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the cleverness is in noticing when a task can be automated. Typically, the code itself is trivial. I’d actually argue the reverse. It’s trivial, especially wi

the cleverness is in noticing when a task can be automated. Typically, the code itself is trivial. I’d actually argue the reverse. It’s trivial, especially with a little programming background to say “we could automate X”. The devil is in the details. Robustly automating anything of reasonable complexity involves a lot of implementation hickups, dealing with corner cases, gracefully failing, and adding structure and regularity to otherwise disparate, adhoc and unstructured components. It takes skill, experience and a lot of effort to do this without it immediately falling over.

peteforde 8y ago
I'd never presume to critique your lived experience, but in my life and career away from core developer circles, the instincts required to recognize the potential for automation were just... not part of the conversation. It's similar to how most people will complain about the traffic while a very small number of people will start companies to dig tunnels for maglev vehicles to travel on. Now, I choose to believe (I'm a realistic optimist) that some of these instincts - to recognize patterns, to ask orthogonal questions, to pay attention to what others take for granted - can be acquired. It's less about training and more about practice. You can decide that you're going to learn how to ask good questions. It's a conscious act, and that is key. Anyhow, there's certainly skill and experience required to automate well. However, it's SHOCKING how many people learn to build simple systems in MS Access or Excel to solve their own problems. They often don't even realize that they are programming.
- captainbland 8y ago
  > It's similar to how most people will complain about the traffic while a very small number of people will start companies to dig tunnels for maglev vehicles to travel on. Well to be honest there's only a small number of people with the means and connections to even start such a venture.

peteforde 8y ago

I'd never presume to critique your lived experience, but in my life and career away from core developer circles, the instincts required to recognize the potential for automation were just... not part of the conversation. It's similar to how most people will complain about the traffic while a very small number of people will start companies to dig tunnels for maglev vehicles to travel on. Now, I choose to believe (I'm a realistic optimist) that some of these instincts - to recognize patterns, to ask orthogonal questions, to pay attention to what others take for granted - can be acquired. It's less about training and more about practice. You can decide that you're going to learn how to ask good questions. It's a conscious act, and that is key. Anyhow, there's certainly skill and experience required to automate well. However, it's SHOCKING how many people learn to build simple systems in MS Access or Excel to solve their own problems. They often don't even realize that they are programming.

captainbland 8y ago
> It's similar to how most people will complain about the traffic while a very small number of people will start companies to dig tunnels for maglev vehicles to travel on. Well to be honest there's only a small number of people with the means and connections to even start such a venture.