Be something before being a software developer

When I decided what I was going to study in college, I went for economics because back then I thought that it was the best course to give you a worldview. I still think it is.

One economist I don't record the name used to say that, to be a good economist, you should be something first. Because you can't use models to understand the world if you don't have any previous knowledge about the problems it has. I think that also applies to software developers.

Everything you do in an economy is looking at the world, extract the important information, and then use some model to try to predict what's going to happen.

In software development, you look at a company, extract the important information about the operation, and then use that to build something that will make it better.

So if you know how to code, but doesn't know how business work, you can't do something good without the need of a manager.

I'm really glad I learned how to code. It is a huge ability to build great things that can impact a whole bunch of people. But to use it properly you have to be something first.

I was nothing before being an economist. I was an economist before being a software developer. I had to be a bad economist to be a good software developer.

Be something before being a software developer.