Coders and Musicians
Posted by Eric Stewart Sat, 18 Feb 2006 16:10:00 GMT
Not quite sure why coding and designing are considered separate activities, particularly with software. Kind of like asking someone to write a song with no instrument present. Sure can be done and many do it but I wouldn’t prescribe it as a precept.
—Bruce Trask from the Pragmatic Programmers mailing list
I like this analogy and would add that the practice should fit the piece/project; use what makes sense. Instruments, metronomes, recordings, mixers, effects processors, etc. are all just tools that a musician can use in performance as well as practice.
A composer might spend great lengths of time with only pencil and paper, recording notes on staffs or chord progressions, harmonies, and other portions of a work as they weave the parts together to make a whole. But occassionally they might go pick up an instrument and try an idea that is in their head, or seek the right sound.
This is like a developer working on a spec, or set of stories stepping aside to work on a spike or other proof of concept. Writing some code not necessarily with the intent of its inclusion in the final product, but to help with overall process. And sometimes those excercises are fruitful enough to use what comes out of them directly, with little rework.
In other cases, a group of musicians might be composing together, or just having a jam session. They bounce ideas off of each other, react to what the others are contributing, maybe perform a solo at times, duet at others, harmony at others, or simply provide the supporting rythm that keeps the piece together and gives it form.
Sounds like group planning, pairing, and other team development activities. Someone has to kick of the group and keep them in type and in the right key, but on top of that the group or sub-group can do some very interesting things.
Since I have now battered this analogy to death I will end witht a parting thought. All those great recordings you listen to on CDs, MP3s, vinyl, eight-track, or just on the radio were developed somehow whether it’s a single song, a concept album, or an entire symphony. All the great musical works you love were composed in many, many different ways.
Try telling all those musicians that they were supposed to compose their works without picking up their instruments and playing a note!
