3 ms·
I would argue that articulating clearly is not a non-technical skill, it's the essence of what software engineers do.
by underdeserver 2y ago
I would argue that articulating clearly is not a non-technical skill, it's the essence of what software engineers do.
- shafyy 2y agoThere is a big difference between articulating "code" clearly and articulating clearly when you speak / write to other humans.
- Kinrany 2y agoCode is written for other humans
- shafyy 2y agoIdeally, yes. And I agree that there's some correlation of how well clearly people can write prose and write code. But, articulating yourself with your teammates is not only about writing well. It's also about saying the right things. I have seen many engineers that write code well, can write a paragraph in English well, but just don't communicate enough and don't communicate the right things at the right time etc.
- otikik 2y agoI can see some differences, but none of them seem "big". In code you don't have all the extra communication avenues that we have when speaking, like body language, intonation, sarcasm and so on. On the other hand, when writing code we are not speaking in real time. We can think about a problem for a while, consider the best possible way to solve a problem and how to explain it. What do you see as a big difference?
- Kabootit 2y ago1) Coding clearing in the moment vs (2) coding clearly for future selves is two different mindsets/contexts right there. (3) Communicating clearly is an orthogonal skill to coding clearly. I think this skill is barely acknowledged in engineering cultures in comparison to the above. I feel you have to have an engineering culture that values institutional knowledge retention, team education and growth — and not treating engineers as fungible — to get to level (2). Level (3) would be a great place to work.
- heeton 2y agoI agree. Writing well is _highly_ technical.