The best developers are built not bought

The best developers are built not bought

At the very bottom of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives for cognitive skills is knowledge. That is recall (or recognition) of data or information. Applied to development terms this means recognizing the C# syntax or recalling the correct syntax to execute a loop.

At the top of the cognitive taxonomy is synthesis and evaluation. Synthesis is to be able to bring together diverse elements to form a new whole solution. Evaluation is the ability to make judgments about the value of ideas, approaches, or materials. Developers need to consistently apply these higher levels of cognitive ability to effectively perform their work.

Most people find the idea expressed as thinking more natural than describing the difference as cognitive process. In general, the more thinking that is being done about higher level ideas, such as how to integrate pieces to form a solution, the better the developer.