Top Linux Developers Losing the Will To Code? 170
E5Rebel noted that Don Marti has a piece that talks about "Core Linux developers are finding themselves managing and checking, rather than coding, as the number of kernel contributors grows and the contributor network becomes more complex."
a good or bad thing? (Score:5, Interesting)
Not loosing the will (Score:2, Interesting)
The Mythical Man Month (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Should have used Eiffel (Score:3, Interesting)
That's why people still use languages like C. It's quick to get a program together, even if it doesn't do exactly what you wanted first time. You fix the mistakes and try again. Each time you go around the loop, there should be fewer bugs (but Sod's Law says that each one will take longer to find). After just a few generations, you end up with a mostly-usable program.
With all these fancy-arsed "designed so mistakes are impossible" languages, you can spend longer trying to write a "demonstrably-correct-first-time" program than you would chasing down bugs in a nearly-right one. Or at least, that's what it feels like.
This is Good (Score:3, Interesting)
Experience does count, and age is not a limitation. There's a myth that older people can't program. At 45 I reckon I can outprogram most youngsters, but it is probably more valuable to be mentoring others. I know a few very active programmers in their 60s and even 70s.
Old good programmers should not become managers unless they are actually better managers than programmers. Programming is not a science or an art, it is a blue-collar skilled trade. Knowledgable older programmers should be helping out the youngsters.