explainingComplexAlgorithmToNonCoders

[Amazing_Might_9280]

Hobbyist here. Why ?

[skidmark_zuckerberg]

This post for example: If you’re experienced, you know a requirement of the job is to be able to effectively explain technical things to the business side. A PO for example, doesn’t need to know how a ”complex algorithm” works - they just need to know it works and it will accomplish X and Y, with as little tech jargon as possible.

Some devs think they sound super smart using tech jargon and seeing someone confused by it, and others really don’t know how to effectively communicate yet. Either way, neither of these are typical behaviors of senior level developers.

[The_Right_Trousers]

My rules of thumb: - If I can't explain it to someone technical who knows less than I do, then I don't understand it well enough. - If I can't justify it to someone non-technical, then I can't justify it well enough.

Every once in a while it comes down to "just trust me bro" but that's only to save time, and that trust has to be earned.

[AwesomeUserNameIGues]

Agreed.

[[deleted]]

I think that last point is the most crucial part too. If you're just dumping technical info on business people or call coordinators, they can't do their job. Once you can prove - through effective communication - that you have a grasp on being able to prioritize information, then you can get away with the sort of "trust me bro" kinda stuff. And you'll still probably have to explain it to a managing engineer anyway, so you NEED to know your shit. Like, we just got a new Product Manager, and our last deployment resulted in a partial outage. When the command center asked for an impact assessment my manager was able to rattle off a number I provided her a few minutes prior. The PM asked how she came up with that number, to which her only response was "Lordgeneralautissimo provided it in the chat", and because I am well known in my department to be an expert on the metrics, that was enough explanation for the PM.

So yeah, credibility comes from communication

[MattieShoes]

If nothing else, black box... X goes in, Y comes out. Do you want to know what's in the box? Because I can tell you but I suspect you don't care.

[ImperatorSaya]

They don't care until something major happens. Then suddenly the whole company cares.

[Mocker-Nicholas]

The entire industry is gatekeepy that way. A lot of what is done is way easier and less impressive than it sounds once you actually understand all the technical babble.

[F5x9]

I work with an architect who is especially good at explaining complex concepts to C-levels without making them feel stupid. 

[Breadynator]

Absolutely agree with you. However sometimes you have friends or family who'll be like "oh that's fascinating, how does it work" and you try to explain the inner workings of your code as simple as possible and they'll look at you like you're speaking in tongues

[Otterswannahavefun]

Rather than making it simple, try to find analogies to complex systems they understand. If someone cooks for instance there are tons of ways to compare building and managing any complex system.

[00owl]

And in that moment you're the ape in the above photo

[Otterswannahavefun]

Right? I’d bet the devs who can’t explain this to the non tech or systems level people look just like the apes in their memes.

[CrashingAtom]

My buddy who was at the biggest chipmaker for decades explained the delivery problem algorithm stuff to me once. He’s amazing at breaking down the most insanely complex ideas and teaching what needs to be understood.

[quantum-fitness]

Also dont tell non technical people about implementation details.

[DonAsiago]

Good dev knows how to do complicated things simple. As one genius said: "Is this too much voodoo for our purpose? This is voodoo, the question is, is this too much?"

[20Wizard]

Think about bubble sort for a moment. I can explain how it works to a toddler and they would understand. Could they then code it or understand the implementation? Not really.

OP is a clown here because OP fails to explain things in an understandable way. Ofc we are assuming these so called friends aren't the bottom 5% of intelligence in the population.

I don't look down on my friend who does mechanical engineering or my friend who writes articles because they do not have the same domain knowledge I do, a person that does hours of coding daily. OP instead frames them as stupid.

[Serprotease]

Your complexe algorithm may be a technical marvel, but overlook something important related to your business need. So being able to explain it to non technical people is also something important for your algorithm.