This month marks Charles Darwin's 200th birthday. His classic work, The Origin Of Species, wasn’t much of a hit when it was originally published back in 1859 but no one can argue that the idea of evolution hasn’t changed the world. Survival of the fittest is an elegant explanation of why so many species exist, why some become extinct, and why some flourish. So, what would Charles Darwin have to say about the species that are so affectionately known as application development professionals? Hmmm.
Observed in their natural habitat, application development professionals seem to be doing quite well. They are a hearty lot, who have made themselves indispensible in a world that is driven by an ever increasing demand for technology. As long as developers continue to write billions of lines of code, they are not going the way of the dinosaurs or the buggy whip manufacturers anytime soon. What is the secret to their success? Charles Darwin himself has the answer:
“It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most responsive to change”
Please don’t misinterpret. It is not that app dev pros aren’t strong and intelligent. They are. But, above all else application development professionals are responsive to change. If you are not an app dev pro, stop snickering. You are probably thinking that developers are slow to change. Well consider this: in the last 30 years we have gone from practically zero applications to an uncountable number and growing. Application developers have used dozens of different programming languages and written applications for almost every purpose known to humanity – all in response to the world around them. And, all this happened in a short 30 year time span.
It is this breakneck responsiveness to change, this adaptability, that makes application development professionals indispensible and inveterate survivors.
Senior Analyst
