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The Job

In later chapters I chat about the more serious aspects of software development, but I would like to start soft as a minuet and describe more generally what it feels like, and what it takes, to hold down a regular intellectual job.

In this chapter I write about developer personality traits, how to grow in your career, and the best habits to cultivate to stay productive.

The Art of Compatibility

What does it take to be compatible with a long term software development career? Quite a bit, actually.

At inception projects may call for numerous meetings so you need to develop courtesy and show some ability to conduct the initial interviews with a bit of panache. If you naturally have the skills of an insightful listener then you may tend towards gathering requirements and performing analyses.

If you’re leaning heavily toward analysis then you will need to develop an understanding of strategic planning and what goes on behind the scenes in your company and in your industry. For management-facing positions writing and salesmanship talents are also essential.

If you’re more inclined toward the technical aspects of the profession then you need a strong grounding in logic and the aptitude for being well-organized. Patience, research agility, and persistence will carry you far when you are coding.

A fair portion of your work will be teaching people how to learn to be competent in technically challenging tasks or instructing people on the intricacies of how your software operates. You must develop a patient and understanding attitude with those you teach: what may be obvious to you might be opaque to others.

Although creative work is satisfying since it entails “discovery,” you must be comfortable with continually learning and furthermore you need to be a self-motivated learner.

So to summarize, if you are thinking of pursuing software development ask yourself:

- can you write?

- can you sell?

- are you logical and organized?

- are you patient? persistent?

- are you competent at research?

- can you teach others?

- do you love to learn?

No two artists have the exact set of matching talents; the same is true for software developers. Maybe you’re more of a jazzy musician, fast to learn and improvise. Or maybe you are a patient oil landscape painter with a keen sense of planning. Although a handful of personality traits favor the profession, few need all of these talents: software development has enough sub-disciplines that you will easily find a niche dependent on your matching strengths.