Tag Archive for 'Programmers'

Open Source developers aren’t free or cheap either

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Just heard from a friend that a client looking for a “Joomla Expert” hung up on them after hearing their rates. Apparently some people still think that just because they can go and download a free copy of Joomla, Drupal, or Wordpress that means any service provided in that domain should be cheap or free as well.

Reality is that Free in open source mostly refers to freedom to read and change the code to make it suit your project goals.

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Not all programmers can develop software

Alright! here is a piece of information that I think every product, marketing, or human resource manager may want to keep in mind:

Every Software Developer can program, but not every Programmer can develop software.

Does it makes sense? here is another example:

JK Rowling can read and write English, but not every college graduate can write the next best selling Harry Potter book even though they both know how to read and write English.

I can get all fancy and discuss all the technical details that set software developers apart from programmers, but I think I communicated my point. To become a software developer one has to spend months and years to program in different languages, and they also learn how to treat code as building blocks to build more elaborate structures know as computer software or applications.

In smaller teams, software developers often design, plan and program their ideas themselves. In larger teams they may focus on the design and planning and hand over the implementation to the Programmers, although programming is often a joyful experience so software developers usually create some programming time for themselves too. Why do you think so many professional developers devote their time to open source projects around the world? because it is fun and exciting!

Normally, software developers are pricier than programmers. If your project is a web or desktop application you may want to consider it a good investment, or else you may end up with a product that seems to be working ( if you are lucky ) but suffers from poor architecture, performance issues or a phenomenon called the “Spaghetti Code!” or the “Dog’s Breakfast!” which makes it very hard to maintain.

You wouldn’t serve that kind of cuisine to your end-users, would you?

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Bringing back the Zen to Programmers

Sometimes traditional Sales and Marketing companies try to grow their in-house software development team, having said that, what is considered a productive work environment for the more social sales and marketing folks, may not be as productive for the knowledge workers.

Photography by Templeton Elliot © All rights reserved

The product of programming is intellectual property produced using hours of mental work. It is essential that programmers work in an interruption free environment.

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Computer Programmer’s Skill Set

Photography by Nelson Pavlosky some rights reserved.

Programmers are intelligent people with sophisticated mental abilities. If you are planning to hire programmers and some of the descriptions in this post did not completely make sense, it would be a wise idea to consult a Programmer or Computer Scientist to help you find other good programmers. The follwing are some of the main important skills aquired by many quality programmers:

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Common Myths About Computer Programmers

Computer Programmers are often viewed as introverted people with poor social skills who spend long hours working in tiny cubicles. This image has been further elaborated in pop culture and movies too. Well, there might be a hint of truth in that, however it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Photography by Kanaka Rastamon Some rights reserved.

Good programmers are required to understand the needs and wants of their clients or employers in order to write usable programs, and that can only be achieved when programmers maintain effective and clear communication with their peers and other stakeholders within an organization.

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