Programming is one component of how the “real work” gets done, yes. There is plenty of very real work that happens before and after the developer writes code.

Programming is one component of how the “real work” gets done, yes. There is plenty of very real work that happens before and after the developer writes code. That being said, developers are in a very unique position because they are the ones who actually build the product. If you can’t sell your devs on an idea, it ain’t getting built.