I disagree with the question. There's no such thing as "just programmers"; we all have many other elements to our jobs. We interface with other developers, management, product, and clients. We balance the needs of users with legal constraints and budgetary requirements. We create a healthy tension with sales and marketing to make sure we only make promises we can deliver, but don't underpromise to lose customers/contracts.
Coding might take up the bulk of our time, but it sure as anything isn't the bulk of the important work we do. Past a certain point (which I believe is achievable for the average programmer within 3 years on the job, without too much outside learning), the gains become increasingly marginal when compared with the value in deepening empathy, business sense, familiarity with the company's industry, process optimization, and creating personal and collective senses of ownership and leadership.
So do they spend their weekend nursing a beer, reimplementing Conway's Game of Life? Or do they spend their time coaching Little League, or volunteering at a soup kitchen or animal shelter? Frankly, I consider all these things to be valuable experiences, even within the narrow business perspective, and I'd like a mixture of different types of people on my team.
Finally: Will they stagnate in their growth? I don't see any reason to think so. Here's a pillar of code quality in the Ruby community, Avdi Grimm, on why passion about programming is overrated and kind of ridiculous: virtuouscode.com/2014/02/10/the-pa... I don't think his growth has stagnated due to his proclaimed lack of passion.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
I disagree with the question. There's no such thing as "just programmers"; we all have many other elements to our jobs. We interface with other developers, management, product, and clients. We balance the needs of users with legal constraints and budgetary requirements. We create a healthy tension with sales and marketing to make sure we only make promises we can deliver, but don't underpromise to lose customers/contracts.
Coding might take up the bulk of our time, but it sure as anything isn't the bulk of the important work we do. Past a certain point (which I believe is achievable for the average programmer within 3 years on the job, without too much outside learning), the gains become increasingly marginal when compared with the value in deepening empathy, business sense, familiarity with the company's industry, process optimization, and creating personal and collective senses of ownership and leadership.
So do they spend their weekend nursing a beer, reimplementing Conway's Game of Life? Or do they spend their time coaching Little League, or volunteering at a soup kitchen or animal shelter? Frankly, I consider all these things to be valuable experiences, even within the narrow business perspective, and I'd like a mixture of different types of people on my team.
Finally: Will they stagnate in their growth? I don't see any reason to think so. Here's a pillar of code quality in the Ruby community, Avdi Grimm, on why passion about programming is overrated and kind of ridiculous: virtuouscode.com/2014/02/10/the-pa... I don't think his growth has stagnated due to his proclaimed lack of passion.