saadware

I started using the Microsoft Visual C++ IDE back on version 6 (before that, it was pure Unix with gcc). Visual Studio is a great product. The evolution of the IDE has been astounding. Scratch that… the evolution of the the entire platform has been monumental. When .NET made its way into the picture it was first kind of sketchy. It has since become a very respectable, dependable, fun platform to develop for. The tools that surround the platform are a big reason of what make it desirable to develop for.

Lately, however, I’ve had some strange realizations that have spurred deep fears that dig at the root of software developers on a Windows platform. For example, I’ve witnessed others using the Code Complete functionality as a form of documentation. If I’m not mistaken, Code Complete was originally intended to help reduce the number of keystrokes, thereby saving time. When I see developers using this functionality to seemingly browse through a list of methods they might be able to call on some object, I want to slap the keyboard right from under their hands! Nothing, but maybe somebody teaching you replaces documentation. Therefore it’s probably a misuse of the tool to be using code complete to browse an API in hopes of finding the method called, “Object.SolveMyProblems()”. Be resourceful and do some research!

Also, at some level, the .NET framework is one big Win32 library wrapper. When coding against it, I’m finding that developers are less inclined to “figure out” what is really going on with the code. For example one can pretty much write three lines of code and get full crypto functionality, where the same would have taken you… well… quite a bit more code in pure C/C++ for Win32. This is not necessarily bad or undesirable. We are all looking for ways to perform our duties in less lines of code. The question becomes, is the understanding still there?

Are we now just going through the motions not really knowing what we’re doing? Should we care? Does any of this really matter? Isn’t this just a natural progression of tools/platforms that make a developer’s life easier?

I would argue that there are potentially hidden costs to having such kick ass tools. Costs that in my mind start to freak me out a bit. What kind of developers are we breeding here if their background knows nothing else but this extraordinary tool set? Many seasoned developers have experience with various others prior to Visual Studio and .NET. These developers at least have a chance of being aware of what’s happening, but are not immune to it. The type of developer that I fear is being bred is one that is unknowingly being conditioned to do less thinking.

What happens when the “thinking” muscle doesn’t get as much use? Like any other muscle, it starts to atrophy. Somebody who develops software needs to be an effective problem solver, which requires serious brain activity. The concern is that we are going to become so comfortable with our frameworks and tools because they take care of so many of the “hard software problems” for us, that we forget how to effectively solve.

What this really boils down to is that as time goes on, the need for understanding dwindles. As tools continue to get better, the requirement to actually understand what is happening behind the curtain disappears. I don’t know about anyone else but this is what scares me.

I’m very curious to see where others stand on this. Am I just unnecessarily freaking out? There will always be the superstar like developers that are not affected by this type of stuff. My anxieties lie with other 95% of developers. Of this percentage there are many developers that think they’re really good, but could it be that the tool set and/or platform is making them look good?

Even if our team was doing primarily developing in Visual Studio (which it’s not), hiring anyone without previous experience in C/C++ would not happen. I would venture to say that even if we were doing primarily .NET development, I would be hesitant at hiring anyone that only has experience with that platform and not with C/C++. That maybe a cry of just not accepting the times and being a grumpy old programmer but hey, everyone has their line.