Software Craftsmanship

I signed the Software Craftsmanship Manifesto the other day. It felt like the right thing to do since I have for a long time felt like I am a craftsman doing the software development craft. What really made me realize this was the keynote speech Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob) gave at the Øredev conference in November 2008. He really put words on some of the feelings I have had for a long time.

I believe every software developer is unique and just not an interchangeable resource with which we can staff up any project. Some developers are brilliant and some need more guidance to say it in a diplomatic way. I will even go out on a limb here and say that the success of a software project relies on the ability to staff a project with the right developers.

We need those brilliant developers that can be the inspiration of the other developers. We need the developers aspiring to become brilliant developers. We need the developers starting out with the potential of becoming a brilliant developer. We need the developers that does not implement what the customer asks for but what the customers really need. We need developers that really gets it. We need software craftsmen.

This is why I signed the Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship.