What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
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Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#2Cool article.
That suit...that hair...
He doesn’t really deliver any “wise mountaintop guru” stuff, though.
Just shows that good old-fashioned common sense is timeless (and distressingly rare).
Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#3Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#4Cool article. That suit...that hair... He doesn’t really deliver any “wise mountaintop guru” stuff, though. Just shows that good old-fashioned common sense is timeless (and distressingly rare).
I loved the article too.
I mean, the most important wisdom is never "mountaintop guru" insight, it's always simple things that just need to be reinforced and actually observed in practice.
It's one thing to say "keep it simple" and a totally other thing to actually be keeping it simple for four decades :)
Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#5Great insights for someone who is 3 year in, like myself. Key point for me ‘Beware of Lock-In’. Been feeling that lately.
Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#6Something that I find interesting is that career advice coming from professionals having many years of experience focuses almost exclusively on the people aspects and not the technology: communication, trust, teamwork, documentation, clarity. The advice is clear, precise and honest.
This is the opposite of what you get from new hires/juniors: they tend to focus on which stacks matter, what to learn, how to develop, deploy and maintain. Not much real advice on the behavioral side, to the point that people often take trainings for behavioral interviews and memorize “leadership principles” and other nonsense.
Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#7One of the tenets though, "6. Be Honest and Acknowledge When You Don’t Fit the Role" only is fair to the person if the team/company also follows that advice.
If a team or company does not value, or cannot tell, or does not act if someone is incompetent and unfit for a role, then this advice penalizes those who are honest, and rewards those who are good at faking competence.
You need to have a structure of integrity within which to operate, in order for honest behavior to be rewarded.
Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#8> Computer Assisted Software Engineering (CASE) tools, COTS, Enterprise Resource Planning products like Peoplesoft and SAP and, yes, even Ruby. They claim amazing reductions in cost and time if you buy into their holistic development philosophy. What is not always as obvious is the significant up-front costs or the constraints you may be committing yourself to. Lock-in used to primarily happen with vendors, but now it can happen with frameworks too.
Is the author calling Rails as 'lock-in'?
Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#9Cool article. That suit...that hair... He doesn’t really deliver any “wise mountaintop guru” stuff, though. Just shows that good old-fashioned common sense is timeless (and distressingly rare).
I have gotten a lot of advice but sage wisdom is rare. The closest I can think of is:
“Expertise isn’t coming up with the perfect solution, expertise is knowing you can get a good enough solution on time.”
Frequently you have a fast but risky option and a slow but guaranteed one. It’s fine to work on the fast option, just remember to abandon early enough to still finish in time.
Re: What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry
#10One of the tenets though, "6. Be Honest and Acknowledge When You Don’t Fit the Role" only is fair to the person if the team/company also follows that advice. If a team or company does not value, or cannot tell, or does not act if someone is incompetent and unfit for a role, then this advice penalizes those who are honest, and rewards those who are good at faking competence. You need to have a structure of integrity w…
I think it's fair. For me, the penalties and rewards you talk about are outweighed by some countervailing factors outside the realm of career development. Even if your current team isn't honest, the ultimate structure of integrity is your very own.