Top Issues in Programmer Productivity By Sam Miller At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

A software program is something that anyone can be trained to use. Pretty easy if one will think about it. However, very few people have an idea how many hours are put in just to complete and develop software. There is a big issue in programmer productivity in the world of technology and people in the Information Technology industries are really getting quite a bang in finding out how to reduce costs and time input and maximize output for software development. To get to the nittyy gritty of the matter, one must understand what kind of productivity is expected from a programmer. Or better yet, understand the problem first.

In software development, a programmer needs to sift through hundreds and possibly thousands of data. These data may be in the form of text or numbers. Nevertheless, what the programmer needs to accomplish is to troubleshoot a malfunction in the developing program or find a single specific task that the program is supposed to do. This activity is greatly time-consuming. Most of the time, the same programmer will have to start a new task prior to accomplish what he is currently doing. So, just imagine the length of time that one has to put in — and this is only for a specific functionality. So, as described, the main issue here is how to maximize time.

Time Constraints

Just like money, there is a timeline set for developing software programs. Any delay will be equivalent to extra costs. Many people make the mistake of adding more headcount to expedite the project. Little do they know that this is also equivalent to more costs. However, the decision regarding this will depend on the priority. If the software is needed to be released on a certain date, then certainly one can add bandwidth to the production group.

Financial Constraints

Cash flow is very essential in developing software. Without adequate budget, the project is likely to freeze. And this is something any business should aim to avoid. Everyone knows that financial decisions are already pre-planned. This means before the project, during the project, and after the project, corporate leaders have already allotted a ceiling amount to how much they can spend on a project. Of course, the budget does not factor in expenses in maintaining the software and developing patches, should the software needs tweaking or improvement. Of course, you cannot expect a project to be foolproof. There will certainly be times when a project would need some tweaking.

According to some, productivity in software development is defined as the ability to come up with software program—quality uncompromised—with the least amount of time and with limited resources. There is a big problem in programmer productivity here since there is a constraint. First off, there is a lack of resources and there is constraint in time. Money and time are two big issues that will definitely cause setbacks in any given project. The sad part of reality here is, the programmer is the only person who will get the blame or credit. The programmer is the only person who will be branded as productive or unproductive.

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