Please do not let programmers explore in the dark, programmers explore in the dark

Please do not let programmers explore in the dark, programmers explore in the dark

I don't know if you have ever played World of Warcraft, X-COM, civilized empire, red alert and other strategic games.

These Games use the so-called "fog of war ". When you first enter the game, every player's map is shrouded in darkness. The only way to move forward is to keep exploring. As we move constantly, maps become increasingly visible.

The disadvantage of this strategy is that players cannot see the dangers, obstacles, and opportunities around them. Every success requires a little luck.

Do you feel familiar with this situation?

The fog of war perfectly describes the working conditions of developers. They are always asked to deal with a specific piece of code, but do not tell the relevant information about the task, so they are waiting for themselves to explore in the dark.

For developers, it is necessary to see the entire game map. A clear grasp of the global situation helps them make the right decisions. The following problems are all they need to know:

• Why is this function created? What convenience does it provide to customers?
• What kind of development process has the code around this function experienced?
• Which other parts of the application will be affected by this function?
• Does this affect other parts of the business?
• How can we measure the success (or failure) of this project )?

Only after developers master the entire framework can they start their work in a targeted manner. Their deliberate deliberation and subsequent actions are very helpful to the success of the project.

At the same time, there is also a huge incentive effect. Joe Stump concluded:

Developers often have to find out the problems behind the tasks, which means that developers may not really think about the given objects.

However, if they are responsible, developers will be immersed in this issue, because their work is more dependent on business success.

For example, if I am a backend developer, tell me to implement some API endpoints. I need to consider why you need these endpoints.

This highlights the importance of understanding the purpose and task behind each project:

• Purpose: why should we do this?
• Task: What is the target? How can this problem be solved?

After understanding the purpose and task, developers become valuable partners in the planning process. They can anticipate some potential "mines" to avoid high costs. In a magazine article, Paul Boag described the danger of putting developers away from related meetings:

In the heyday of Digg, A Digg button was held between Daniel Burka (chief designer of Digg) and Joe Stump (its main developer. Daniel wants to change his design, because from his perspective, there is little change. But for Joe, he found that this small design will have a great impact on the performance of the website, forcing Digg to upgrade its processing capability and server architecture with such a button.

What can you do

First, we should be responsible for participating in product, support, and project planning meetings and discussions.

In addition to application developers, few people will notice the security issues of application development, in this case, the programmer needs to draw a conclusion based on his own experience, experience, and relevant research: with the help of a professional third-party security platform-mobile application security intelligent service provider, to achieve the purpose of protection!

After the meeting, we can create the required documents.

The management personnel are not generals, and the developers are not soldiers.

Sometimes, the Management Personnel Only give some "basic knowledge needed to know" as if the project is sensitive and confidential ".

However, this protection will not lead to better code, more popular projects, or increase sales. Developers should not be asked to explore in the dark. They should be invited to participate in the overall strategic discussion.