The other day InfoQ posted an article on software craftsmanship.

In my view, software craftsmanship is no more or less than being a good professional. Here are three main ways to become one.

1. See the Big Picture

Let’s start with why. Software rules the world and thus we rule the world. And we all know that with great power comes great responsibility.

Now, what is responsible behavior in this context?

It’s many things. It’s delivering software that solves real needs, that works reliably, is secure, is a pleasure to use, etc. etc.

There is one constant in all these aspects: they change. Business needs evolve. New security threats emerge. New usability patterns come into fashion. New technology is introduced at breakneck speed.

The number one thing a software professional must do is to form an attitude of embracing change. We cope with change by writing programs that are easy to change.

Adaptability is not something we’ll explicitly see in the requirements; it’s silently assumed. We must nevertheless take our responsibility to bake it in.

Unfortunately, adaptability doesn’t find its way into our programs by accident. Writing programs that are easy to change is not easy but requires a considerable amount of effort and skill. The skill of a craftsman.

2. Hone Your Skills

How do we acquire the required skills to keep our programs adaptable?

We need to learn. And the more we learn, the more we’ll find that there’s always more to learn. That should make us humble.

How do we learn?

By reading/watching/listening, by practicing, and by doing. We need to read a lot and go to conferences to infuse our minds with fresh ideas. We need to practice to put such new ideas to the test in a safe environment. Finally, we need to incorporate those ideas into our daily practices to actually profit from them.

BTW, I don’t agree with the statement in the article that

Programmers cannot improve their skills by doing the same exercise repeatedly.

One part of mastering a skill is building muscle memory, and that’s what katas like Roman Numerals are for. Athletes and musicians understand that all too well.

But we must go even further. There is so much to learn that we’ll have to continuously improve our ability to do so to keep up. Learning to learn is a big part of software craftsmanship.

3. Work Well With Others

Nowadays software development is mostly a team sport, because we’ve pushed our programs to the point where they’re too big to fail build alone. We are part of a larger community and the craftsmanship model emphasizes that.

There are both pros and cons to being part of a community. On the bright side, there are many people around us who share our interests and are willing to help us out, for instance in code retreats. The flip side is that we need to learn soft skills, like how to influence others or how to work in a team.

Being effective in a community also means our individually honed skills must work well with those of others. Test-Driven Development (TDD), for example, can’t successfully be practiced in isolation. An important aspect of a community is its culture, as the DevOps movement clearly shows.

To make matters even more interesting, we’re actually simultaneously part of multiple communities: our immediate team, our industry (e.g. healthcare), and our community of interest (e.g. software security or REST), to name a few. We should participate in each, understanding that each of those communities will have their own culture.

It’s All About the Journey

Software craftsmanship is not about becoming a master and then resting on your laurels.

While we should aspire to master all aspects of software development, we can’t hope to actually achieve it. It’s more about the journey than the destination. And about the fun we can have along the way.