Code Pissers

Nice expression… It had been a few years since I’d heard it, and there it was, popping up in the middle of a discussion: “code pissers.” A pleasant way, indeed, to refer to developers, those who produce computer code on a daily basis.

If I had spoken on the subject a few years ago, I would have emphasized the infinite baseness of the people who dare to speak this way. I would have described, in a few colorful terms, the intellectual and human degradation implied by the use of such words. I would have spoken of how difficult it must be for these puppets to look at themselves in a mirror. I would have spoken of their world in tears, the filthy malaise, the fallacies, the tedium of time passing…

But of course, I won’t do that.

Time has passed. Enough to see that this expression presupposes a system of thought in which there is no salvation other than management.

Don’t get me wrong: this is by no means an attack on management. But why does our society value it so highly, at the expense of expertise and leadership?

I’m echoing here the recent post by my friend Stéphane Dalbera, “Huey, Dewey and Louie: If You’re Not in the C-Suite by Age 25, You’ve Wasted Your Life,” which highlights with delightful irony the race for grandiose titles among these people who, more often than not, are bosses only of themselves (and even that’s a stretch). Isn’t this a sign of an era more concerned with titles and appearances than with solving the concrete problems of our society and the desire to do something useful?

On the other hand, do I really need to point out the wealth of intelligence required to develop software at scale, the tens of thousands of hours of learning needed to produce code that will stand the test of time, and the qualities of mind and heart required to return to the work time and again, to accept doubt, to question one’s beliefs, and to struggle against oneself? Did someone say “software craftsmanship”?

At 25, you’re fresh out of school and know next to nothing about software development or corporate life. Our best weapons are rigor, drive, defiance, and, above all, humility. A rare quality that spurs you on and prevents you from settling into a comfortable rut… Especially since, at 25, you code about as well as #ChatGPT.

In short, these are opposing values. And you know as well as I do that conflicts over values are irreconcilable. To the ladies and gentlemen who speak of “code pissers”: let’s keep it simple and just avoid crossing paths.