Programmers: far more than typists
Posted by Peet Brits on November 26, 2008
typing
I recently read a post by Jeff Atwood where he states that programmers are typists first and programmers second. This is something that I could never agree with.
I am a Software Developer. I should be part of the whole development cycle. That means, among other things, I design, write, test and maintain my own and other people’s code. The initial coding is possibly not more than 20% of the full cycle. In fact, according to this post by Peter Hallam, it is no more than 5%! How then can we possibly be typists first and programmers second?
A programmer is not a cog in the machine; he invents the cogs and arranges them in the machine. He is not a factory element; he is the one building the factory. Sure, there are different roles and requirements, but this is what developing software is all about.
Yes, I agree that typing is one of the fundamental requirements for programming, but a programmer is so much more.
To agree with Jeff, if you do not know how to type, it is not really that hard to learn. Get yourself a typing tutor and invest some time in practicing. However, the day programmers become nothing more than mere typists is the day I leave IT.
