This blog is normally strictly technical and I will rarely deviate from that self imposed constraint but in a rare deviation here goes with something a bit different.
For anyone who just happened upon this post and perhaps those who know me or have followed this blog may or may not be aware, I was a musician in one of my previous careers. I have not abandoned my music completely in the decade or so that I moved into software however let’s just say it took a very big back seat.
Initially drawn to software development as a better paying yet still highly creative profession, I would often tell myself that writing good code was like writing or producing a good song and though the output was different in format and audience expectations, the experience was still fulfilling a side of me that required feeding.
A decade into my software development career and I can now say that whilst it does satisfy a creative urge, it can never come close to the emotional connection and responses that music emote in me. Recent days spent with headphones and my MP3 player have me on the verge of propelling myself into some musical journey and exactly what that is I am not sure right now but I am filled with excitement and overwhelming sense of promise.
My final observation is this: even with a strong resolve to travel some undiscovered musical road, I still feel the ‘coding’ drug flowing through my veins. I am, I code, I live, I die.
None of us needs to be told how difficult the times are that we are living in today and even if you haven’t been personally effected by the global financial crisis in a measurable way, you have most likely seen a colleague or perhaps heard of an acquaintance who has been. I have written in the past about the different decisions developers make about how “invested” they are in their careers and in the harsh reality of rising unemployment, it is becoming a deciding factor in competing for ever dwindling jobs.
Let’s back track just a little and consider the difference in nature between our profession (Software Development) and some others. The key for me in this respect is the sheer depth and volume of information and teaching available in our field, it’s really quite staggering and furthermore it’s a moving target that grows at an enormous pace: we will come back to that a bit later. Secondly, in the past, the size of the market place supporting our profession and the health of the surrounding economy and the fact that we have been experiencing a sellers employment market until now, made it easier to support being less ‘invested’ for some in our community. Enormous demand always leaves low hanging fruit which leaves the ‘less invested’ with more opportunities to continue a pattern of complacent behaviour. Ouch, that statement might prove to be a bit controversial but I believe it has merit.
Basically, what I suppose I am trying to say here is this; there has always been a breed of developer who is prepared to learn up to a point and then sit back on their laurels and take a 9-5 approach to their job. I am not suggesting that everyone spend their every waking moment in a quest for continually learning but I prefer working with developers that take a interest in bettering themselves and don’t settle for a status quo in their knowledge base.
I know I will be investing in myself more in 2009 than perhaps in any year to date and that includes giving up my personal time to learn things new and old. I plan on diving deeper with IronRuby, DSL’s, XAML based user interfaces and reacquainting myself with the SOLID principles. What are you are plans?
Here’s an excerpt from a job add I have just now seen where the item below is listed as an essential requirement.
- A high-level technical knowledge of all software development environments and programming languages.
This was part of the requirements for a Senior developers role. And Yes that’s verbatim! Hmmm. Good luck filling that role? Yikes…
