21–30 of 105 posts
"People who can code in the world of technology companies are a dime a dozen and get no respect. People who can code in biology, medicine, government, sociology, physics, history, and mathematics are respected and can do amazing things to advance those disciplines."
Tech doesn't value code because everyone knows it. There are tons of fields where your skills are still treated with Godlike reverence.
Were we ever considered professionals? There's no test - all you have to do to be a software developer is declare yourself to be one. There's no overarching professional organization or boards, therefore incompetents aren't de-certified and national lobbying isn't coherent. In fact, the largest companies that we work for are frequently lobbying for things that programmers don't support, or actively damage our interes…
In the old days people thought about design, the wrote software, they supported their product. Nowadays all the wannabees think installing a metric ton of shit from npm or the gem equivalents makes them a super productive brogrammer rock star developer. They have a single page website that requires gigabytes of javascript from fourty external locations to run a basic blog. They spend all day on github, but are border…
Why do developers resist being professionalized? Are we really all so naive to think that the world will grovel at our feet for the rest of time? Fact is, it's extremely likely you've been taken advantage of, financially at some point, for your skills. It's an ugly reality, but I'm betting it has happened to a lot of people, or is happening. There are people who love nothing more than to take advantage of information…
Well, if you are a real professional then a complaint can result in your being struck off and it being legally impossible for you to work in that area again.
I really don't see how (or indeed why) that model could be applied to general software development or why it would be in any way desirable.
NB: It might be applicable in very small niche areas - safety critical systems etc.
Were we ever considered professionals? There's no test - all you have to do to be a software developer is declare yourself to be one. There's no overarching professional organization or boards, therefore incompetents aren't de-certified and national lobbying isn't coherent. In fact, the largest companies that we work for are frequently lobbying for things that programmers don't support, or actively damage our interes…
Were we ever considered professionals? There's no test - all you have to do to be a software developer is declare yourself to be one. There's no overarching professional organization or boards, therefore incompetents aren't de-certified and national lobbying isn't coherent. In fact, the largest companies that we work for are frequently lobbying for things that programmers don't support, or actively damage our interes…
And what has the IEE done to raise the status for Engineers in the UK in last 100 years.
Honestly, any other profession would love to have it as easy as we have it. A surgeon doesn't get to mount the backup after a surgery fails. The engineers of the Mississippi river bridge couldn't checkout a standing bridge from their git repo. When a physicist wants to study particle physics, she can't download her own, personal LHC and start smashing protons. CEO's don't get separate development and testing companies where they can try out their business plans before it gets promoted to the actual corporation.
Compared to everything else I do at work, programming is by far the easiest task. It's also the easiest to learn. Yes, a lot of those programers are pretty terrible, but there's a lot of terrible drivers, too.
Were we ever considered professionals? There's no test - all you have to do to be a software developer is declare yourself to be one. There's no overarching professional organization or boards, therefore incompetents aren't de-certified and national lobbying isn't coherent. In fact, the largest companies that we work for are frequently lobbying for things that programmers don't support, or actively damage our interes…
>the freebies they get are so baked into government What exactly do you understand under freebies [for 100y+ prof org members]? Interesting point about the older prof members being both anti-union and but joining a prof body. I reckon the two have different functions though. e.g. In my case the only thing I hear from my prof org is messages with a "comply or else" tone. Sure they do set minimum salaries for apprentic…
Doctors, Lawyers, Realtors, etc. have written 90% of the state laws that they are governed under, and most of the federal ones. They've protected themselves against foreign competition, and shielded themselves against liability.
Were we ever considered professionals? There's no test - all you have to do to be a software developer is declare yourself to be one. There's no overarching professional organization or boards, therefore incompetents aren't de-certified and national lobbying isn't coherent. In fact, the largest companies that we work for are frequently lobbying for things that programmers don't support, or actively damage our interes…
Not officially, no. I've always liked this line of thinking, though:
http://philip.greenspun.com/ancient-history/professionalism-...