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Re:Is Programming as an Art Dead? by PandaWhisperer on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @04:18PM (#13224108)
> the [..] difference between the "thinking" programmers and the "shipping" programmers grows larger

That certainly seems true, but does that mean it should be that way? FWIW I see "thinking" programmer as a senior engineer, and "shipping" programmers as juniors. The latter will eventually become the former, but they require training and nurturing to do so.

In my experience, that's very hard to find. I've worked for many companies and in my experience, the ones with a "sane" programmer culture are very, very rare. Most are dominated by the business and sales structures, and see the techs as a necessary evil that they'd rather ship overseas where the wages are lower.

Where are the companies that are committed to technical excellence?

Re:Is Programming as an Art Dead? by the_hoser on Tuesday December 27, 2016 @03:27PM (#13265929)
I don't think that it matters how it should be. The question of how things should be is... pointless. We can speculate about that all day and it won't make a difference.

"Senior" software engineers are shippers. They're the ones that have the ability to deliver on time without stepping on their own garbage. Any training that the company can offer will be in gravitating toward being a better "shipping" programmer.

Don't look to companies to provide the kind of environment that the thinking programmer needs. Thinking programmers fit better in non-corporate scenarios. Hobbyists, academics, etc. Without the business imperative breathing down their neck, the programmer can stop and think about what they're doing. When a company does foster the slow-burn software work that the thinking programmer does, then it's because that company has more money than they know what to do with, and the bean counters are busy on other parts of the ledger.