[softwaredoug]

I think it’s important to have some kind of domain knowledge that goes with software ability. Not just be a software engineer.

The closest comparison to what’s happening today is writing. In olden times a few in the professional class could write. It was not a common skill. Now everyone can write. There are technically more “jobs that involve writing” and writing skills CAN help you succeed. But very few people have a job just writing.

What people do have are domain specific jobs where a writing skill is more useful. Journalism, Industry analyst, etc.

The future won’t be some small set of software engineers focused only on functional code, it’ll be domain-knowledgeable people that plan out domain solutions, write, code, all in one role.

[perrygeo]

Ironically that's where I started my career and now I'm hoping to get back there. I was a data-oriented environmental scientist who happened to code. But at some point, I slipped into 100% software development roles and I never got over how strange it felt to be siloed, isolated from the domain knowledge on purpose. It was far too easy to "win" the tech struggle of the day but produce nothing of actual value.

Dedicated coders were somewhat necessary to wrangle the tech stack (which itself grew more complex to accommodate more devs, a positive feedback which nearly spun out of control in late 2010s). But now? A single coder with domain knowledge has a shot at wrangling their own tech stack as a part time job, the rest of the time focussed on IRL value. This is the future I want.

[helpfulmandrill]

That's a great idea, shame I don't know anything (spot the Philosophy graduate!)