This is really a crucial point. I am a software developer in an engineering company. What is essential for my job is not only my programming skills, but also a decent understanding of the engineering I deal with. This can only be achieved by working long enough in the job, be it an engineer who picks up programming or a software developer who learns the engineering involved.
This is of course much more expensive than picking up any contractor, who might be brilliant at programming, but lacks the domain knowledge that only grows over time, but it is a good way of having more eyes spotting potential spec issues.
This is of course much more expensive than picking up any contractor, who might be brilliant at programming, but lacks the domain knowledge that only grows over time, but it is a good way of having more eyes spotting potential spec issues.