There are few things out there as infuriating as as non-technical co-founder (or say, someone higher up the chain if you're reporting to someone) who's written some crappy code once or twice in his life and then believes he's ready to tell professional software developers how to write code.
There's so much attention to detail and subtlety that a well-educated engineer with years of professional experience and a vast toolbox puts into his work every day, that the active involvement of an unqualified outsider can be absolutely devastating.
Thus, I think it's great that the CEO understands in general terms what it's like to write code, but he (or anybody else for that matter) should not attempt to participate to the process first-hand in any way. You wouldn't dare help a brain surgeon with a scalpel just because you know how to cut a steak, why is it any different for the highly brittle and sophisticated world of software?
There's so much attention to detail and subtlety that a well-educated engineer with years of professional experience and a vast toolbox puts into his work every day, that the active involvement of an unqualified outsider can be absolutely devastating.
Thus, I think it's great that the CEO understands in general terms what it's like to write code, but he (or anybody else for that matter) should not attempt to participate to the process first-hand in any way. You wouldn't dare help a brain surgeon with a scalpel just because you know how to cut a steak, why is it any different for the highly brittle and sophisticated world of software?