Elitism
- 1 minOne of the many issues the software industry is facing is elitism. Our industry is abound with it.
TDD, programming languages and programming paradigms are only but some categories which act as fertile ground on which elitist behaviours grow. There are of course even worse examples that are based purely on gender.
I have engaged myself in such acts of elitism. Bashing a language because everyone else seems to do it? Sure. Lamenting people for not following “proper” TDD workflows? Yep. Judging an author of an article based on some nebulous ideas without any substance? Guilty as charged.
I am learning and I’m getting better at this. One of the reasons I love working at 8th Light is the fact that I’m surrounded by people that help me grow as a developer and as a person. This in turn helps me recognise better the areas in which elitism can be applied and how to avoid it.
Craftsmanship above everything else, is the act of humility.
My arguments against a technology, a practice or anything else must be backed by good and grounded ideas. Just because I follow TDD it does not mean I am superior to someone that doesn’t and in that light I should not be acting as though I am. My ideas of what good design is comprised of could be very different to someone’s else. It is my duty to engage in a meaningful conversation with that person to understand why.
As a craftsman I am responsible for reducing elitism in our industry by teaching others and opening myself for others to teach me.
Personal blog of Makis Otman