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From: Roderick Prince <rrprince@comdisco.com>
Subject: Re: No accident that programs have bugs  (was Re: Coders Aren't Carpenters)
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Date: Tue, 13 Aug 1996 16:59:45 GMT
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Brenton Seager wrote:
> 
> 
> I agree that lousy programmers are the reason for bad code.  But I believe that bad analysis and a failure to truly understand
> the business needs of the customer are the underlying reason.  From my 10+ years experience, I have seen precious few
> programmers/analysts etc etc that are interested in learning the business. 95% or more are only interested in $$$$$.  The
> *really* good programmers are getting huge bucks, but usually as a permanent employee of a large organisation that understands
> their worth.  Unfortunately, it makes the job of screening contractors so much harder.
> --

I totally agree with your arguments, however... being slightly on the 
other side of the coin (Learning the business comes fairly easy 
-versus- keeping up with technology is nearly impossible) which do you 
look for more... 

...tech skills right! So I become less focused on the business and more 
and more focused on my technical skills. A double edged sword don't you 
agree. In my vain attempts at finding the ultimate development panacea, 
I have moved farther and farther away from higher level development 
tools thinking (foolishly I have found) that by learning more difficult 
tools I might get the chance to work with people who planned for success 
- not!


I enjoy the opportunity to learn more about the businsess than the 
regulars (I feel it is my job to do so - otherwise how can I create 
products that help them perform more efficiently), but have found that 
as an independent contractor I have fewer and fewer opportunities to do 
so. Only when I was working for really large consulting practices was I 
given the opportunity to affect the way the organization did business.

The only organizations I have been able to affect are very small ones, 
which can make it hard to feed the family.

Happy trails,
Roderick...

> +-------------------------------------+
> + Brenton Seager; Adelaide, Australia +
> + seager@frisbee.net.au               +
> +-------------------------------------+
