Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

George Bernard Shaw

Chapter 3Interfacing with Humans

You’re standing in the kitchen thinking about what to make this evening. You’re flicking through a recipe book full of bright pictures and sequential methods. Recipes are sort of like algorithms, aren’t they? You set up the environment, follow the steps, and out comes the result. They appeal to our minds as engineers: creativity, precision, methodology, and tastiness. As you think about algorithms, your mind drifts to when you were first learning to program. It wasn’t a passion that you already held, nor was it one that unfolded in an instant. It unfurled slowly with time. At first, you hated it. It was ...