[Sigia-l] Programming IAs was: Little things an IA MUST know/do

[Todd R.Warfel]

On Thursday, April 24, 2003, at 12:28 PM, John O'Donovan wrote:

> ...by knowing more about the technical aspects you will enrich your 
> designs. It should not be seen as a negative thing. A building 
> architect or car designer usually understands many construction or 
> mechanical aspects of their designs and this makes their designs 
> better.

I agree they should be aware, but that doesn't mean they should know 
how to program. Those are two very different things.

A good friend of ours is a contractor, owns his own construction 
company. He understands blueprints, but has no desire, nor need to be 
able to actually use CAD to make them. It won't help him do his job any 
better.

Likewise, one of our best friends is a structural engineer, and another 
is an architect. The architect has no desire, nor need to learn the 
complicated mathematical programs the structural engineer uses to 
calculate the amount of pressure the design needs to hold. They 
understand there are limits that need to be considered, but that 
doesn't mean they need to learn the nitty gritty of the others job.

We're going in circles here.

I think we all agree that each discipline needs to have an 
understanding and appreciation for the others'. However, I don't think 
that designers and IAs need to know Java to be a good designer or IA. 
It's simply not true. Programmers generally don't make good designers. 
Designers generally don't make good programmers. They have two very 
different mind sets. Again, there are exceptions to this, but those are 
extremely rare.

It's not about being boxed in, it's about being disciplined. After all, 
that's why they call it a discipline.

> Maybe I just hate being boxed :) but I do get uncomfortable when a job 
> title
> suddenly makes people think you have nothing to contribute in certain 
> areas.
>
> A team should be multi-disciplinary and members should be 
> multi-skilled to
> achieve the best results.

Each member brings a different strength and component to the team. 
That's where the value is. There's little value in having a team full 
of jack of all trades - you'll end up without any experts.

Again, to be clear, I'm saying we each need to be aware of the others 
discipline, but be specialized in our own.

Cheers!

Todd R. Warfel

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