It's the jobs that got small
I started building websites in 1997. They didn't contain my first code - I'd written BASIC on a BBC Micro as a boy - but they marked a new direction after working in film and television.
This was at the peak of the first dot-com boom when anything seemed possible. I had an idea for an app that let you hail a taxi wherever you were. Another required massive screens to be installed in public venues - such as cafes and bars - for people to leave messages on.
To my surprise I'm still writing code 25 years later.
Job titles in web software development are quicksilver. Some describe roles - webmaster, web developer, full stack, front or back end developer, product engineer - others are merely descriptive of the immediate tools to hand - .NET developer, React developer.
Titles are required for a contract and are a useful shorthand for what a person needs to know and do but they fall short of describing how people interact, what interests them, and their know-how.
I am currently scouring job boards for a new position but I'm not finding any matches.
Here are some things I enjoy doing and that I'm good at:
- Talking to the people who use the software I'm building
- Finding out what is needed
- Finding out what is wanted
- Having long team meetings
- Pair programming and pairing with non programmers
- Creating prototypes
- Seeking and receiving feedback
- Writing tests, especially integration tests
- Writing code
- Designing interfaces
- Adhering to and promoting web standards including for accessibility and sustainability
- Releasing code
- Pausing and reflecting