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

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

#51

Post by urathai »

transfire wrote: post #9

Good software requires teams, and teams will always vary in the member's skill levels. Some programmers are better than others -- that's just a fact of life. But even if you are not one of the best coders, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be a coder or that you shouldn't be considered a valuable member of a team, so long as you provide a meaningful contribution. You may get paid less, but that's okay. You shouldn't be…

I agree! You should always remember that (about) half of the people perform under the average and there is no real way around that. Not everyone can reach the top and that is something I think you need to accept at times.

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

#53

Post by Sir_Substance »

abannin wrote: post #43
rwallace wrote: post #33

> This isn’t an impostor syndrome. Sure it is. Impostor syndrome is defined as the state of affairs where your emotional assessment of your competence is lower than your actual competence. The definition does not depend on which aspect of the task is being discussed. "I can't write code" (when you can) and "I'm too slow" (when the people who appear faster, are doing it by just sweeping bugs under the carpet) are both…

Such bold conclusions from 900 words and a single perspective. Isn't it possible that the author is, in fact, not good at the job?

People who are bad at their jobs usually fall into two categories:

a) people who lack the insight to realize it, and thus don't work to fix it b) people who realize it but don't care (for various reasons, some valid some not)

If you're agonizing over your job competence and trying to improve but feel you aren't succeeding, then it's vastly more likely that either your job specification is impossible, or you're setting unreasonable personal goals around your job.

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

#54

Post by belvoran »

For the last 15 years I was always slow, bad, and pessimistic. In fact I was fast, good, and realistic. However in the companies I was working at, the promoted guys were always writing buggy code, and really didn't understand what was going on. They even didn't want to understand that. They were promoted, and not me. Why? Because the speed was what there managers were promoted for. So they wanted to surround themselves with similar stupid-but-fast programmers. This way they all were promoted, got bonuses, and they were one brainless corporation family. I wanted to make some good work, and understand why something works this, or other way.

And one day I gave up. It was hard to hear all the time something like "you are too pessimistic, why you always say that we cannot build the Tardis in a month?", or "You are too slow, you see that guy in the corner? He is ten times faster then the whole team (and he is happy working in an open space). And now the whole team will be fixing the thousands of failing tests (caused by this guy) for the next six months. Because if they will be red, I won't get the yearly bonus.". The latter is real.

So I don't care anymore. My side projects are opposite. So I build them slowly. Very slowly. And I learn all the things around them.

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

#55

Post by extrapickles »

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…

How long did you try cutting corners? They could have years of experience cuttings corners, and you only have a few days, so of course they should be faster as they are more experienced at cutting corners than you are.

Try a few simple projects (eg: making flappy bird clone, or a simple HTTP server) as fast as possible and screen record all the time you work on the project. Then review the project and recording for things that slowed you down (eg: going down rabbit holes, or your tool-chain is too complex for the task at hand).

After that, do the project over (or a similar project) and try to beat your previous time. The only thing that should matter is the amount of wall-clock time until the project is minimally useful, eg: time to a browser accepting a static webpage, or the game minimally playable.

If you have trouble parting from the book way, an HTTP server might be the better option as there is the "book way" on how its supposed to be done, and what browsers will not vomit all over. Go for the browser rendering a page or two with no visible errors with dev tools closed rather than passing a comprehensive test suite as in the end the only thing that matters is "did the user notice the missing corners".

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

#56

Post by icc97 »

MrUnderhill wrote: post #23
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:…

I've been billing by the minute for about 6 years now. I find it quite liberating. I've got details of what I did for years. Months where I was productive, months where I crashed completely.

I love the details of it, I love how I build up detailed description of what I do as I'm doing it. I think I've had one bill quabbled with about 4 years ago which was me taking too long to write up the change log.

I khow getting time tracking forced on you from above would be frustrating, especially as management would probably abuse it. However I think that it's a shame, I love the transparency of it.

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

#57

Post by st3v3r »

rwallace wrote: post #36

One more thing: always remember that it is not your job to protect your employer from the consequences of their bad decisions. It is their job to give you incentives that align with their own interests. If your employer is putting pressure on you to ship faster at the cost of sweeping a lot of bugs under the carpet, do that. If you think they're making a mistake, say once, calmly, that you think it would be worth spe…

It's not necessarily my job, but in many cases, there's still a good chance that I'm going to be the one yelled at, or have to deal with the consequences (having to work late nights to put out the fires caused by those decisions).

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

#58

Post by monochromatic »

zzzcpan wrote: post #45
abannin wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such bold conclusions from 900 words and a single perspective. Isn't it possible that the author is, in fact, not good at the job?

Is self doubt ever about being bad at something?

Sure, sometimes it is. When I doubt my career skills, I can (usually, eventually) recognize it as insecurity / impostor syndrome / whatever.

When I doubt my dancing skills, it's a rational evaluation.

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

#60

Post by sethammons »

datf wrote: post #20

I have worked at many places, many dev jobs. I've worked with people shipping features faster and slower than me. But that's very subjective. Using it as a metric or even pointing it out doesn't make sense to me. I've been forced by managers to merge or even ship features that are half-way done. I have to agree with other people advising you to switch to another place. If you are working in a toxic environment, or yo…

Plus one to talking to your colleagues. At my work, we started peer reviews that are anonymous. You request feedback from a pool of people. Those who give feedback talk on areas of strength and areas that need development. My imposter syndrome declined immensely after seeing some of the strengths listed from my peers with whome I work every day. I could agree with the areas of growth needed and it gave me focus for professional goals.
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