For early software developers and engineers, coding seems to be everything. They believe that code is the most important aspect of developing software. They would spend so much time trying to write that “perfect” piece of code.
In this post, I’ll be sharing a different perspective on code after 5 years as a software developer. To me now, coding is a means to an end or to reach a goal. The content of this post is completely based on my experience only so take it for a grain of salt.
Software Development Is About Solving Problems
The purpose to build software is to address problems at scale. The software automates a slow and inefficient process into a fast process when done right. Writing code doesn’t necessarily need to be part of the process. If a problem can be addressed with an existing software product you’re better off using it instead of writing code yourself. Remember, any code you write is an indirect commitment that you or your team will take care of it.
Coding Is a Way to Solve Problems
There are lots of problems out there that software can help solve. When there is no software out there that can solve a problem then you’ll need to create your own. To create your own software is when you’ll be writing code. Notice that in this particular situation, writing code is to help you to get to your goal of solving a problem through software.
Code Doesn’t Need to Be Perfect to Solve Problems
Code that works doesn’t need to be perfect. I’m not sure if there is anything absolute out there that can define what is perfect code. What is important for code is how reliable, readable, understandable, and maintainable it is. It is difficult to expand on code that is difficult to work with and that would make it difficult to address a problem if things change.
There is so much more to software engineering or development than just writing code. The main goal of software is to automate processes to address problems. It doesn’t matter much if you get there by writing no code or a thousand lines of code.
I hope this post was helpful to you. If you found this post helpful, share it with others so they can benefit too.
To get in touch, follow me on Twitter, leave a comment, or send me an email at steven@brightdevelopers.com.