Programming is both: A Craft and Science

There is a latent conflict in software development. I experienced it several times in different contexts. It is no always obvious, but nevertheless it is there… There are two different approaches to software development: An academic and a craftsman approach. One needs to be a good craftsman to write solid, maintainable, and efficient code, but one also needs to be an academic to understand IT systems and their specialties.

The academic approach is all about theory. Students in universities get told that theory. These students become very good and they are very knowledgeable, but they lack the experience and practice to develop real world software. They also learn a lot of mathematics like calculus, numerical mathematics, statistics, and linear algebra. For academics it is often difficult to realize that real world software cannot be perfect (too expensive), needs to be maintainable (software needs to be maintained and bug fixed and also developed on in future) and cost efficient, robust solutions might not be modern, cool or state-of-the-art. Academics also tend to fall in love with some problems and try to solve them in the most beautiful way possible. This is economically meaningless and too expensive.

The other approach is, that software is a craft. Real craftsmanship needs a lot of time, practice and guidance by a senior. It is like building stuff. The first trials will be messy, unusable, ugly… But, the more practice a craftsman get the better the outcome is. But, good code does not solve hard and complex issues. These need an academic approach. For example, some problems need to be converted into problems of Linear Algebra to get them performed efficiently. A pure programmer who only learn to program is not able to do that.

The problem is now: Students are intellectually trained very well, but they are no craftsman. Pure craftsman can write good code, but may not be intellectually prepared for complex systems. As a consultant I see both sites. I train scientists and engineers which are experts in their specific domain to write good, maintainable code, but I also see people who write good code, but need some input on how to tackle some hard problems.

What can be done!?

Academics: Science and engineering is ruled by laws and intellectual challenges. It is fine, but there is more to be done in Software. For Academics I recommend to read some books like “The Pragmatic Programmer” by Andrew Hunt et. al. (http://astore.amazon.de/pureso-21/detail/020161622X) and think about initiatives like Software Craftsmanship (http://manifesto.softwarecraftsmanship.org) and observe the own daily doing. Academics in most cases are very good in self reflection. It is easily understood what needs to be done to not hassle later on with bad code, unmaintainable software. (For questions, I can be booked, too… ;-)) The main concern should be: How can the job be done in a way with maximum of automation, minimum of repetitive work and as maintainable as possible.

Craftsman: A craft is doing, evaluation and redoing until perfection is reached. It is a good approach, but some problems cannot be solved so easily. The easiest way to proceed is to team up with a domain expert, the second best thing is to read about the domain of expertise which is missing to become an expert in this field to a certain level which is needed. The main concern should be: How can the problem be solved efficiently? The most problems are already solved to a certain level. This can be copied and studied. Only the remaining parts need to be invented.

The best software developers combine skills of academics and craftsman. Both sites are challenging on its own, but the combination needs to be developed over time. The result is worth it: The software developed by these people is amazing: Maintainable, understandable, simple, efficient…

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