“Software development: the middle class job of the next generation”

I’ve never been entirely comfortable self identifying myself as a software developer. My degrees are in English and Library & Information Science. But I make a good living developing software. It’s rewarding, not just financially, but creatively as well. Indeed, it’s the creativity that keeps me developing with software.

There are various degrees of software development & just as many skill levels. In a way, software development is like writing. Anyone can do it with a bit of learning. But, like good writing, good software development takes a lot of practice and learning to do extremely well.

For most people software development is a mystery filled with odd incantations performed by pudgy bearded men in dark rooms.

The more we understand about software the more we grasp the limitations and possibilities of technology. After all, technology simply does what it’s programmed to do. There’s no real mystery behind these logical machines.

Unlike the 1980s when I attended college it’s now cool to aspire to a career in software development or entrepreneurship.  I’m still not sure if those skills should be emphasized in college curriculums. Analytical and critical thinking are the most important skills that anyone can learn in formal education. Obviously with the right teachers those skills can be incorporated into computer science coursework. Technology changes so fast that anyone wanting to achieve proficiency in software development must have the ability to learn on one’s own.

In episode 65 of This Week in Venture Capital Mark Suster talks with Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup. Around the 1:05 mark Suster makes the comment that software development is the the “middle class job of the next generation”.  Suster briefly mentioned the routine aspect of software work that needs to be done. While I lust after the creativity of software development, every developer knows that so much of this work is in fixing bugs, updating code prepared by others, and simply maintaining code. Systems change constantly and manpower is needed to keep the code updated. That’s where a lot of the jobs exist. And for those positions you don’t need an extensive engineering background.

Ries concurs with the addition that computer programming and entrepreneurship are part of a new literacy for the next generation.

Suster makes what some may see as a controversial statement,  “I think we need to get to a place, and this is going to sound backwards, not every child in America is expected to go to a four-year university.” I would go further and say that perhaps the most intelligent children do not need a four-year college or university, provided that they already had learned how to learn.