What Do Software Developers Really Need?

Excerpt from my upcoming book, The NextLevel Software Developer.

What Do Software Developers Really Need?

There are a few things that every software developer needs.

1. A Basic Starting Point - what are the basics of what we are supposed to build? User Stories &/or Requirements

   a. Problem Definition - What is the problem we are trying to solve?

2. A Way Forward - how should the code be created?

3. Solution Design - Basic idea how we will solve the problem.

4. A Way To Continue - A basic process for the daily work the software developer will do.

5. A Way Backward - What did we actually do to create the software?
   Examples of things you might need to know as you look backward:

   • Configuration - so you can deploy
   • Design -- so you can add enhancements, or more easily determine why a bug is occurring
   • Database Schema -- so you know where data is stored, for examination
   • Etc

Do These Seem Obvious?

Does it seem like this list is obvious? It may. However, many teams don't have one or more of these items. Many teams don't have any of them. They are just typing code.

The NextLevel Developer knows why they need these items and how they make their life better. The NextLevel Developer creates these if they don't have them. Yes, even if creating User Stories isn't in your job description, the NextLevel Developer will create them to empower their own work.

What do you think about the list?