Review: Debugging Indian Computer Programmers

It's not a thick book, and it's not written in a scholarly tone, but as the name implies, it is a book that talks about the role of Indian computer programmers in the American economy and how their presence in the U.S. has impacted our economy.

N. Sivakumar's tone is conversational and friendly. The book is easy to read and is thought-provoking. He makes a very good case that the H1-B programmers who came to the US have helped the economy because they spend money on apartments, phones, cars, gadgets, food, etc. He also addresses the subject of outsourcing, but I'll let you read the book and find out what he has to say about it. Here's a hint, he's just as protective of his job here in the U.S. as you would be.

Another task that Sivakumar tries to handle is to make it possible for Americans to understand the desi they are working with. He works to explain the cultural differences that confuses so many people. He talks about the language issue, curry smells, the quality of the work produced, and corporate attitudes.

The interesting thing is that the book is not just addressed to American workers, but to Indian workers as well to help them understand their American counterparts.

The book was written in the aftermath of the Sept. 11th, and has a good deal to do with the troubles that he and other Indians went through following the attacks. That was very hard to read for me, not only for the recap of what he experienced on that day, but also to read what terrible things other Americans perpetrated on people out of anger.

There are a few points I wanted to make with what Sivakumar wrote though. He tried to make the case that there are not that many "body shops" - Contracting Companies that fill up with employees that are not qualified for the positions they're interviewing for. They're more prevalent then he lets on. Having done many interviews in the last 6 months, I can tell you there are many firms pushing unqualified employees. A lot of times we would get interviewees that would repeat verbatim whole paragraphs from certification books, but when you probed them for deeper knowledge, they'd fall apart.

Touching on employee quality, I do see many Indian contractors that are just heads-down "I'll do whatever you tell me" kind of coders. There should come a point where the employees in this country need to move into a more American way of programming: asking questions, learning deeper on subjects, understanding the business. It needs to start happening.

Also, I don't find many Americans that find the curry smell offensive, at least amongst programmers. Most of the programmers I've known are Indian food fans to begin with, so the odor of a masala cooking in the microwave is appetizing.

All of this aside, I enjoyed the book, though it is rough, and obviously self-published. I don't think that that should turn you away though. It's thought-provoking and easily approachable, and I intend to hand it out at work and use it to open some discussions with both my ghora (white) and desi (Indian) co-workers.