Sunday, November 13, 2011

I wrote software and helped others write software

One of the difficult things about writing software is describing what you do to other people.   If you mentioned Web development, you'll get "oh I have a 12 year old nephew who does web pages."  Mention Java and for years even some people in IT thought JavaScript.  Back in the day if I was feeling difficult I'd describe what I did as "Writing software for computers that don't exist."   Best response from that was: "Is there a market for that?".  Oddly enough there was.   

It only got worse with a job titles like Application Architect.  Most people understand that software needs to be written, but Software Architecture?  What's that?  Must be how you format all that text.  So eventually I landed on "I write software and help other people write software."  That really covered the best of architecture, as well as the teaching and mentoring I'd done. 

After 15+ years of writing software, I've taken a job where that's not the job, in fact I've been told to resist when I'm asked to write software.   On Monday, I start as Shaw's Development Practice Lead.  With zero hours on the job, my understanding is I'll be the internal coach / advocate for the development team.

While I still expect to be writing software, it's no longer my job.  My new description: I help other people write software.  Let's hope there's a market for that.

- Peace

5 comments:

Daniel Jagt said...

Congrats! Sounds very exciting and fun.

Dave King said...

Thanks Dan, will be an interesting experience for sure.

Plaid Eggnog (aka Julie and Steve) said...

First image that came to mind for "internal coach" was a rowing coxswain. I remember a project or two where the dev team sure could have used an "advocate" too. All the best
-Steve

Michael said...

I know You'll be excellent :).

CFox said...

Sounds good Dave. Always nice to have friends in the field. I might be looking for a job soon, so keep your eyes out.