Personality Type and Software Development

Ian Barnes
Department of Computer Science
The Australian National University
barnes@cs.anu.edu.au

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Motivation

``Perl was created for someone like you, by someone like you, with the collaboration of many other someones like you.''

Larry Wall, in the Introduction to Learning Perl
by Randal L. Schwartz & Tom Christiansen

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Outline

The Myers Briggs model
My ideas
My proposed project

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Personality Type

Plato, Aristotle, Galen (humours)
Carl Gustav Jung (1920) "Psychological Type"
- motivation: only by understanding our differences can we get beyond intolerance and conflict and achieve respect and co-operation
Isabel Myers (1962) "The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator"
- Close to spirit of Jung
- Made it systematic

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

The Four Axes

Introvert <---> Extrovert

Sensate <---> iNtuitive

Thinker <---> Feeler

Judger <---> Perceiver

Note:

Each is a continuum
None is good or bad

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Extraversion <---> Introversion

E	I
Expressive	Reserved
Energised by prolonged contact with others	drained
Drained by time alone	energised
Speak before they think	Think before they speak
External motivation	Internal motivation
Process by talking	Can't process while anyone is talking
Need contact	Need time alone

If those needs are not met: E's become depressed, I's become anxious, irritable, confused.

Jung says these needs are basic
E's seem to be the majority

Our culture created by E's for E's
E's take pride in adjusting to others, fitting in

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Sensing <---> Intuition

S	N
Observant	Imaginative
What is	What can be
Body	Head, mind
Quantitative	Qualitative
Experiment	Theory
Facts in the real world	Theories and patterns
Attention to detail	Bored by detail
Not interested in theory	Only interested in underlying principle
Trees	Forest

More S's than N's in the world
The best of N -- Einstein
N taken to extreme -- John Nash A Beautiful Mind

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Thinking <---> Feeling

T	F
Tough-minded	Friendly
Objective	Sympathetic
Practical	Personal
Get the job done	Feels like an insult
Being right	Values and feelings

F's will compromise to avoid hurting someone.
Extreme T's lose friends over arguments about trivia.

This is about how people instinctively make decisions

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Judging <---> Perceiving

J	P
Scheduling	Probing
	Looking around for alternatives
Work steadily	Work in bursts of creativity
Love to make plans and stick to them	Can't stand plans
Feel lost without them	Feel trapped by them
Hate to change them	More flexible
Like to have decisions made	Prefer to put them off

According to J's, they are organised, P's are chaotic
According to P's, they are flexible, J's are rigid

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

The 16 types

ISTJ Inspector	ISFJ Protector	INFJ Counsellor	INTJ Mastermind
ISTP Crafter	ISFP Composer	INFP Healer	INTP Architect
ESTP Promoter	ESFP Performer	ENFP Champion	ENTP Inventor
ESTJ Supervisor	ESFJ Provider	ENFJ Teacher	ENTJ Field marshal

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Kiersey's four temperaments

SP	Artisans	Ernest Hemingway
SJ	Guardians	George Washington
NF	Idealists	Ghandi
NT	Rationals	Einstein

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Personality type and software

S <---> N

language choice
interface design
design vs. implementation

P <---> J

process

T <---> F

teamwork
correctness

I <---> E

work environment
contact with clients
interface design

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Language Choice

S <---> N

Tools need to be adapted to the user
Perl was created by an S for other S's
Eiffel was created by an N for other N's
Design vs. Implementation

Implications for education:

To an S,``learning'' = memorising
Most of our students are now S's, we're probably mostly N's
Aim to broaden skills of both groups?

©Ian Barnes 2002

Personality type and software development

Software Engineering

P <---> J

Standard software engineering created by J's
CMM levels
Extreme programming

Educational implications:

It may not help to force J methods on all students

Personality type and software development

Quality & Teamwork

F <---> T

Correctness
Teamwork
Client interaction

Educational implications:

It might help to balance types in groups for the team project

Personality type and software development

Work Environment

I <---> E

Physical environment e.g. cubicles
Computer interface

Interaction with colleagues (meetings)
Interaction with clients

Educational implications:

Provide possibilities for both

Personality type and software development

My proposed project

Several programmers
Several programs
Change languages
Record time and defects

Record subjective impressions
Eliminate "talent" and difficulty of each task
Correlate with personality type

Personality type and software development

Call for volunteers

I'm looking for about a dozen volunteers who:

can program in at least two (preferably three or more) of the languages Eiffel, Perl, C and Haskell;
will donate two hours a week for several weeks;
will take the MBTI and let me know the results;

will write several programs while measuring their work (recording the time taken, size of code, and details of all defects found);
are prepared to reflect on their subjective experience of writing these programs;
are interested in finding out more about the way they work.

Interested? Contact me after this, or send email to barnes@cs.anu.edu.au

Personality type and software development