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Ask HN: What current companies have the best software engineering culture?

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Re: Ask HN: What current companies have the best software engineering culture?

#21

Post by nrjdhsbsid »

lettergram wrote: post #11

This is a fairly hard question, and inherently ha bias. What I will say is this, I believe every company from Google to the startup down the street will have some fault. However, one of the largest faults I've seen in my years working is the arrogance. I have personally found startups to be some of the most humble in that regard, they'll push you to make design choices other shops won't have you make, and if you mess…

I've had the opposite experience.

Not universal, but I find most startups I've interviewed with extremely arrogant. The nicest workplaces for me have been the old and steady companies with boring software.

Things I see a lot in startups: Lack of real world business experience, so terrible management. "we're the best" attitude pervasive in everything. Hyper focused on the technology used over the job at hand. Unrealistic expectations in general. I'm gonna be rich because I'm awesome founders club.

Re: Ask HN: What current companies have the best software engineering culture?

#22

Post by United857 »

I'm biased, but I'd say out of all the "big" tech companies, FB has the best engineering culture.

* With few exceptions, engineers aren't hired for a specific team; they go through bootcamp where they get exposure to all parts of the stack and tasks from different teams.

* Ideas usually come from engineers. Managers are there to be a sounding board/connect you with people resources as needed.

* Moving fast is valued (we used to be famously known for "move fast and break things" but now it's "move fast with stable infra". I.e., our dev infra is developed with a eye towards enabling rapid iteration.)

* Lots of internal knowledge sharing.

* Scale. Probably only Google, MS, Amazon come close.

* With only very few exceptions, every engineer has access to the near-entirety of source code at FB (Oculus, Whatsapp, Instagram...).

* Internal mobility is quite straightforward; after a year you can generally transfer to teams with available headcount without a formal set of interviews.

Of course, it's not everyone's cup of tea and like any big company it's not always 100% perfect and we don't always live up to this in every circumstance, but in general this is what it's like and what we're aiming for.

Re: Ask HN: What current companies have the best software engineering culture?

#24

Post by nrjdhsbsid »

EngineerBetter wrote: post #4

Pivotal. I've had the pleasure of working with many Pivots, and Rob Mee has built a great XP culture.

:'( I turned down a job at pivotal years ago because I thought it was just the usual consulting sweatshop with a prettier face.

Re: Ask HN: What current companies have the best software engineering culture?

#25

Post by Fnoord »

pmiller2 wrote: post #19
culturestate wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Good litmus test is to ask employees, do they have hackathons I'm a designer rather than an engineer, but I've always been a bit puzzled by the popularity of intra-company hackathons. It seems like a great way for management to keep employees working longer hours for less pay – an overnight hackathon that results in, say, 80 hours of additional work from a small team only costs the company some pizzas.

We had an internal hackathon at my company recently. It was a Thursday/Friday + optional weekend thing, but nobody was pressured to work excessive amounts of hours to get their project done.

> It was a Thursday/Friday + optional weekend thing, but nobody was pressured to work excessive amounts of hours to get their project done.

If "everyone" does it individuals are less inclined to say "No."

Re: Ask HN: What current companies have the best software engineering culture?

#26

Post by culturestate »

chii wrote: post #20
culturestate wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Good litmus test is to ask employees, do they have hackathons I'm a designer rather than an engineer, but I've always been a bit puzzled by the popularity of intra-company hackathons. It seems like a great way for management to keep employees working longer hours for less pay – an overnight hackathon that results in, say, 80 hours of additional work from a small team only costs the company some pizzas.

it depends on what hackathons are geared to doing - if it's _actual_ client/business work that they'd be doing normally, then it's not a proper hackathon, and just an excuse to get more hours out of the employees. But if it's a free for all, do anything you want style, and participation is optional (truly optional, not fake-optional via management peer pressure), then it's a good sign.

My hangup is that in either case, it's still extra work that benefits the company rather than the employee. It's performed on company premises with company equipment - gamified overtime, essentially.

I suppose there's an argument to be made that a good employee can make it mutually beneficial (use the time to learn a new, marketable skill that can get them a raise or a better job), but still...

Re: Ask HN: What current companies have the best software engineering culture?

#27

Post by jacalata »

sargun wrote: post #18
EngineerBetter wrote: post #4

Pivotal. I've had the pleasure of working with many Pivots, and Rob Mee has built a great XP culture.

Is it true that pivots have to be in the office at a specific time?

Yes, because they do 100% pair programming. When you rely on someone else being there at the same time as you, you need predictable hours. It's possible they don't need to be as fixed as they are, but that's how they've chosen to do it.

Re: Ask HN: What current companies have the best software engineering culture?

#30

Post by dmritard96 »

simply depends on how you measure/see 'best'. In some ways my tiny company is 'the best' simply because how the 3 of us design and define it. Want a different process, suggest it. Want a useful tool, build it. In some ways the 'best culture' is the one in which you follow all the rules, build foundational code, limit your hours and contribute back to open source frequently while at a giant company whose existence seems a certainty. The experiences are so varied situationally, compensationally, etc. I'm starting to think on a remote island as a nomad freelancing and/or working on your own projects. You live in a beautiful place, its often affordable, interesting cultures, etc.
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