The Future of Software Development

What’s the future of software development? Useful software.

I worked in trade publishing for six years. I worked with people who’d dedicated their entire professional lives to it. What was the future of publishing? Compelling books.

Disruptive change doesn’t necessarily mean the essence of the thing changes.

The challenge in building software was never just coding. It was building the right thing in a way that achieves a useful purpose.

If you think that is as simple as having an unvalidated idea then I can understand why you believe software developers will become irrelevant.

On the contrary, developers need to translate an idea into a user centered implementations that actually achieve the intended outcome and don’t break in a thousand ways at the first zag in that path. And, yes, mastering architectural patterns, quality practices, and even the characteristics of the specific language matter.

That isn’t just writing code but the best of us never just wrote code.

So, does Gen AI open up opportunities for people who aren’t traditional coders, yes. And thankfully so. Let’s create abundance. If someone has a great idea that creates good. Please, let gen AI help them share it.

If the job for some was following instructions and having strong opinions, strongly held devoid of context, then let that go away. I wont excuse the excesses of the tech industry.

Does any of this make empathy, experience, and expertise in building effective software irrelevant, f— no.