Jul 15, 20244 min read

The Black-Belt

Any new skill or profession you decide to take up will introduce you to a wealth of knowledge and information that you must learn to become proficient in that field. It takes a lot of time to become a master.

You've probably heard of the 10,000-hour rule popularized by Malcolm Gladwell. He explains that true mastery and expertise come not just from raw talent but from long-term, focused practice and a deep desire to master the craft.

However, 10,000 hours is not a simple benchmark for success or ability. The most experienced and skilled individuals in any field often have many times more experience than that.

The Dojo

Certain forms of Martial Arts use belts to signify a person's time, achievements, and ability within their craft. They're given a white belt the moment they walk in and start the journey to become a master. The white belt signifies a clean canvas to begin, learn, and grow.

Learning to write software is much like being given a white belt. You may be fascinated with how to perform a reverse roundhouse kick, but you must first focus on building strength, perfecting form, and maintaining balance before attempting such an advanced move.

Achieving the next belt requires time, focus, and physical strain you're not used to. It's similar to trying a new exercise, sport, or stretch that targets muscle groups you didn't know existed until the next day, when you're hobbling along with a newfound appreciation for the effort and dedication that will be required to go deeper into your field than ever before.

Learning From The Greats

Whether you want to become an artist, a gymnast, or a master chef, studying the greats in each field is essential.

In painting, you'll learn from the styles and masterpieces of Rembrandt, Monet, and Van Gogh.

Aspiring gymnasts can gain invaluable insights by analyzing the form, routines, and techniques of legends like Simone Biles, Nadia Comăneci, and Kohei Uchimura.

If culinary excellence is your goal, studying the techniques and philosophies of renowned chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Julia Child, and Massimo Bottura will be crucial.

Each field requires dedication to learning from the best to develop your skills and achieve excellence.

Software Engineering is very interesting in that most of our "legends" write operating systems, additional coding languages, toolkits and new algorithms, or code for NASA (people like Margaret Hamilton). This begs the question:

How do we benefit from the masters in the development field and what is the equivalent of a black belt in software engineering?

The Black-Belt Software Engineer

The highest position of any software engineer in a company is probably not writing code anymore. Isn't that odd?

Let that sink in for a moment:

The most valuable position for the black belt programmer is likely not writing lines of code anymore.

This should be a bit of shock at first, but it also reveals something hidden about the technology industry I’d like to examine.

The Black-Belt equivalent of a programmer focuses their mastery on driving the business with knowledge, design, mentorship, problem solving, and strategy rather than individual lines of code performing logic gates.

Their understanding of problems and foresight over the entire business operation allows them to make decisions to prevent problems and provide the best fit outcome for their needs. The novice simply hasn’t seen enough of the overall picture yet, and most importantly hasn’t been the one to drive any of those mistakes yet to understand why a certain decision would take the company down a path they don’t want to go.

They have become experts at identifying problems and have the wisdom to future-proof the solution.

This is why senior software engineers don’t focus on individual lines of code but on methodology. It is very common when working with a senior to be asked:

“Can this be upgraded easily?”
“What maintenance is involved in keeping this process running?”
“Do API keys or certificates expire?
“How much does licensing that XYZ cost?”
“What happens when something goes wrong, like an order is dropped or a customer reservation is not booked?"

How do I benefit from the legends of Software Engineering?

The best possible thing you can do to improve your business is chose the right set of people. There’s no exception to this. AI is probabilistic and can’t have definitive answers as it isn’t actually “intelligent”. You need talented people who can innovate and problem solve.

The second best thing you can do is use what the black-belt engineers have already produced, something known as an SDK.

SDK simply means: “Software Development Kit” - And in practice it’s a pretty open term. The original Apple I would have been nothing but electrical components without the genius of Steve Wozniak creating the operating system behind it. Bill Gates played a similar role in the production of Windows OS. These operating systems are actually SDKs, they provide a reasonable way to program and interact with the hardware they are attached to.

SDKs take many flavors. These days AI is the buzzword and is taking the industry by storm. The Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT) are simply many layers of calculus, vector and matrix math. This eventually lead to an SDK that many large-scale organizations harness to provide the AI tools we’re all hearing about on a daily basis.

The Perigee SDK

Perigee, created by industry legends who have been working with these technologies since their early days, is an advanced SDK equipped with a suite of powerful “co-pilot” tools designed to elevate your development process.

We have spent decades collaborating with top-tier organizations, working with the best in the industry. This extensive experience enables us to offer you developer-friendly patterns and insights honed alongside the biggest Fortune 500 companies for over 30 years.

By integrating proven coding practices and leveraging our extensive knowledge base, Perigee Software ensures your projects are built on a foundation of excellence. Our mission is to transform your development capabilities, drawing from a legacy of expertise and industry-leading experience.

Use the expertise of our black-belts and enable your development team with Perigee today.

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