DailyPost 723
CODERS ALL!
Getting your own software made is challenging which can put even the most courageous through the litmus test. However much we avoid, there is no denying the fact that softwares would have to be created for specific tasks & sometimes for generic tasks well, when a high upgrade is required. For Software companies being in the trade, they can select the right coders through their process. They know their product and how to to go about it. Still their are obstacles and lead to time & cost overruns.
For the laymen customers: business enterprises, academic institutions and govt dept/agencies, the challenges are unending. You tend to get a good company with lots of efforts getting past past the nitty gritty of valuations, certifications, effort & cost calculation, analysis, the procurement / the tender process etc. How do you find out a CMM5 company from it’s coders? How many company hire for only a project? What are you able to make out from the CV & max one interview? It’s finally the interplay of costing and profits that wins the game. With only 3% of the concerned grads capable of coding, how much faith can we have on the companies.
The coders CVs being provided to the customer, at times he is given the prerogative of selecting the coders. He has no mechanism to select the right one and then a combination of them called a developmment team, under control of a super coder called the manager. It is easier said than done. The nightmare begins. A National Coding Comptency Test, with resonable variations to cover the main sectors would be of immense value.
It might not solve the problem completely but it can be first quality indicator. Uniformity in standard & thus skills will make the team stick fast. A software is the ideal synthesis of domain and the coding skills, a relevant background of the domain or understanding, will make software development easier. The modalities has to be worked out. Domain Eligibility Test is thus a must. Domain & technology team friction can only doom software development.
AN OBJECTIVELY TESTED CODER IS THE FIRST REQUIREMENT OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT.
Sanjay Sahay