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A lot of professional programmers have come to the conclusion that the actual act of creating code that solves some of humanity’s problems (or at least makes them into something more easy to manage) is not too hard. Rather, it is a fun challenge, to be embraced and savored in the same way a body builder savors the sweet pain of sculpting his back into something scary to his competition. Unfortunately, an saddening portion of a programmer’s work is not even spent at the computer terminal, but in seemingly endless meetings with other people. As many programmers are not exactly of the people person persuasion, this can have unfortunate results. Social faux pas notwithstanding, there is one challenge which is anything but fun and enjoyable; dealing with people who have absolutely no clue what they actually want. Your mission, because you have already accepted it, is to figure out what this is in spite of what they actually tell you.
People will often get into a mode of wanting everything under the Sun to be stuffed into one program. Why they think that this is a good idea is anybody’s guess. Maybe they believe that having one program to do everything will somehow make their lives simpler, because of some bizarre business logic that is beyond the ken of programmers. Maybe they think that it will save them money to have you only design one piece of software for them, and they are just trying to cut costs wherever they can. If all else fails, offering them a discount may not be a terrible idea in the long run.
The worst problem is when you are dealing with one person who has lots of bosses. Bosses have a distinct tendency to completely disconnect with how things are done, while they simply focus on what they want accomplished. They are rather like children in this way. In some cases, it may be beneficial to you to write out how some functions deny other ones by their very nature. Seeing it written out adds credibility to it, and doesn’t come off insulting.
Have you ever thought about what your life was like before computers were available (if you were even alive before the computing revolution)? Computers are so central to most people’s lives now that they forget this technology is still a fairly recent development. Here are just a few things that would change drastically if computers and the Internet went away.
Anyone who was conscious before the 1990’s has got to be in complete amazement regarding how technology has advanced since then. Inventions like cellular phones have changed how the world works: how loved ones interact and how business is and is expected to perform. In the past, if we wanted to reach someone, we found them in person or called their home or office. Today, we call their cell phones or text or email them and are often quite frustrated when we can’t reach them immediately when we need them.
When asked to name the world’s most important jobs, many people instantly think of doctors, engineers, or presidents. However, with the central role computers and online technology now play in many people’s lives, computer programmers could be argued as deserving a high placement on the important jobs list. Yes, you read correctly – computer programmers.
In the span of just a handful of years, the Internet has gone from being used by very few people to now being central in many people’s lives. Whether it is used to conduct business or connect with friends and family, the internet is certainly here to stay. However, some question whether the online world is allowing humans to connect more easily or if it is creating a disconnect between people. Actually, the answer may be – it’s a little bit of both.