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> This is the thinnest sliver of a fraction of what business people think hackers should know about business. This sounds like programmers need to know a lot a

by vilcans 14y ago

> This is the thinnest sliver of a fraction of what business people think hackers should know about business. This sounds like programmers need to know a lot about business. Of course knowledge is a light burden and all that, but do really programmers need to know that much outside their area of expertise? Isn't a shallow understanding enough? Otherwise, what would you need dedicated business people for? > Ya know, it would almost be fair for the business people to ask "when will software developers understand software development?" Good point! But then again, software development is difficult. It is hard if not impossible to estimate the schedule and cost of creating something that nobody has ever done before. And perhaps that is what the business folks need to understand. The tricky thing as a developer is explaining this without sounding like you're coming up with excuses for being late.

mindcrime 14y ago
This sounds like programmers need to know a lot about business. Of course knowledge is a light burden and all that, but do really programmers need to know that much outside their area of expertise? Isn't a shallow understanding enough? Otherwise, what would you need dedicated business people for? Sorry, my reply was coming from the point of view of "hacker as potential entrepreneur", not "hacker as employee of $FIRM." Yeah, if you're writing code for an existing business, just doing normal "business as usual" stuff, then you wouldn't need to know as much about the details of the business. I would think you'd still be better off with some knowledge of the "business side" of things though.
- vilcans 14y ago
  OK, then I understand your position better. This is hacker news after all. BTW, I think that there's misunderstanding between software developers and business people because software development is not as much about technology and hard facts as non-developers tend to think. It is very much about organization, people and processes. So in that way, software development is more similar to business than business people expect.

by vilcans 14y ago

mindcrime 14y ago

This sounds like programmers need to know a lot about business. Of course knowledge is a light burden and all that, but do really programmers need to know that much outside their area of expertise? Isn't a shallow understanding enough? Otherwise, what would you need dedicated business people for? Sorry, my reply was coming from the point of view of "hacker as potential entrepreneur", not "hacker as employee of $FIRM." Yeah, if you're writing code for an existing business, just doing normal "business as usual" stuff, then you wouldn't need to know as much about the details of the business. I would think you'd still be better off with some knowledge of the "business side" of things though.

vilcans 14y ago
OK, then I understand your position better. This is hacker news after all. BTW, I think that there's misunderstanding between software developers and business people because software development is not as much about technology and hard facts as non-developers tend to think. It is very much about organization, people and processes. So in that way, software development is more similar to business than business people expect.