Better software by better people

I believe in the thought stream that says "better software can be developed only by better people". I consider it in broader sense. Even with excellent tools such as Visual Studio bug free software is still a dream. One of the core reason for this is that software is built by us i.e. humans. We all make mistakes while developing a software. Then what makes a good developer? When there are thousands of developers having the same technology skillset why is that some are better coders than the others? As a trainer I came across variety of developers. Some good, some bad and some average. When I look them as an individual and try to figure out answers to these questions I realize that somewhere the personality of an individual plays a vital role. When I say personality I mean the over all person, his habits, traits, relationships, soft skills and so on.

If we want to be good developers then we need to focus on improving our inner and outer personalities. Man has four personalities:

• Physical
• Mental
• Intellectual
• Spiritual

Our quality of life (not in terms of money) is directly dependant on how much friction exists between these personalities. More the friction poorer the quality of living. If they coexist with each other in peach and harmony then we enjoy whatever we do irrespective of odds that may come.

Developing these personalities requires proper training of mind body equipment. I often tell people that only Yoga can do that. You may call me Yoga crazy but its true. Yoga if integrated in your life can play wonders. It can completely change your life. But don't worry. I am not going to bombard you with Yoga stuff here. If anyone is interested see my personal web site at www.bipinjoshi.com.

Through this blog I am going to write about technology (.NET of course), personal skills that are necessary in today's competative IT market and how to improve them. I will also jot down my thoughts on how above four personalities can be made to work together smoothly.

Few years back I conducted one corporate training program. The batch was very fresh in software industry. After the initial session of introduction I asked them as to mow many want to work with top layer companies like Infy, Wipro and Satyam. Many raised their hands. Then I asked as to how many have some plan about how to get themselves there. And not a single person raised his hand.

Let me give you another example. I was conducting corporate training in a mid sized company and just then an office assistant came distributing new year diary plus planner. I was being told that each year the company distributes them to all the employees. Just as a curiocity I asked as to how many people really use the planner for planning their project activities, appraisal goals, time lines etc. Almost all laughed and I got answers such as "I give it to my daugter for her paintings", "ah, I am going to throw it in my cupboard", "planning no way. In our life everything is unexpected." etc.

What does this indicate? Are we serious about what we do? We always want good things in life but how many really prepare for them Do we ever ask this question to ourself - "Do I deserve what I am expecting?". Obviously most of thepeople do not. They never try to improve their personalities. Each one of us have some limitations, constraints. But that does not mean we can not overcome them. We can at least try to smothen them out.

Ok. Let me stop here. I am going to post some thing that I learned over several years through variety of resources. Let me honestly tell you that I am not claming to be "personality development guru" neither I am saying that in each and every situation in my life I was able to apply them successfully. But I tried and will continue to apply and try them as and when necessary. I will be sharing them with the hope that someone will find them interesting.

... and of course I will be writing about .NET tools and technologies.