Recently one of my LinkedIn posts sparked a heated discussion.
I shared this post about what makes us senior coders. Its point was to build real products instead of obsessing over syntax.
I shared,
... true seniority is when you:
- Stop obsessing over syntax
- Realize end users don't care about your code
- Understand coding is collaboration and communication
Most people agree with the message, except for this line:
"End users don't care about our code."
Some take "end users don't care about code" as permission to ignore quality and standards. That's wrong.
But there's also the "end users don't care about code," so:
- Let's stop fighting over languages and tools
- Let's stop building excessive abstractions
- Let's stop making it scale just in case
- Let's choose boring technology
End users suffer the consequences of poor coding practices. Sure! It shows up in buggy, slow apps. Nobody wants that.
What matters to users is speed and reliability, not whether we used jQuery or React or $latestShiniestTool. They care about whether we solve their problems.
We write code for different audiences: for end users, future coders, and business owners. And they don't care about the same things.
Being senior means meeting the needs of all three groups.
For so long, I thought coding was only typing syntax. That realization inspired me to write Street-Smart Coding, the roadmap I wish I had starting out.
Top comments (2)
Very true. I remember when I began coding, I was often very proud about my code being able to solve a given problem. But, when users tried the program, what called their attention was even an ill-positioned message, or worse (I didn't realized at the time), that the objective of the program was not completely achieved.
I guess I was like a craftsman admired of his own work. This wasn't a good thing at all, but, on the other hand, it was this sense of achievement what made me code, and keep coding. I guess it takes a degree of maturity to get to the level of "app completeness up to users' satsifaction".
I've gone thru the same phase from chasing perfectly clean code to understanding we write code (professionally) to achieve some goal.