Re:Coders Automating Their Own Job
by tabtab on Tuesday October 02, 2018 @05:49PM
(#18126000)
Re: programmers are not automating themselves out of programming jobs. They're automating themselves out of data entry...
That's not always true. In at least 2 different organizations I worked at they were creating a combinatorial mess of search screens and/or reports.
Using a little bit of meta programming, query-by-example forms, data dictionaries, click-able drill-downs, and modular design; such "reporting stacks" could often be simplified into either a fewer number of screens and/or designed in such a way that a non-programming power user could configure most reports on their own. Allowing CSV exports of query results also reduces the number of "paper" report requests because Excel users can then format their own.
The result is something that needs roughly 1/3 as many programming hours to update and maintain.
One caveat is that you have to know the domain fairly well for it to be practical. You have to learn the domain patterns and habits in order to factor those patterns into meta-patterns. When I tried it as a newbie to the org, I usually did it wrong.
That's not always true. In at least 2 different organizations I worked at they were creating a combinatorial mess of search screens and/or reports.
Using a little bit of meta programming, query-by-example forms, data dictionaries, click-able drill-downs, and modular design; such "reporting stacks" could often be simplified into either a fewer number of screens and/or designed in such a way that a non-programming power user could configure most reports on their own. Allowing CSV exports of query results also reduces the number of "paper" report requests because Excel users can then format their own.
The result is something that needs roughly 1/3 as many programming hours to update and maintain.
One caveat is that you have to know the domain fairly well for it to be practical. You have to learn the domain patterns and habits in order to factor those patterns into meta-patterns. When I tried it as a newbie to the org, I usually did it wrong.