![]() Shocking statement #1: Most of the software industry is made up of 80% programmers. It makes the divide between the open-source and Microsoft camps look like a shallow ditch. They know exactly enough to get their job done, then go home on the weekend and forget about computers.Īs I work with teams of programmers in the field, I'm consistently struck by the yawning abyss between that 20% and the rest of the world. If they have, it's only whatever tool shipped in the Microsoft box (like SourceSafe), or some ancient thing handed down to them. Many have never even used version control. They've never used Linux, and aren't very interested in it anyway. They use whatever tools Microsoft hands down to them - usally VS.NET if they're doing C++, or maybe a GUI IDE like Eclipse or IntelliJ for Java development. ![]() The world usually never sees their software. They went to school, learned just enough Java/C#/C++, then got a job writing internal apps for banks, governments, travel firms, law firms, etc. They're not stupid they're merely vocational. The 80% folks make up the bulk of the software development industry. These folks were the first ones to install Linux at home in the 90's the people who write lisp compilers and learn Haskell on weekends "just for fun" they actively participate in open source projects they're always aware of the latest, coolest new trends in programming and tools. The 20% folks are what many would call "alpha" programmers - the leaders, trailblazers, trendsetters, the kind of folks that places like Google and Fog Creek software are obsessed with hiring. There are two "classes" of programmers in the world of software development: I'm going to call them the 20% and the 80%. There are really only two, as Ben Collins-Sussman reminds us. Contrary to myth, there aren't fourteen types of programmers.
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