The Changing Face of Software Development

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday October 2, 2013 @12:12AM from the strength-through-diversity dept.

CowboyRobot sends this excerpt from Dr. Dobb's: "Ten years of surveys show an influx of younger developers, more women, and personality profiles at odds with traditional stereotypes. Software development is an art and a science that is not attainable for just anyone. It takes a special type of person to write code. Developers are detail-oriented, very literal, and intelligent. Logic is paramount, and they share a passion for their craft that rises above the desire to make more money. They are also typically married, middle-aged, have children, and most likely a mortgage. In one of a series of surveys that we've performed every six months since 2001 (interviewing each time more than 1400 developers worldwide), we find the typical developer is a married, middle-aged male, who has two to three children. Males have dominated the profession for as long we've been tracking this; and during that time, they have accounted for anywhere from 84% to 94% of the workforce. The number of male developers is currently close to the low, at 86%, which might indicate more females are taking up programming."

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Very literal? by ErnoWindt · 2013-10-02 00:30 · Score: 5, Interesting

I really have to take issue with the "very literal" comment. In my experience (stretching over 20 years), it's the non-literal types who are the best software engineers. They not only have an imagination, but understand nuance as well. I'd say a literal-minded person might succeed at programming at a very low or entry level, but beyond that, it's imagination and creativity that win the day.
Re:Might Indicate More Females by Anonymous Coward · 2013-10-02 00:48 · Score: 5, Interesting

"The number of male developers is currently close to the low, at 86%, which might indicate more females are taking up programming."
Might indicate more females? Do we have a large number of non-gender or 3rd gender in the workforce taking up programming?
It could possibly indicate that there a fewer programmers in total.
Example: a team of 10 persons, 8 guys, 2 girls. One of the guy leaves, no one replaces him. This lowers the men ratio of the team (from 80% to ~78%), yet there are no more women than before. So the higher women ratio does not necessarily mean there are more women than before.