4 ms·

I don't disagree, but saying my job isn't to write code is like saying a surgeon's job is not to fix people up, or a bricklayer's job is not to lay brick. Anyo

by epgui 4y ago

I don't disagree, but saying my job isn't to write code is like saying a surgeon's job is not to fix people up, or a bricklayer's job is not to lay brick. Anyone's job can be described as "solving a business problem" or "adding value", but that's not usually the best way to describe it unless you're in a room full of MBAs. (And even a bricklayer's job goes beyond "merely laying bricks".) IMO, it goes (or should go) without saying that my work output is valuable, and that I do what I do for a reason, and that "writing code" does not encapsulate everything there is to know about the job.

zasdffaa 4y ago
I once solved an urgent business problem (related to interfaces FYI) by realising there must have been a 3rd party solution. A quick search and I found it. It went onto client sites soon after. To be fair, the problem had to be solved using code anyway (why I was originally brought in), so another team wrote that, but it took several man-years. My interim 'fix' bought the company a lot of time. This isn't a great example as the code had to be written anyway, but you get my point I hope.
- epgui 4y ago
  I do, and oftentimes as a professional, not taking action (or taking some alternative action, or referring to another professional, etc) is the best thing you can advise a client. A good surgeon will also very often advise a patient that surgery is not indicated.
idontpost 4y ago
> saying my job isn't to write code is like saying a surgeon's job is not to fix people up A surgeon is a perfect example against your argument -- the surgeon's job is to achieve a positive patient outcome, not to cut someone open. Sometimes achieving the first is best done by cutting someone open, but when it is not then it is the surgeon's job to say that a different approach is needed.
- epgui 4y ago
  That goes without saying, and is not incompatible with a reasonable reading of what I said.

by epgui 4y ago

zasdffaa 4y ago

I once solved an urgent business problem (related to interfaces FYI) by realising there must have been a 3rd party solution. A quick search and I found it. It went onto client sites soon after. To be fair, the problem had to be solved using code anyway (why I was originally brought in), so another team wrote that, but it took several man-years. My interim 'fix' bought the company a lot of time. This isn't a great example as the code had to be written anyway, but you get my point I hope.

epgui 4y ago
I do, and oftentimes as a professional, not taking action (or taking some alternative action, or referring to another professional, etc) is the best thing you can advise a client. A good surgeon will also very often advise a patient that surgery is not indicated.

idontpost 4y ago

> saying my job isn't to write code is like saying a surgeon's job is not to fix people up A surgeon is a perfect example against your argument -- the surgeon's job is to achieve a positive patient outcome, not to cut someone open. Sometimes achieving the first is best done by cutting someone open, but when it is not then it is the surgeon's job to say that a different approach is needed.

epgui 4y ago
That goes without saying, and is not incompatible with a reasonable reading of what I said.