At first glance the obvious answer is no, of course not. However, if we took
away the practical aspects of both, things might be a little different. Think
about it…
In medicine there is a standard of care: keep the person alive and healthy.
This is done through years of study, years of practice, not to mention the constant
need to keep up on latest drugs and treatments. There is however one constant.
The body, in all it’s natural wonders, only really has one specification. One
heart, two lungs, two kidneys, one liver, one stomach, one brain, etc.
Software development on the other hand, does not have one specification. Arguably,
there is no specification.
Software Development: Be able to develop anything and everything.
It’s an interesting concept. There are similarities between the jobs (as well
as between a lot of other jobs too) because both need to keep up on latest practices,
abide by rules, procedures, policies, and laws, all the while doing it well.
Developers, however, do not have the luxury of being able to follow a single set of
standards though. In our world, the righteous developers don’t just stick to
one platform or one language. You aren’t a true developer if you only know one
language, or can only code on one platform.
You aren’t a doctor if you can only save human lives. Wait. No.
That’s not right.
We are considered uninformed if we stick to one platform.
Practically speaking, being a doctor is without a doubt much harder than being a developer.
There are days though that I wish I were a doctor so I didn’t have to listen to other
developers complain about platforms or languages or methodologies or…
My point being: stop telling me that your way is better. I don’t care.
I really, really don’t. I will use what feels natural to me.
</rant>
