Software

Having just started a new project at work, I'm remembering which parts of software development I enjoy.

The software we are planning to write is tightly intertwined with a number of other systems; sandwiched between important home-grown software and something purchased from a vendor. Because of the amount of integration required and the sheer number of people who will use the system we are writing, gathering requirements and doing the design will require a lot of interviews. Lots of working with current and future users of the software, lots of checking with the developers of the former system, etc...

This is the part I enjoy.

I like taking the big problem and breaking it down into smaller problems. I enjoy systematically understanding the system and its context. I enjoy applying a process to the design. I like to do (dare I use this overblown word) the architecture.

I also like the nose-down, stringing-classes-together coding.

All the other stuff? Crap.

I have no interest in all the negotiation, hand holding, training, status reporting, mentoring, and form filling-out that goes along with a project. It isn't that I don't do these things; to get the project done, one has to. But I'm not very good at them and I don't enjoy doing them.