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Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

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Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#181

Post by archerface »

quarterlife wrote: post #169
jackmott wrote: post #140

I spent a long time never bothering to master semi-advanced text editor or ide features. Like really simple stuff like moving forward/back by a word at a time, deleting a word at a time, hopping to next/prev brace/paren, renaming globally, doing everything without needing the mouse, multi-select etc. You can go even deeper and get into deep VIM style skills but there are many very easy things to learn that let you do…

I agree with this. For the past 6 months I've been trying to master emacs and, from a personal point-of-view, seen my productivity climb. Learning emacs helped with a lot of other programs too. For example, C-a takes you to the front of the line and C-e takes you to the back which works by default in my terminal.

There is also fun things with movement like using M-f and M-b to jump forward and backward words.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#183

Post by theandrewbailey »

Tinned_Tuna wrote: post #30
rhubarbcustard wrote: post #21

That shipping stable software that works and meets requirements is what people really want. In other words, what the non-tech business people want, or your customers want, is software that fixes their problems, makes their lives easier or makes them more money. It's easy for us programmers to become fixated on using a newer JS framework, a slightly tighter Java loop or the latest cool language. Took me a few years to…

This. Make your _business_ case, not a technical case. This applies to software engineering, security engineering, etc. The above comment does not absolve you from doing cool things, it's just that the cool things should align with business interests. No yak shaving. Sometimes writing a one-off script will take 30 minutes, and doing it by hand will take 10. Do it by hand.

also keep in mind: https://xkcd.com/1319/

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#184

Post by mattkenefick »

wccrawford wrote: post #177

My wife hates it when I say this. (She's QA, I'm dev.) One of my best skills is assuming. I have to make tons of assumptions, and if I stopped working whenever I didn't know the answer for sure, I'd never get anything done. Instead, I make my best guess. If I'm unsure enough, I'll also send off an email stating my assumption and asking for direction, but I'll still keep coding based on that assumption. I am almost al…

"but I'll still keep coding based on that assumption."

That's terrible advice. If you're unsure of what you're supposed to be doing, you should close the computer and start exploring your options with pen and paper before doing more damage.

If you keep going based on assumption, you drive halfway across the country in the wrong direction like in Dumb and Dumber.

Sometimes it's better to do nothing at all than to inflict damage because you didn't know what you were supposed to be doing.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#185

Post by hasbot »

maxxxxx wrote: post #102

Work somewhere where software is the main product and not just a cost center. You can learn a lot quickly if you do cutting edge things with people who care about technology and not just cost. Solve real world​ problems. Doing elegant things is very difficult because the real world is much more convoluted than theory. Do a few things in depth. Don't jump at the latest thing every few months.

> Work somewhere where software is the main product and not just a cost center.

I've done both and I can't say one is better than the other. I've worked on software products where marketing couldn't figure out how to sell it and kept changing the core functionality. Or where the CEO kept shoving his ludicrous ideas onto development. I've worked on rewarding IT projects where I worked very closely with the users and was very happy to see my work help them perform their day-to-day jobs. I've also worked on slog IT projects where the users had no idea what they wanted and we kept churning.

After 28 years, I ended up preferring working close to the actual users.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#186

Post by cliffy »

bitL wrote: post #121
marktangotango wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have noticed there is a stark contrast between those who are aware of the political environment and those who aren't. You seem to be hyper aware and 'plugged in' to hear these stories. Most developers just write code and post memes on the team slack/hipchat channel, completely oblivious to things going on around them. You should blog about some of this, changing names and obfuscating to "protect the innocent" so to…

Maybe it's that half of my family are politicians/lawyers, many of them leaning towards high-performing psychopathy and observing their behavior since being a child, their attempts to control me, expressing frustration I figured out their game and deny them, and then observing the same at work with those "ambitious persons", thinking anyone that does work is an idiot and should be handled like a child in a kindergart…

That second paragraph makes it sound like you picked up some of those psychopathic tendencies. It doesn't seem healthy to play those types of games with people, as harmless as it may be.

Yes, the reality of life is that it's not a meritocracy or even within a stone's throw of it. There's a fine line between acknowledging the reality of it and succumbing to it. The abyss gazes also.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#187

Post by arethuza »

bluedino wrote: post #173
maxxxxx wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's even a money/salary issue. There is a huge difference between the CEO seeing you as someone who makes money for the company as opposed to just being an expense.

Automate things and make people's jobs easier. Then you're valuable.

That's reducing costs rather than increasing revenue. Of course, within a limited range they are equivalent but you really only have respect in a lot of organizations if you contribute towards the latter.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#188

Post by hasbot »

arethuza wrote: post #46
rhubarbcustard wrote: post #21

That shipping stable software that works and meets requirements is what people really want. In other words, what the non-tech business people want, or your customers want, is software that fixes their problems, makes their lives easier or makes them more money. It's easy for us programmers to become fixated on using a newer JS framework, a slightly tighter Java loop or the latest cool language. Took me a few years to…

I strongly agree. However, there are special cases where you are exposed to a new technology which enables new outcomes. I was fortunate enough to blunder into using the Web in '92 and Java in early '95 and they were tools where the "how" did matter quite a lot... [NB I haven't touched Java in a dozen years or so]

I find it funny that you felt the need to distance yourself from Java.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#189

Post by Retric »

QuantumGravy wrote: post #159
randcraw wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Work somewhere where software is the main product and not just a cost center. This is THE big difference between S/W dev and IT. For 20 years I worked in the former, and for the past 10 in the latter. No question about it: IT is hell. Theirs is a never-ending mission to reduce the cost of moving data and being "compliant" with often-meaningless ever-excessive corporate standards (and forever meaningless MBA/CIO fad…

Having regrettably started from the IT side, it's seemingly impossible to make the jump to a software company proper. Nothing I do day-to-day is flexing any mental muscles an interviewer would find sexy. We're like a permanent underclass of undesirables. Without spending time outside work to focus on sharpening basic undergraduate CS knowledge, I know I'm getting objectively rusty at the types of problems I actually…

I agree that trying to get stuff done after work is often a non starter. But, I find you can do a lot with one weekend a month of real focused effort without burning out or feeling much pressure.

Alternatively, just put yourself out there. You don't need to be great, just find a job a little closer to your goal.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#190

Post by JoshTriplett »

maxxxxx wrote: post #102

Work somewhere where software is the main product and not just a cost center. You can learn a lot quickly if you do cutting edge things with people who care about technology and not just cost. Solve real world​ problems. Doing elegant things is very difficult because the real world is much more convoluted than theory. Do a few things in depth. Don't jump at the latest thing every few months.

Depends on what you want: if you work at a company where software is the product (or the service), it can be harder to make the case for releasing software as Open Source. If you work at a company where, say, hardware pays the bills, that can make it far easier to make the case for releasing software as Open Source.
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