The Developer Nation

Abstract

Developing software systems is a stakeholder-focused activity that needs to be cognizant of the priorities and constraints of the business, the users of the software, those who will need to maintain it, and the many involved in its timely, high-quality, and resource-conscious engineering. Software developers are among the key stakeholders in any software development project endeavor, yet they are also those whose needs are the most overlooked. I define a software developer as an individual who is knowledgeable about one or more programming languages and is capable of using the tools required to create a software functionality. Software developers may also be referred to as programmers, developers, and coders. In addition, all software engineers are expected to be trained in software development, while not all software developers are trained in software engineering or participate in engineering activities. Admittedly, this distinction is fuzzy at best. Software engineering skills include the ability to understand the requirements of the software to be developed, formulate the design and architecture of the software by understanding its tradeoffs, and understand the many activities that need to be executed for the successful delivery of the software. Software development and software engineering are often used interchangeably as well.