Blog - Roy’s Soap Box – Who is the Best Developer in the World?

Roy’s Soap Box – Who is the Best Developer in the World?

Mar 3

Written by: Roy Lawson
3/3/2009 11:06 PM

How can you identify the best software developer in the world (or at least your office)? Truth be told, you probably can't. Some of the best developers I know are humble, helpful, true team players, and their actions speak much louder than their words. These guys (or gals) have been tested. They have made their mistakes, resisted repeating them, and are fully aware of the fact that they can't possibly know everything there is to know. They may even use certain hair products that are just for men (or at least consider it).

I can however help you identify the absolute worst developers in the world. These are the developers with the biggest egos and unfortunately they just might be the ones sitting in a corner office – the one with a door (which is usually closed). The dangerous thing about these developers is that they truly believe that they know everything, and even scarier is that they believe everyone else is a mental case. They see themselves as the company's brain-trust and they probably have enough people fooled that they retain that corner office – for now. When they read the title of this blog – "Who is the Best Developer in the World?" – they will immediately think of themselves.

If you are up on the soap box, like I am, there isn't very much that you can do about the world's worst developer in the corner office. Eventually the charade comes to an end (a very costly end) so you shouldn't lose any sleep over the situation (managers should lose a few winks). If you need an outlet, start blogging or tell your 6 year old all about it. But most importantly, don't let the worst developer in the world make you just like him (or her, but usually him).

Oh, and you should also listen to this DNR episode on the future of WPF: http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=419. Fill your brain with some of that .NET goodness. Take that "genius" in the corner office!

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2 comment(s) so far...

Insightful

I've been specifically instructed to close my office door more often, because I spend too much time answering questions, and not enough writing my own code. And I'm fool enough to do silly things like writing a layered app with unit testing in VB6, just to prove that we can use OOP concepts in our current unwieldy codebase. As most everyone in shouting distance knows, we're trying to do a rewrite in .NET, but it'd be nice if new VB6 code developed in the interim were easier to port than to rewrite.

I think I've developed arrogant humility, akin to passive aggression. I get annoyed when other developers with considerably less experience and breadth of knowledge make assumptions. I'll explain to them why their absolute certainty that they know it all and that their "fix" will solve the problem is faulty. And then I go to MSDN or Google to find someone who knows how to do it properly, or spend an hour doing sample code to come up with a solution. Never "the" solution, and certainly not "the best" solution, but a working one for every use case I can fathom in a reasonable amount of time. Often only to find out that the question or problem wasn't phrased correctly or questioned by the programmer.

And that's my biggest frustration. Programming is the process of telling the computer exactly how to solve a problem. A good programmer must question all assumptions, including the basic request. "I want a button that does x" usually means "I want the system to do x for me". Adding the button just means data will be inconsistent until some user clicks the button. Questioning the requirement and making it a part of another process could solve the real problem. And that's the simplest possible example.

I don't know exactly where that puts me on the scale. I do think the "know it all" attitude is either a sign of immaturity in the field ("I created a form. I'm a master of VB.NET, and by extension, all programming") or a defense mechanism against the impossible task of keeping up with the field. See Steve Bohlen's learning fatigue article: unhandled-exceptions.com/blog/index.php/2009/01/31/

Specialization is for insects... and software developers. Perhaps I repeat myself. :)

By Chris Hance on 3/4/2009 2:12 PM

Re: Roy’s Soap Box – Who is the Best Developer in the World?

Interesting comment Chris! Maybe I should clarify what I meant. I didn't mean that closing your door is always a bad thing. Sometimes you must close it to get something done without distraction. The "closed door" was more of a metaphor - symbolizing people who discourage others from communicating with them.

By Roy Lawson on 3/4/2009 6:07 PM