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Every job is about solving problems. A programmer solves problems via programming. That’s what programming means. Telling the computer what to do in a language
by dgb23 4y ago
Every job is about solving problems. A programmer solves problems via programming.
That’s what programming means. Telling the computer what to do in a language it understands. We are typically well practiced at abstract, logical problem solving, because code has logical constructs. But if you are not writing code, you are not programming.
Now a program is an interface between some practical need and the computer. Of course, one needs to understand and know about both what one requires and what one provides. But there is no fundamental difference to any other craft in that regard.
- WJW 4y agoProgramming is a useful tool, but leaning on it in all situations is like a carpenter with only a hammer. There are many times when "more programming" is a possible but not the best solution to the situation at hand. Good and/or experienced programmers know when this is the case and reach for other tools as appropriate. As a very simple example, perhaps integrating with the API provided by another team in the company is planned to take several weeks because it does not provide the "ideal" endpoint and you'd need to stitch together information from several responses. In some cases, simply going to the other team and asking if they can add another endpoint to expose the information you need will be a much quicker solution than doing all the work client-side. In my experience many junior devs would rather spend the weeks coding than the 20 minutes talking to another person.