In our previous article, we described 5 personality types that you can find in almost every organisation with big teams of IT professionals. Some of them are a delight to work with whereas others could cause some headaches once and a while.
And despite the major differences between each one of them, without all these different personalities working together we might not have been able to enjoy the great software we are using today.
As the list is incomplete without the other 5 personalities let’s dive into them right now.
6. Mr./Ms. “Nothing-duct-tape-can’t-fix!”
This type of programmer has the ability to make the most out of code that barely works by applying several band-aids that makes it stick all together.
By what seems to be unthinkable they will take a Fortran deck, turn it into Lisp, and with a bit of polishing cross-compile it into Java. But it doesn’t stop there. After all, Java would need to be translated into JavaScript and to make sure that green-screen app will run in your browser they will use Google Web Toolkit to achieve this.
Why would you need to debug or rewrite the code when the application runs just fine in Firefox 5 and up as well as Internet Explorer 8 using the methods above? They simply don’t feel that writing code is a necessary feat when it’s just as easy to their hands on some glue code and create an output in whatever format you desire.
It makes you think though, why would anyone eradicate a great set of APL routines when you can get data in JSON using a PHP proxy? It’s so much easier!
7. The Manual Optimiser
They always say “don’t reinvent the wheel” but what if the existing wheel fails to useful when it comes to optimising code for your specific subpattern? You optimise everything manually. It’s the only solution.
As much as they would like to use existing data structures that come shipped with the library they can’t shake off the feeling that it will not give the desired output. Instead, they will try to arm themselves with several arguments as to why said library limits them to create the best output and how it can and will cost the companies a significant amount of financial resources.
And they are not completely in the wrong. Using the same library might raise some concerns. For all we know the support and maintenance of the library might stop after a couple of years. Or perhaps the method names are not approved or certified by ISO.
While Manual Optimisers have the best intentions and showcase boosts in performance they tend to forget that their endeavours could triple the development time and stagnate the role out of the end delivery. On the plus side, their ultimate output is of the highest quality which is something they take pride in. And rightfully so.
8. The Old but Wise One
As programmers age and switch between various organisations, they have tonnes of experience to share with their apprentices. And they are more than happy to share this and old “battle stories” about how they solved a significant issue using a pile of code that has not seen the light of day in a long time.
They fondly look back on the days where there were only a few bugs to squash as the software was comprised of only a couple of bytes. What is particularly pointed out by them is how “advanced” the tech was in their days by which there was no need to boot their pc. There was simply no need to for their machines to go through virus checks and the startup code so they could start entering their code immediately. Good days!
Typically, the wise ones are very reliable and knowledgeable. Those that have the patience and willingness to learn are best off sitting down with these type of programmers.
9. The DIY specialist
Programmers come in all shapes and sizes but this one gets the job done regardless of their experience and skillset. They will do whatever it takes to meet the expectations of their manager or the client. Their insatiable hunger to learn new things is, therefore, one of their best assets and they tend to absorb new things like a sponge.
If you are ever stuck on a piece of code that doesn’t compile or for any other questions really, DIY specialists are the people to go to. They are very resourceful and are not shy to share their knowledge with you.
When it comes to delivery you would be surprised that DIY specialists are very reliable in delivering something that might not even be their own work. They might not create the plug-ins or applications themselves but they are pros in exploiting existing tools and make it seem new. With so many tools that are readily available to be deployed this has become much easier nowadays but less impressive.
10. The ambassador
This type of programmer goes by the name ambassador as they represent their team. Their knowledge about code theories, programming workflows, and development is on par but in reality, they do little of the actual development.
They are fantastic at communicating with clients and recognise leads when they see them. Their main asset is that they are able to find an equilibrium between pleasing their team and the clients when it comes to delivery. Timely and on-point delivery is of the essence for them and is achieved by balancing effectiveness with client satisfaction.
On the flipside, they tend to make it obvious that they feel they deserve better compensation without doing any heavy coding.
We have reached the end of our list. Do you recognise any of the personalities described in part 1 or 2? In case we left out some of the most obvious personalities we would love to hear from you what unique traits we have missed out on describing.
