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> Focus on the business problem, not the code Staffing and code maintenance are business problems. The tech matters at various levels of concern.

ckdarby 6y ago
The code can have the least amount of technical debt, be written in the most simplistic way and be abstracted enough to allow the business to evolve but if the business runs out of money nobody cares about the rest because it won't matter. Staffing and code maintenance are a business problem but I see software developers early in their journey put too much weight on these compared to bottom line value to the company.
- genezeta 6y ago
  So maybe the right balance then should be acknowledging the correct value of code. Don't focus on code, but also don't neglect it. Don't put it over bottom line value, but also don't ignore it. I have seen inexperienced developers and managers -and also developers with a lot of wrong experience- sink enormous amounts of time/money into maintaining extremely bad code without even noticing where the cost came from.
- sseagull 6y ago
  There are always extremes, of course. But I find that a large share of technical debt could have been solved from the beginning with a little bit of foresight and planning. Of course stakeholders often have a way of upending your beautiful design, but one of the core tenets of agile is to design your code to be adaptable. Done upfront, the cost is usually minimal but can completely save you when your client asks for the dreaded "small change". YMMV of course. It's a big world out there.
- Supermancho 6y ago
  > if the business runs out of money nobody cares about the rest because it won't matter. "Business problems" aren't constrained here to "startups". Most business concerns are things that already exist in successful companies, because they are in business.
pjmlp 6y ago
Only when software is the product, when not, it doesn't really matter as long as those groceries keep being registered on the sales inventory platform, the trucks get loaded with the right amount of goods, or whatever is the actual purpose of the business. In such cases the IT department is most likely a couple of managers for external contractors delivering projects organized per budget packages.

ckdarby 6y ago

The code can have the least amount of technical debt, be written in the most simplistic way and be abstracted enough to allow the business to evolve but if the business runs out of money nobody cares about the rest because it won't matter. Staffing and code maintenance are a business problem but I see software developers early in their journey put too much weight on these compared to bottom line value to the company.

genezeta 6y ago
So maybe the right balance then should be acknowledging the correct value of code. Don't focus on code, but also don't neglect it. Don't put it over bottom line value, but also don't ignore it. I have seen inexperienced developers and managers -and also developers with a lot of wrong experience- sink enormous amounts of time/money into maintaining extremely bad code without even noticing where the cost came from.
sseagull 6y ago
There are always extremes, of course. But I find that a large share of technical debt could have been solved from the beginning with a little bit of foresight and planning. Of course stakeholders often have a way of upending your beautiful design, but one of the core tenets of agile is to design your code to be adaptable. Done upfront, the cost is usually minimal but can completely save you when your client asks for the dreaded "small change". YMMV of course. It's a big world out there.
Supermancho 6y ago
> if the business runs out of money nobody cares about the rest because it won't matter. "Business problems" aren't constrained here to "startups". Most business concerns are things that already exist in successful companies, because they are in business.

pjmlp 6y ago

Only when software is the product, when not, it doesn't really matter as long as those groceries keep being registered on the sales inventory platform, the trucks get loaded with the right amount of goods, or whatever is the actual purpose of the business. In such cases the IT department is most likely a couple of managers for external contractors delivering projects organized per budget packages.