A common tendency when looking for software developers is to focus closely on their background in specific programming languages. As previously discussed in Why Do You Hire Programmers?, unnecessary focus on a specific language can lead to other, more appropriate options being overlooked.

A second hazard arises in that, by looking for language-specific experience, this practice contains an implicit assumption that programming languages stand alone, with little relation to one another, and that learning a new one is a major undertaking.

These issues are two sides of the same coin, both flawed in their failure to recognize that, while programming languages are the means used to develop software, they are not the primary skills of software development.

The Right Tool For The Job

A commonly-used metaphor, and one which would have been appropriate to the points made in Why Do You Hire Programmers?, is that of a carpenter’s toolbox. “When you want to build a house, you look for a carpenter who builds houses, not a carpenter who has 5 years of experience using hammers and 2 years using nailguns with preference given to candidates who are also familiar with screwdrivers.”

While this metaphor does make a good point, that the craftsman’s skills go beyond the specific tools used and that you should trust him to use the right tool at the right time, I still have minor issues with it in that it preserves the misconception that each software development tool is fundamentally different from the others. Although there is some overlap between the skills of using hammers, nailguns, or screwdrivers, they are, by and large, three distinct activities. The skills of writing software in C, Java, or Smalltalk, on the other hand, overlap by much more than they differ.

Something A Little Less Prosaic

A much more apt metaphor would be to compare the programmer to the poet.

Skilled poets can write in many forms. A master of the sonnet can also be expected to competently produce ballads or limericks when called for and would likely be able to write a mean haiku with very little practice. The core skills of handling meter and rhyme or choosing the right words to paint a vivid image apply broadly across all poetic forms.

Similarly, a well-rounded developer is proficient in a variety of programming languages and can apply his core skills in logic and program structure to new languages with a minimum of difficulty. The techniques do vary from one language to another, with some placing more emphasis on one type of logic and others emphasizing structure more heavily, just as rhyme is everything to a limerick and irrelevant to a haiku, but this is generally a minor obstacle, if any at all.

Learning The Language

There is a common case where this falls apart, however: Programmers who only know a single language. Although it’s not inevitable, this often indicates someone who has solely learned that language without also learning the more general techniques of software development and how they apply beyond the one language.

The primary skills needed in software development are ways of thinking, of finding solutions for problems, and of structuring those solutions. They are not the vocabulary or syntax of particular programming languages. You will often be much better off with someone who has extensive experience with a wide range of technologies, but doesn’t know your particular language, than with someone who has extensive experience with your language, but has never used anything else.