Software engineering is often viewed as a form of black magic with many myths. While some have been debunked, new ones crop up by the day.
I’ll discuss some of them below and how they’ve ultimately been debunked.
Prelude
Most misconceptions are propagated by people who lack an understanding of programming. Software development is an integral part of human life. It is vital to demystify the myths in the burgeoning sector.
What is software development?
Simply put, it is designing, creating, and maintaining applications that perform different functions. The ultimate goal is managing and developing efficient, reliable, and easy-to-use programs.
Myth 1: The more software developers, the better
One of the biggest myths states that one person cannot develop software. Many people and brands believe hiring multiple developers will enhance workflow.
This is false. Adding more people may make sharing ideas and addressing stalemates easy, but it’s also time-consuming and detrimental to proper communication.
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More people give you extra hands but may prolong the development process due to gathering dissenting views on how things must be done. A small project done by one person may take a week for multiple developers to agree on a bit of code and a proper approach. Value your communication time just like developers value their work hours.
Myth 2: There is always a magic formula
There is no magic formula for developing software, let alone one solution for all. Each underlying problem that a program solves may be different. Software development life cycle phases always differ.
Each project will always have its unique requirements and processes to be carried out. The development path is rarely linear unless a project is simple. The implemented code will always be different to address the underlying issue.
Myth 3: In-house developers are better than outsourcing
A popular software engineering myth is that in-house developers are better than remote developers. This is far from the truth. Outsourcing makes it easy to access a skill unavailable with in-house developers. The best way is to engage the services of developers in remote locations to keep the project on track, especially when in-house developers lack a particular skill.
Read*Onboarding and Training New Remote Employees in a Virtual Environment*
Developers working remotely are usually similar to hardworking professionals and improve the results of your in-house team. I use a similar mixed approach of having an in-house core team and adding consultant remote workers when needed.
My experience shows it’s better to work with consultants, especially those you have a stable relationship with. Hiring a random person for a single day has more risks than benefits. Overall, in-house development vs. remote/outsourcing approaches have their pros and cons:
In-house pros:
- Stability: You know who you’re working with and what results to expect.
- Priority: You're Always a "top client" for in-house specialists, while remote consultants may not prioritize your project.
- Building culture: You develop the long-term work environment that helps you and your team grow.
Cons of in-house:
- Difficult to scale up fast when you hire more side specialists for specific tasks.
- Building a culture is great, but it takes more time and effort.
Myth 4: Developers must have a computer science degree
Guess how many developers have a computer science degree? According to Statista, in 2022, only 41.32% of developers had Bachelor's degrees, and only 21.14% had a Master's.
According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 62% of developers have a Computer Science degree.
A developer doesn’t need to have a computer science degree to engage in software development. Anyone can learn and master the various programming methodologies by watching videos online and reading tutorials. Many online courses and communities teach people the art of programming.
It’s easier to secure a software development job by demonstrating your expertise. You can do this by sharing some of the projects you’ve done. Experience is the only thing that matters in software development, not a university degree.
A degree weighs much less than your effort and learning ability.
Myth 5: Real programmers use C and C++
There is no doubt that C and C++ are some of the most popular programming languages. New programming languages have emerged, offering a variety of frameworks that give explicit functionality. These are JavaScript, Python, Go, PHP, Swift, and more. The key to efficient programming is finding a solution based on your goal. The programming language should be a catalyst to achieve this.
Programming languages are tools. Some tools are beneficial for specific tasks. A hammer cannot see a plank of wood and neither can a saw hammer a nail. Ask yourself what you want, then work towards that specific goal by designing good software.
Myth 6: A project is over once the software is released
There is always an ongoing process in development that entails upgrades and updates to ensure the software is effective and efficient. The software shifts towards taking user feedback and incorporating it to enhance its use and capabilities as soon as it is released.
Read: Practical Tips to Maintain Productivity
Developers often use many abstraction layers, such as libraries or frameworks, requiring more updates. You can get better upgrades if you use fewer abstraction libraries. I am working hard to simplify and make our software maintenance simple, efficient, straightforward, and cheap.
Myth 7: Quality assurance is not essential
Quality assurance is essential to the software development process. Testing software to ensure it is working as expected is vital. Quality assurance helps ensure that software operates at the desired level before it is released into the market. Quality assurance provides the final product in a good working capacity. There’s no substitute for good user experience and Quality Assurance provides this.
Myth 8: You can resolve every bug before the product's release
Every product has its lifecycle. Dynamics constantly change. It’s almost impossible to fix every bug in one swoop. It is much easier to avoid them during the initial development process. Ignoring bugs and errors during the development process is a grave mistake. Some bugs cause other bugs and fixing some may shed light on new ones. Fixing every bug as it appears is the prudent thing to do. Don’t overwhelm yourself with a daunting task at the end of development.
Summary
Software development myths have existed for a long time. They confuse growing specialists in this beautiful sector. Such myths stand in the way of creating masterpieces that the world needs. I have debunked these myths for you and went a step further by developing Goleko. It is a testament to what you can achieve by ignoring the noise and focusing on what's important.
Every software requires upstarts and robust maintenance to sift bugs, ensuring it works as expected. You can read more about how we do it on MartinBaun. I utilized the guiding principle of conducting post-mortems to figure out what goes wrong post-development.
Read: Post Mortem New Year's Eve.
Remember, it is only possible to resolve bugs that occur after the actual product release. QA can help you solve this issue. We have explained this in detail in our article, How QA helps us get more done.
For these and more thoughts, guides, and insights visit my blog at martinbaun.com.
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