How much coding does developer needs to know?

Question

I have been working in web-development industry for over 7 years as a designer, tester, project manager, developer (in order of experience).

I already have a degree in linguistics, but now I am going for Master's in CS, 'cause I found it rather difficult to find a job in the industry without having a CS degree. However I do not want to pursue career of a coder. I am interested more in designing software, rather than coding it, but I still feel that to be competitive I need a solid foundation in coding.

My question is, how much do I need to know in order to be successful as a developer (in the broadest sense of the word)?

I guess as an extension to this question... what things do I need to know to be able to communicate with developers regardless of language, as well as what things I need to know to pick up new language or technology rather quickly?

Just a quick edit: I changed programmer to coder to make my question more accurate.

Conclusion: seems my question was not understood correctly. But that's ok, I got some useful stuff from this talk. What I really wanted to know is not how to become a programmer without writing any code, but how to get a foundation that will be sufficient to work with professional coders and develop great software, not telling them how to arrange their classes and methods, but leading them to see the big picture and contributing in a meaningful way.

Answer 1

I think the important thing is that you have to be able to communicate your idea of structure and dynamics in certain parts of any system. If you're not going to be much of a coder, I don't think it's necessary to be able to work through complex algorithms by yourself. That's just not relevant to what you want to do.

If you need to talk code, using Pseudo code is definitely your friend. It's easy to write, communicates a clear idea, and does not have strict syntax.

In the end, the structure and dynamics are the most important. You can scale your thought in terms of models if you need to.

Answer 2

I don't often answer career questions, because I believe that they are basically off-topic here, but this scratches one of my itches:

There is no royal road to having a solid foundation in coding except for spending years writing code. Doing a CS degree won't do it, reading websites won't do it, asking questions here won't do it. You have to write the stuff.

And if you don't wan't to do that, go do something else - the world is wide.

Answer 3

I think a hybrid to both the Mike and Neil's answers is appropriate. You need to have a firm understanding of practices and patterns, and understand the popular programming languages as far as what they are trying to accomplish. As a programmer, I find the code itself is a small part of the job. Understanding the business need and using proven approaches to generate applications that are useful and meet the need of the stakeholder and user community is what this job is about.
You can thoroughly understand all the code you want, but if you do not know how to approach each problem set, then it does you know good. Trust me, I see it all the time.

Answer 4

What are you more interested in? Business, or programming?

If you are more interested in business, then by all means, become a senior "project manager". You can still design the project, and specify goals on how it will meet customer needs. I have seen plenty of people who were very successful at this, who were neither good at CS, nor pointy-haired bosses. I have also seen plenty who were fairly decent at CS.

If you are more interested in program architecture and design, you have to become a decent programmer.

Either of these will take you about ten years of active practice after you have learned the basics in school. You will have to create real projects, rather than just going through the motions. You will have to start with the basics, and expand. The entire time, you will have to read more books, keep up on trends and the cutting edge, and work on improving while you aren't at work.

Of course, plenty of people keep their jobs and don't get good, and manage to push up the career ladder. Ninety percent of the job (any job) is to show up, smile, nod, and make a comment from time to time. There is a reason that the majority of programs (and companies) out there are chaff.

I see that you already have industry experience, but judging by your career path, it sounds like you might have only gotten your toes wet in each area. It will take a long time, and it won't be easy, no matter what path you choose. Unless, of course, you decide to coast. It is up to you if this is enough to aspire to.