Marketing is more of a soft skill - it takes relatively more creativity and a better understanding of human nature than programming languages. This isn't to say programming isn't a creative pursuit; it's just creativity bounded by logical constraints imposed by whatever language you're working in.
Programming is more of a hard skill - it takes years of studying and practicing the different languages and mastering the logical thought processes that make things tick.
So difficulty depends on what your natural talents are. If you're an intelligent, logical individual you might find coding easier. If you're an intelligent, creative individual you might find marketing easier.
I think the prevalence of UX/UI design has evolved from a need to have both spheres in order to build the best projects possible. It combines the human aspects of customer experience with the mechanical aspects of making shit work. Apple got it right and look where they are now.
This: it all depends on who YOU are. I've met many a coder who cannot even conceive of how to promote the product, but will rip out an idea provided by someone else that we think is impossible; in a couple of hours in the middle of the night; with a twist that makes it insanely great. They marvel at the idea; the rest of us marvel at their technical skill. No one is "better" or "more intelligent." We're all just part of the team, each bringing our gifts to bear.
I agree with this. I am a business guy with a marketing background. I can tell you what needs to be done with marketing and probably fill your "knowledge coffer" in about 5 days.
Programming is the truly hard part, it takes months to get a handle on and as soon as you put it down for a few weeks you must re-learn much of what you've forgotten (at least that's my experience).
If marketing was harder than programming, I think we'd have dozens of programmers trying to find marketers on Craigslist and forums... instead of reality which is marketers scraping for programmers to join projects on an equity basis.
> If marketing was harder than programming, I think we'd have dozens of programmers trying to find marketers on Craigslist and forums... instead of reality which is marketers scraping for programmers to join projects on an equity basis.
That sounds true on the surface but actually we've no idea of the number of programmers who failed but would/could have succeeded had they gone looking for a marketer. That marketers go out and try to 'market themselves' to programmers shouldn't be a surprise.
While I agree that in terms of skill-set marketing is probably easier to pick up than programming (I make a living as a marketer and programming is a hobby), there are organizational factors in a marketing department (large ones anyway) that don't exist in an engineering dept. Namely, a multitude of stakeholders who all need or want a say in how the product is marketed. This is compounded by the fact that marketing effectiveness can be harder to measure - MUCH harder if you don't control the sales channel - and so a lot of subjectivity comes into play.
Where I work, on a consumer electronics product, there are up to a dozen different departments and no less than 27 people who weigh in on what I do. Compared to programming, where the ultimate arbiter could simply be "Does it work?" or "Do the tests pass?" marketing is a tangle of opinion and politics.
Marketing is more of a soft skill - it takes relatively more creativity and a better understanding of human nature than programming languages. This isn't to say programming isn't a creative pursuit; it's just creativity bounded by logical constraints imposed by whatever language you're working in.
Programming is more of a hard skill - it takes years of studying and practicing the different languages and mastering the logical thought processes that make things tick.
So difficulty depends on what your natural talents are. If you're an intelligent, logical individual you might find coding easier. If you're an intelligent, creative individual you might find marketing easier.
I think the prevalence of UX/UI design has evolved from a need to have both spheres in order to build the best projects possible. It combines the human aspects of customer experience with the mechanical aspects of making shit work. Apple got it right and look where they are now.