When it comes to the world of development, Joel Spolsky is, without a doubt, my favorite writer. His work is always interesting and on-topic, and his latest work is something special. Development Abstraction, what a concept, the only way to ensure the highest productivity, and perhaps, a large part of the Superstars & Monkeys issue.

When I wrote about my views on how developers are treated, it was from a developer’s perspective, this article provides the manager’s perspective, on much the same issue. This covers what a development team should see, nothing more, nothing less. Focus is critical for productivity, the hassles of running a business, finding ways around over-restrictive internet filters, or wondering how long the Development database will be hosting Production databases, none of this should be involved in a developer’s day.

Development is a thought driven, focus dependent activity. Anything that gets in the way should be eliminated, anything.