There’s a great post by Jeff Atwood on the importance of elevator pitch test out of which I snip the following: <blockquote>Software developers think their job is writing code. But it’s not.* Their job is to solve the customer’s problem. Sure, our preferred medium for solving problems is software, and that does involve writing code. But let’s keep this squarely in context: writing code is something you have to do to deliver a solution. It is not an end in and of itself. </blockquote>
Tweaked slightly:
Journalists think their job is writing articles. But it's not.* Their job is to solve the reader's problem. Sure, our *formerly* preferred medium for solving problems is the article, and that does involve writingcode. But let's keep this squarely in context: writingcodeis something you have to do to deliver a solution. It is not an end in and of itself.