> ... you wouldn't want your bank to use software written by someone who didn't have professional-level skills in programming.
That's the first step toward creating a programming priesthood, a very bad idea. Software is as software does. Good software can be identified without requiring its creator to have some credential attesting to his ability to craft "professional-level" code, no more than a writer needs a certificate attesting to his ability to write a readable novel.
For proof of this thesis, one need only look at Microsoft -- until recently the top of the programming profession, highest salaries, copious certificates and assertions of competence, and the worst software.
That's the first step toward creating a programming priesthood, a very bad idea. Software is as software does. Good software can be identified without requiring its creator to have some credential attesting to his ability to craft "professional-level" code, no more than a writer needs a certificate attesting to his ability to write a readable novel.
For proof of this thesis, one need only look at Microsoft -- until recently the top of the programming profession, highest salaries, copious certificates and assertions of competence, and the worst software.
http://www.vexite.com/2005/ending-microsofts-cowboy-spaghett...