Nomads And Farmers

[from TribalDevelopment:] Ah, at last I have found a phrase to describe my programming career: NomadicProgrammer. Thank you. It always takes a while to explain to potential employers why I keep moving from job to job (my longest gig ever lasted 2.5 years). I never leave a project unfinished, but once it is done (and delivered to customer/employer satisfaction) I start looking (internally first) for the next conquest. -- ToddCoram

Hey, wait a minute, I've been at the same place for 7 years! Does this mean that I've become a PastoralProgrammer ? On the other hand, maybe it just means that I'm taking my shaman role seriously in looking for patterns all of the time. -- KyleBrown

The Homestead Act of 1862 [http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/wpages/wpgs650/homestd.htm] provided that the land is yours free if you live on it and cultivate it for five years. That seems like a good threshold. Sorry Kyle, I guess you're a SodBuster? like me (unless you've taken up arms against the US Gvt.).

I think there is a difference in attitude between the people who know they are going to move on, and people who plan to be around for a while. A lot of my ideas about reuse resulted from the fact that if I left the code in sorry shape (planting robber crops) I'd be the one to have to clean up after it. On the other hand, if I found a way to factor things so that I didn't have to do them over and over again, I was the one who benefited.

There is a difference between this approach and that taken by some of these migrant workers/hunter-gatherers. I guess the problem these days is how can you keep 'em down on the farm. (Or will the big combines render the field hands obsolete?) -- BrianFoote (who can't resist beating a good metaphor to death)

Um, sorry Brian, that's not quite the way it works. If you want to be a NomadicProgrammer, you can't afford to leave *any* messes behind. You live by your references, and usually you're only as good as your last one. If you don't leave people with full bellies and smiling faces, you're never going to work again.

I've found this myth of nomadic irresponsibility regrettably common among PastoralProgrammer(s), who often seem a little insecure when confronted with nomads. Nomads are familiar with the pejorative "scumtractor". The best way for the nomad, of course, is not to confront that attitude, but just to do a good job and let 'em smile while they curse. I think this is the real difference in outlook: a PastoralProgrammer owns the land and does with it as he likes; a NomadicProgrammer respects the land and does what he can justify to the landlord.

Both nomads and farmers can do good work, of course, and there are rotten apples in both barrels too, no doubt. The best indicator is the quality of their work, whether they have ever left a mess behind or left someone in the lurch. Take them on their merits, not their lifestyle. --PeterMerel

Sorry if that struck a nerve. Such was not my intent. I guess we need a category to distinguish the slash-and-burn types from the concientious. My observation was intended more as a reflection on where my attitudes about reuse came from than as a knock on nomads. I've done enough consulting to know that your job is to leave things in such good shape that they don't need you anymore. Otherwise, you should stop consulting and apply for a permanent position with your client. --BrianFoote

Yes, and apologies for my force. As for re-use, I wonder whether it matters so much in this day of patterns, generics and standards. If all we're really doing is fitting and joining these things, what value are we adding that should be re-used? We may capture the odd domain-specific appliance, but is that really worth much? --PeterMerel

Another metaphor, particularly suitable to Research and consulting endeavors, borrowed from the Texas cattle industry, is SuitcaseFarmer. -- JimCoplien