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I agree with the sentiment in the article, but there's so much demand on programmers' time that it feels the urgent often gets in the way of the important. I'v

I agree with the sentiment in the article, but there's so much demand on programmers' time that it feels the urgent often gets in the way of the important. I've always wondered if a paid product might work for this? There seems to be an explosion of coaching platforms but they all seem very focused around life coaching or non-specific business coaching (where anyone can coach anything to anyone) as opposed to the very deep, concrete world of software development. I've seen code-review as a service platforms and found them interesting, but perhaps if I were offered a lower-touch paid mentoring or coaching (eg, speak to a senior dev who knows your stack for an hour a week), I would pay for it. A note on the article: > Some will say the art of programming has regressed, because we now use enormously more resources to accomplish the same things as before. I've only produced software as an adult, but I've been consuming a lot of it since the mid-90s. Let me tell ya, whatever you think of software, it was worse back then. I seriously doubt programmers were producing much more in terms of functional and non-functional requirements (UX, security, performance, etc.) than they are now.

sleepychu 4y ago
I have been considering offering just such a service but I haven't got the business experience to make the business work. I've done significant mentoring in all my recent roles and it's something I derive great satisfaction from. If I could spend most of my time working with mentees I would do it in a heartbeat.
- tayo42 4y ago
  There's codementor to do this. There really isn't much demand on the mentee side. It's mostly students paying for their home work to be done or adults with unrealistic expectations. There are far more mentors then mentees and each job is to competive to get, the hourly rates end up to low
marcosdumay 4y ago
Developer productivity has been regressing for the last ~15 years, and execution-time costs exploded at the same time. The change is much more prominent if you take into account non-functional requirements (UX, security, etc). Comparing to the 90's is a complete strawman. But keep in mind that this regression is not a constant smooth movement. Most of the time the field has been progressing into better results, while very few times there has been a giant and immediate setback.
- aerhardt 4y ago
  > Comparing to the 90's is a complete strawman. The quote from the article does not mention a particular timeframe in which it has regressed, so where is the strawman, exactly? > Developer productivity has been regressing for the last ~15 years, and execution-time costs exploded at the same time. The change is much more prominent if you take into account non-functional requirements (UX, security, etc). > But keep in mind that this regression is not a constant smooth movement. > Most of the time the field has been progressing into better results, while very few times there has been a giant and immediate setback. Since you are judging me on my rhetorical rigor, where are the proofs to these claims? Any longitudinal study from the IEEE ACS, ACM, ASP, reputed universities, etc.? Maybe some interesting ratios on aggregate inputs (programmer time, payroll, etc.) vs. value created (stock price, profits, software revenues, etc.)?

sleepychu 4y ago

I have been considering offering just such a service but I haven't got the business experience to make the business work. I've done significant mentoring in all my recent roles and it's something I derive great satisfaction from. If I could spend most of my time working with mentees I would do it in a heartbeat.

tayo42 4y ago
There's codementor to do this. There really isn't much demand on the mentee side. It's mostly students paying for their home work to be done or adults with unrealistic expectations. There are far more mentors then mentees and each job is to competive to get, the hourly rates end up to low

marcosdumay 4y ago

Developer productivity has been regressing for the last ~15 years, and execution-time costs exploded at the same time. The change is much more prominent if you take into account non-functional requirements (UX, security, etc). Comparing to the 90's is a complete strawman. But keep in mind that this regression is not a constant smooth movement. Most of the time the field has been progressing into better results, while very few times there has been a giant and immediate setback.

aerhardt 4y ago
> Comparing to the 90's is a complete strawman. The quote from the article does not mention a particular timeframe in which it has regressed, so where is the strawman, exactly? > Developer productivity has been regressing for the last ~15 years, and execution-time costs exploded at the same time. The change is much more prominent if you take into account non-functional requirements (UX, security, etc). > But keep in mind that this regression is not a constant smooth movement. > Most of the time the field has been progressing into better results, while very few times there has been a giant and immediate setback. Since you are judging me on my rhetorical rigor, where are the proofs to these claims? Any longitudinal study from the IEEE ACS, ACM, ASP, reputed universities, etc.? Maybe some interesting ratios on aggregate inputs (programmer time, payroll, etc.) vs. value created (stock price, profits, software revenues, etc.)?