As a solo dev should I focus on programming or analyst aspect?

Question

I would like some help deciding which training will be most beneficial based on others * experience*. I am the only Software guy at a small company (200-300 employee's & 4 IT) with an official title of "Applications Developer."

I am mostly self taught in c#, SQL, and various web technology's. My boss is a big supporter of training and as such I find myself, for the first time, trying to navigate the training world. For those of you who regularly participate, in some fashion; what should I be looking for? I would prefer something in the Minneapolis, MN (the US) to Chicago, IL area (and between). Also, and probably most important, what should I focus on. Enhancing programming ability or business analyst ability?

I was directed to the following, Business Analyst Boot Camp and it seems nice but I worry that I should be looking for a programmer/developer Camp instead as I know there are HOLES in my knowledge there. Can anyone offer some insight, preferably based on actual experience so as to not get this closed for being TOO subjective.

Answer 1

Since you are developing code to be consume by your companies employees you will have plenty of domain experts available. Hence I don't think Business Analyst is what you need to be become.

Also typical "Analyst" techniques are aimed at teams where there are analysts and developers. In your shoes I would be looking into becoming an agile developer. In this case you want to concentrate on good coding techniques especially the use of unit testing since you will need every possible advantage you can get being a sole developer.

Look for training then in Agile development.

Answer 2

I work in a larger shop, and do individual consulting on the side. Clearly you can't just focus on one or the other. You need to have some balance. That said, the most valuable programmers on our team are ones with economics degrees. We write economic analysis systems, and in our experience it has been easier to teach an economist the fundamentals of programming than it has been to teach the programmers the fundamentals of economics.

Look at it this way, the languages, tools and technologies you use to do your job are going to be very different every few years. You have to keep up with those. But you work for a business, and your job is to understand that business as best you can and translate business processes into technology solutions. If you are a champ at the business domain you can always "translate" for the new developers as the programming shop grows.

Finally, you need to figure out for yourself what areas you think you can learn on your own, and what areas you need help with. Once you have done that, get work to pay for as much training as you can...

EDIT Your comment asks for specific training recommendations.

The best course I ever took in over 15 years of attending courses, conferences and bringing trainers onsite, was a Guerrilla .NET course taught by DevelopMentor. The slogan was "write code day and night" and they weren't kidding. It was code from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, with food brought in. Great challenges and contests with prizes. It was programmer nirvana.

On the practices side I would highly recommend getting to Agile2009 in Chicago this year. There is usually a great mix of tracks and sessions at that conference.