that Kambo listed have the ability to code or, at the very least, develop the needed algorithm. Their ability to code does not make them software developers but it gives them the ability to develop their product or service up to a point (prototype) before getting “real” software coders involved.

@AJ
I do agree that some companies in India are now more than code-monkeys but for the most part, they do lack specific industry knowledge except if they’ve worked on similar projects in the past.

For example,
1. Patent Software – I will still need to give Indian programmers specific instructions to develop software that can navigate US and European patent laws.
2. Air traffic control software – they will most likely need specific instructions.
3. Obamacare Software – even though they might have generic knowledge about the healthcare industry, they will still need specific instructions.

A code-monkey, to me, is someone that you need to give specific set of instructions or pseudocode to before they can execute a task! They lack the requisite knowledge to implement a solution except to convert instructions to lines of code.

People that do the “manual aspect” of coding (converting instructions to syntax) can be easily replaced but not the person that gives the instructions because that requires industry specific knowledge.

abbyode:
Waoh!!!

This is the best thread so far in Programming section.
I laugh at times when i read about lots of topics here especially when they start talking about supremacy of software tools among Java, Ruby on rails, Php, VB, dotNet, Perl etc etc.
I just assume they enjoy the fallacy of feeling great inside having written 20 pages of codes without actually deriving any financial value from it. Well, I also think maybe there are probably no bill to pay anyway.

The truth is, you have to be solution focussed. Be a problem solver not a giant in coding. Solving problems would put food on your table not hours of CODING. The functionality that your 20-page codes achieved could as well be achieved with some few mouse clicks using some sophisticated tools now available without writing any line of code. So, why re-inventing the wheel? These new tools allow you to concentrate on solving business logic rather than wasting productive time on coding just to achieve "CRUD".

The other time there was a software contest here on nairaland, I saw the thread prior to a long-haul flight and finished the whole solution during the flight. It was a tug of war here just because the tool I used is not as famous as the likes of java, C++ etc.

Is it about Java or about providing a solution?


The future of software development is such that non-techies would be able to develop sophisticated business / mission-critical applications without writing a single line of code. The earlier you start positioning yourself the better. You dont have to believe it but that is the truth. You dont need to believe in gravity but it exerts on you by default.

Shalom!!!

laykhorn:

are u sayin ComputerSci makes much more sense than Comp. Engr?

Thompz43:


Real Programmers does not depend on any tools, equipment to design a quality Programs.They rather design the programs from the scratch to the finished.So that if there is any attack on there programs, it could be easy rectifiable and they can easily protect and secure there softwares.