A developer is anyone who can use the available tools to transform something into another tool to reach a goal. A developer may do these things individually or pay others. A developer doesn't need to have skills if the developer has the resources to obtain others with the needed skills. A developer might also work for other developers in developing these tools in exchange for money.
So, yes, I think anyone can be a developer. The bar for becoming a developer isn't much higher than being able to open a web browser and perhaps search Google. For example, if you want to create an e-commerce site then there are lots of hosted services which will set one up for little to no cost.
At the end of the day, you are either reaching your goals or you aren't. Compare an grandmother who can barely figure out the internet but makes a healthy income off selling items online (perhaps things she has made which and have gained a following) and a ninja engineer who has been mired in feature creep for three years and still isn't close to getting his start-up off the ground (and probably never will)
> A developer doesn't need to have skills if the developer has the resources to obtain others with the needed skills.
A person who does not have any development skills is not a developer. The ability to hire developers does not make one a developer. If I hire someone to play some Rachmaninoff for me, am I a pianist?
> For example, if you want to create an e-commerce site then there are lots of hosted services which will set one up for little to no cost.
If you rent a hosted service with an off the shelf e-commerce site that is automatically installed by your hosting provider, you are not a developer, you are someone who has instructed a hosting company to set up an e-commerce site.
Now, you don't need to have any development skills to run a successful online business, that much is true. But you do need development skills to be an actual developer.
I guess we are getting caught up in semantics here. A non-technical co-founder who has zero knowledge of even HTML / CSS but has hired a team (and has a technical co-founder) is obviously not a web developer by the job description they used to hire that team, but he is still developing that property (the domain name, which is part of the overall brand) to create value. I suppose you could also call this person a brand developer, business developer, product developer, etc.
So, this is a silly question. ;) Personally, if I'm making a profit (assuming that's my goal) then I could care less what you call me. I'm creating value where there was none before.
> Personally, if I'm making a profit (assuming that's my goal) then I could care less what you call me. I'm creating value where there was none before.
Well that's something we can certainly agree on :)
Comments
A developer is anyone who can use the available tools to transform something into another tool to reach a goal. A developer may do these things individually or pay others. A developer doesn't need to have skills if the developer has the resources to obtain others with the needed skills. A developer might also work for other developers in developing these tools in exchange for money.
So, yes, I think anyone can be a developer. The bar for becoming a developer isn't much higher than being able to open a web browser and perhaps search Google. For example, if you want to create an e-commerce site then there are lots of hosted services which will set one up for little to no cost.
At the end of the day, you are either reaching your goals or you aren't. Compare an grandmother who can barely figure out the internet but makes a healthy income off selling items online (perhaps things she has made which and have gained a following) and a ninja engineer who has been mired in feature creep for three years and still isn't close to getting his start-up off the ground (and probably never will)
> A developer doesn't need to have skills if the developer has the resources to obtain others with the needed skills.
A person who does not have any development skills is not a developer. The ability to hire developers does not make one a developer. If I hire someone to play some Rachmaninoff for me, am I a pianist?
> For example, if you want to create an e-commerce site then there are lots of hosted services which will set one up for little to no cost.
If you rent a hosted service with an off the shelf e-commerce site that is automatically installed by your hosting provider, you are not a developer, you are someone who has instructed a hosting company to set up an e-commerce site.
Now, you don't need to have any development skills to run a successful online business, that much is true. But you do need development skills to be an actual developer.
I guess we are getting caught up in semantics here. A non-technical co-founder who has zero knowledge of even HTML / CSS but has hired a team (and has a technical co-founder) is obviously not a web developer by the job description they used to hire that team, but he is still developing that property (the domain name, which is part of the overall brand) to create value. I suppose you could also call this person a brand developer, business developer, product developer, etc.
So, this is a silly question. ;) Personally, if I'm making a profit (assuming that's my goal) then I could care less what you call me. I'm creating value where there was none before.
> Personally, if I'm making a profit (assuming that's my goal) then I could care less what you call me. I'm creating value where there was none before.
Well that's something we can certainly agree on :)