Learn Business and Become a Better Software Developer

Are you looking for the next thing to learn to advance your skill as a software developer? Maybe you’re considering to dig into that new functional language? Or that new front-end framework? Perhaps take the time to really understand machine learning, like, the algorithms, not just using a ready-made black box solution…?

No.

Most likely this is not what will benefit you the most. Sure, being up to speed with that new framework may help you run faster. However, running even faster in the wrong direction will not get you closer to the goal.

You need to learn something different — your business!

Because at the end of the day, your job is not to write code. Your job is to create business value.

Why We Write Code

A way to describe business value is that it is any value that contributes to the success of the company and the long-term health of the business. Often it cannot be measured directly in economic terms, sometimes it may even be intangible, like customer goodwill. In other cases, like a performance improvement that reduces server costs, it is much more easily measured.

As a software developer, you use code to create business value. Your purpose is never to write code for its own sake, in…