Let the skater skate

I think that many (although not the most) of the problems in software projects come from the bad assumption that everyone can write software and everyone can do software related tasks.

This bad assumption means that a lot of software teams have to fight, during their project lifetime, with a number of external interferences. Have you ever seen managers or customers, or both, pushing for changes in the source code, the use of a particular (yet not essential) tool or technology, different estimates, or different design and implementation from the one choosen by the software team ? I have seen it a lot of times. And all the times it was very bad.

Where it all come from ? My opinion is that, from the perspective of external people, writing software seems easy.

Watching a good software development team at work it is like watching an expert figure skater. Jumps, twists, lifts and figures seem all very easy when you watch an expert. So easy that you may be tempted to try by yourself. But, when you try, you will probably fall at the very first jump. And if you try tied together with an expert skater, it is very probable that you both will fall !

Software people have made a lot of work, in the years, to ease the software development process: they invented new languages, practices, tools and instruments that make the process easier than it is. And it is easier than in the past.

And it looks easier. Really.

But even if some languages and tools are so simple that everyone can learn the basics of programming and software writing, there is a dramatical huge difference between software written by professional developers and software written by everyone. And this huge difference can make every project to fail.

So, please, enjoy the skater work, but let the skater skate alone.