I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation • Hacker News Board

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#21

Post by alkonaut » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:29 PM UTC

Being a developer always means getting stuck on some trivial crap for a full day and going to bed angry. One simply makes up for it by those times when you create fantastic value in thirty minutes. You find the bug right away, or a new feature or deployment just falls into place smoothly. Software development is like solving math problems - it's not a continuously progressing process, no matter how much the agile priests want it to be.

This developer sounds humble. That's the most important quality a developer can have. If one becomes too humble (impostor syndrome) then one needs an environment of more encouragement. That's the job of peers and managers.

There are lots of bad developers. It's not unthinkable that this guy is a bad developer - but it's still the managers problem. Is he trained, mentored and encouraged enough?

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#22

Post by nisse72 » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:32 PM UTC

I am also 'a little slow'.

But the other side of that coin is that my code generally works correctly, and rarely (I wish I could say never) needs fixing later. My managers and customers know that my code will work 'as advertised'. My colleagues tell me they enjoy working in code I've written, because it isn't a mess and it feels logical and well organised.

But hey, I'm a little slow. And in ~ 25 years of writing software for pay, only one manager I've worked for has ever had an issue with that.

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#23

Post by MrUnderhill » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #15

Aside from the judgment on whether the employer was terrible or not for making OP track the time, etc., if everyone tells you're slow, doesn't it occur to you that you may actually be bad? I finished reading the post but cannot figure out what OP is trying to say. The title doesn't match the content. At first it sounded like it was one of those rant posts exposing the employer for mistreating, but then at one point i…

The time tracking thing actually resonated quite well with me. Where I work, we also track time on very specific items (with JIRA/Tempo, which even includes a "stop watch" on each issue).

How I dread logging the hours there! Especially if it's a day or two after the fact. The items will often be specific features to be developed. And so I sit there, with the time sheet (and 20/20 hindsight, of course) asking myself: "How could you possibly have spent that long finishing it? It had a low estimate! Better round down so they don't think I'm an idiot. Who in their right mind would pay someone XYZ to add a lowly checkbox in the corner? I wonder how many hours Bob logged for that radio button he worked on. Those guys outside have emptied half a street's garbage cans in the time it took me to look up this API."

Of course, it's probably mostly in one's head. Like the author I don't really get negative remarks on performance, and consider myself a reasonably decent developer. But even so, the task of painstakingly journaling every half hour worked seems incredibly demotivating sometimes, for presumably no other reason than being a great time to second-guess everything you did.

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#24

Post by tbirrell » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:34 PM UTC

probinso wrote: post #12

Pay has little to do with throughput. Pay is an arbitrary number that you and your handler select from the ether. This decision is often made well before there is any chance of measuring your productivity. If you think the number was poorly selected, just know it is. I found time tracking tools to be hugely beneficial. It changed my focus, and forced me more aware of what I was working on. I am, however, a slow devel…

SME = Subject Matter Expert (if google is to be believed).

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#25

Post by prodmerc » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:37 PM UTC

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #15

Aside from the judgment on whether the employer was terrible or not for making OP track the time, etc., if everyone tells you're slow, doesn't it occur to you that you may actually be bad? I finished reading the post but cannot figure out what OP is trying to say. The title doesn't match the content. At first it sounded like it was one of those rant posts exposing the employer for mistreating, but then at one point i…

Well, I'm kind of in the same position: I'm slow.

I do everything by the book, but in the end, everyone else does more.

I did notice that they're cutting corners, but then I tried to do it too, and I was still slower.

So, I'm still asking myself, am I slow or am I a perfectionist? I'd like to think it's the latter, but it may very well be that I'm slow.

My defense in my mind is that even cutting corners I try to do the important things right. It may be a lie I tell to myself.

That's pretty much what I got from this post, self-doubt.

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#26

Post by ThomaszKrueger » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:40 PM UTC

Perception is everything. You don't need to be good, you need to look good. On a tight schedule, deliver what was asked, and only that, even though you know other things are going to be necessary. When asked to estimate, try your best to give the longest you can get away with. Make it look or sound difficult. At the same time, do the hard work by yourself, figure things out on your own.

When asked to account for your time, use the opportunity to be good at creative writing. Give the most flattering and awesome impression about the time you spent.

Being competent is a pride for yourself only, for all others is whatever they want to see. Always act as if you are making less than you should. Act as, not be. Never stay working late, never work on weekends unless you are the one benefiting.

The value you give yourself will be the value people will give you.

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#27

Post by jeremiep » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:40 PM UTC

rplst8 wrote: post #11

jeremiep wrote: post #7

You could change jobs. An employer tracking your activities to the minute sounds like a cancerous work place to begin with. Bad employers are also a thing, and is much more frequent than most people realize. They usually drown you in tools and processes along the way and without much development experience its hard to tell whether they're bad or you are. You're going to hear about Agile, TDD, code metrics and whatnot…

I think you are lumping things together where they don't belong. Processes and tools have places. As I've posted previously on the topic, some industries have strict quality standards, and the tools and processes are there to find and prevent bugs from making into fielded systems. These process can an do work, but don't always apply to a basic website or CRUD webapp.

Oh definitely, I was referring to things like Jira, Scrumm and the likes rather than industry standards.

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#28

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:43 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#29

Post by a3n » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:48 PM UTC

exratione wrote: post #6

Everyone has been put in the position of coming to a dead halt on some aspect of the work that just won't yield. Or at least not for the combination of you, your knowledge, and your resources at that given time. This never goes away. Signs of maturity as a developer involve how you deal with the existence of this phenomenon. E.g. box your time, know when to seek alternatives, and know how to find solutions that exist…

> box your time

What exactly does that mean. I'm not saying this isn't a real thing (I really have no idea), but the only time I've heard the phrase used in person was by people who get ahead by posturing.

When someone uses it sincerely, what do they mean? What does it look like, as opposed to not boxing your time? What specifically does it solve?

Re: I’m a Bad Developer, That’s the Only Reasonable Explanation

#30

Post by cocktailpeanuts » Fri, Dec 30, 2016, 8:50 PM UTC

prodmerc wrote: post #25

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #15

Aside from the judgment on whether the employer was terrible or not for making OP track the time, etc., if everyone tells you're slow, doesn't it occur to you that you may actually be bad? I finished reading the post but cannot figure out what OP is trying to say. The title doesn't match the content. At first it sounded like it was one of those rant posts exposing the employer for mistreating, but then at one point i…

Well, I'm kind of in the same position: I'm slow. I do everything by the book, but in the end, everyone else does more. I did notice that they're cutting corners, but then I tried to do it too, and I was still slower. So, I'm still asking myself, am I slow or am I a perfectionist? I'd like to think it's the latter, but it may very well be that I'm slow. My defense in my mind is that even cutting corners I try to do t…

Carve out some time and see if you can push yourself to finish something without the constraint of making it high quality.

If you can do this when you intentionally tried, it means you're a perfectionist.

If you cannot no matter how you try, it means you're bad.

It's important that you try this out and actually find out who you are, unless you can't do it because you're too scared.

If you find out that you're a "perfectionist" and that's why its slowing you down, try to learn how to balance. People never doubt you unless you're consistently slow. I am sure what happened to OP was he was consistently slow. It's extremely hard for a manager to just tell people they're slow, and this guy heard it multiple times, so it probably means he IS very slow.

Every programmer knows it's always not as straightforward as it looks from outside. Sometimes sou would come across a task that looks like it would take 30 minutes just to find out it's much more complex than that and it takes up your entire week. But sometimes it looks like it will take a week but turns out you can finish in 30 minutes. That's why most people tend not to judge you for being slow sometimes. It's only when you're ALWAYS slow that people doubt you.

Think about this for a moment: you say you do everything by the book but everyone else does more--have you ever thought if it maybe the case that these other people also do things by the book?

If you have doubts about yourself, you should really proactively figure out ways to tackle this. In most cases it's not because you're stupid, it's because you have bad habits and you just think it's natural.