Macadamian Blog
The limit of process improvement
Jeff Atwood had a really quotable sentence in his latest blog post: Coding Horror: Real Ultimate Programming Power
"Throwing a book of rules at a terrible programmer just creates a terrible programmer with a bruise on their head where the book bounced off."
This funny sentence expresses something that I have had a really hard time expressing for the past few years: Rules and processes don't make your terrible programmers better, it limits the damage that they can cause to your project.
Not all problems can be solved by adding process.
The only long term solution to dealing with terrible programmers is to give them the tools to become good programmers. Training, mentoring and support. And the training shouldn't be about process but about the craft of programming. Reading code, using a debugger, how to solve a problem with software.
About the Author
After 15 years as a software architect, where I have been managing, designing, analyzing and developing software projects. I chose to focus my attention on the discipline of Interaction Design. Where I was able to bolster my knowledge with new skills in Requirements Gathering, Wire frame UI design, user experience design and prototype making.
Today, I use my skills to become the voice of the user. I strive to make more useful, desirable software for real people to use.
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Feb 22, 2010
03:37
that's really a fantastic post ! added to my favourite blogs list.. I have been reading your blog last couple of weeks and enjoy every bit. Thanks.