Code Manager vs Coder

Pseudo Coder — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 08:48:04 +0000

Who is a code manager?

Before we define the term code manager, let's first discuss my understanding of coder / programmer. A coder is someone who writes most of the code that's being used in their projects from scratch. And when I talk here about writing code, it's the code that actually matter and make that particular project unique. All the bloatware code that has to be added to make things work (like common algorithms for searching and sorting, well known data structures and their associated operations like trie, linked-list etc.) should and must be taken directly from the standard library or somewhere from internet (like StackOverflow, Google, ChatGPT etc.). There is no point in wasting time and re-inventing the wheel.
A Code Manager is someone who always pick and choose code from elsewhere and use them in their project. Don't misunderstand me, it's not an easy job. The decision of where to pick from and what to choose from the picked ones for your project is very critical. You need to look into their complexity (time and space), maintainability aspects, licensing etc. But no matter how much this effort costs, a code manager can't pretend to be a coder. If you haven't invented the wheel even once in your professional career, you can't call your self a coder or for that matter a programmer.

Is code manager a software developer?

Yes. Absolutely Yes.
Anybody who creates and maintains a software product is a software developer. Coders, code managers, debuggers (human ones), code reviewers, code documentation experts, all these are software developers as they directly contribute to software development one way or other. (I am skipping EMs, PMs, PgMs and tons of other designations that we have in management chain as they don't directly contribute to a software development.)
The only thing that differentiate coders from everyone else in this list of software developers, is that others role sooner or later can be fully automated with the help of ever evolving AI making them obsolete. But coders will survive as they have a habit of inventing the wheel which an AI will find hard to replicate.

Are you a code manager?

If you are not certain then most likely you are.

Let me tell you my story. I was happy, proud and satisfied, not with my work but with the overall work-life balanced setup I had when I was a junior developer, who joined this industry fresh out of college. A high paying job doing mostly mundane tasks. Then as I moved up the ladder and got into the senior software developer position, I started trying hard to justify the senior part of my designation. A senior is a person whom a junior looks upto. So, I went down this rabbit hole of finding reasons why anybody would look up to me. I hadn't written a great piece of code (or for that matter any unique piece of code). I was not expert in any coding language. I had not contributed to any open source community. But instead, I had gained a lot of experience in debugging existing code, implementing tiny feature requests from product managers into our large monolith desktop application by borrowing codes from different places. Analysing those code and re-factoring them to fit our needs. What I became good at was managing expectation, setting realistic deadlines with lot of buffers with an expectation that upper management might push back a little on those timelines. And these are not irrelevant skills. These are must have if you want to survive in this non-ideal real world. So, after contemplating a lot, going back and forth, I justified me being a senior developer to myself. But in this process, I also realised that I was never a coder, I was just a code manager.

How to become a coder?

I don't have an answer. I can give you a lot of suggestions and you can find a lot more over the internet. But none of them has worked for me so far. So search over internet, follow tech influencers, do your own due diligence. And see if something works for you.

An Indian Software Engineer...

Pseudo Coder — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 14:03:55 +0000

"What do you do?"
"I am a software developer", I replied.
"Cool, so you write these code and algorithms and create these magical apps."
"Yeeyss.. Kind of", I murmured.

In India, our focus isn't on software development but rather on software maintenance. Our primary aim seems to be keeping our US executives satisfied, often through ego-stroking activities. Much of our time is spent crafting PowerPoint presentations and attending unnecessary all-hands meetings, where mediocrity is often rewarded. It's no wonder that India is primarily seen as a cost-effective destination for development by US-based multinational corporations.

Don't misunderstand me; I'm not criticizing my employer. These MNCs pay us significantly more than other industries in our country. We can earn upwards of ₹50 lakhs per year for tasks that often involve little actual development work but plenty of mundane tasks. It's ironic that the higher you climb in these companies, the less innovation is required to succeed. I've witnessed brilliant individuals getting trapped in stock schemes(RSUs/ESPP) and spending the rest of their careers doing menial tasks in the name of work-life balance. What's the point of attending prestigious institutions like the IITs and acquiring software development skills when all we end up doing is fixing comments and improving indentation in legacy code?

I recently came across the term "imposter syndrome," which many software engineers experience. But then I realized, how can one have imposter syndrome when they truly are imposters? The reality is that the vast majority of software developers here contribute little to the developer ecosystem and struggle to maintain outdated software dumped on us by these MNCs. Calling these centers "development centers" is misleading; they should be termed "scrap yards" where end-of-life products are laid to rest.

Thanks to advancements in AI, such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and other tools, it's becoming increasingly evident that many jobs in these "development centers" are at risk of redundancy. Even today, these roles fail to add significant value, but they do allow a few savvy MBAs in management to earn substantial sums by hiring more laborers (developers) in India and dubbing themselves leaders on LinkedIn. Managing 500 people might seem impressive, but not when the primary task is overseeing 5 obsolete products.