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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

#91

Post by spc476 »

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…

I've come to the following conclusion: if you are not pulling your weight, then either your manager or HR will have a talk with you about that. Even in a "right-to-work" state, firing and hiring costs are still high enough (impact to deadlines) that it makes financial sense not to fire and hire unless absolutely necessary.

So until such a talk happens, don't worry about it. Just keep on keeping on.

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

#92

Post by Sammi »

nope_42 wrote: post #73

Having read some of the comments in here I'm surprised to see that no one has mentioned how the co-workers reporting their time are lying and this developer isn't. If you worked on a feature for an hour and stared off into space for another hour you report that the feature took two hours. If you took 30 minutes to write an email you certainly don't report that; you move time around to make it look better. This behavi…

I do some of my best programming while I'm staring out the window or getting coffee or sitting on the toilet.

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

#93

Post by user5994461 »

palunon wrote: post #87
edem wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TL;DR: A damage dealer will beat a healer one on one, but that doesn't mean he's better. You need them both (plus a tank) to run a dungeon successfully. I haven't played a single game where this was true. Simply because both the healer and the damage dealer can do damage but only a healer can heal.

It's true in EVE. The an army of the most powerful damages dealers in the game would be overwhelmed by an army with a decent composition...

The initial message said in one-on-one.

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

#94

Post by user5994461 »

Sir_Substance wrote: post #53
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?

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 settin…

c) people who don't have what it takes to do the job well (be it physically, intellectually, emotionally, etc...)

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

#96

Post by ConnorLeet »

jeremiep wrote: post #27
rplst8 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Tools to help with a process, not to define the process.

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

#97

Post by rexpop »

user5994461 wrote: post #90
MatekCopatek wrote: post #34

I've had similar self-doubt in the past, I considered myself fast but sloppy. I changed my opinion after a workshop on different team roles at my previous job. A lot of it was boring workshop fluff, but I loved the core message: that many personality traits aren't purely positive or negative. Perfectionists are nitpickers. Fast developers are sloppy. Experienced ones overthink stuff. Bleeding-edge evangelists ruin lo…

> Don't scold the fast guy for being sloppy, give him tasks that require speed and solve bugs with better QA and tests. What if we're in finance industry working on critical systems and a bug mean millions dollars lost? Should we hire "sloppy" at all? I think not.

Yup. You are right. The model holds.

...unless you've an R&D department dedicated to experimenting — non-critically — with myriad, "creative" algorithms or solutions.

Then, hey, don't give 'em write permissions, but let 'em read and let 'em rip!

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

#98

Post by rexpop »

user5994461 wrote: post #88
MatekCopatek wrote: post #34

I've had similar self-doubt in the past, I considered myself fast but sloppy. I changed my opinion after a workshop on different team roles at my previous job. A lot of it was boring workshop fluff, but I loved the core message: that many personality traits aren't purely positive or negative. Perfectionists are nitpickers. Fast developers are sloppy. Experienced ones overthink stuff. Bleeding-edge evangelists ruin lo…

> Need a quick-and-dirty prototype ASAP? Give it to the framework hipster. So that he can make the prototype with the newest hipster tech that noone else knows in the company and will probably be abandoned next year...

Yeah, just in time to validate the business case.

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

#99

Post by mathgenius »

MatekCopatek wrote: post #34

I've had similar self-doubt in the past, I considered myself fast but sloppy. I changed my opinion after a workshop on different team roles at my previous job. A lot of it was boring workshop fluff, but I loved the core message: that many personality traits aren't purely positive or negative. Perfectionists are nitpickers. Fast developers are sloppy. Experienced ones overthink stuff. Bleeding-edge evangelists ruin lo…

In my experience it is the young inexperienced dev (framework hipster) that is uptight and takes forever to get something to work. The older dude is the one that doesn't care and will hack something together in record time (because he knows it is gonna get chucked out tomorrow anyway.)

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

#100

Post by abannin »

Sir_Substance wrote: post #72
abannin wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really bad at basketball. I have to insight to realize this, and I tried to get better. I really cared about getting better. But at the end of the day, I am not athletic. Sure, I can devote time and energy to improving my basketball skills, but I will never achieve anything beyond 'mediocre'. There's also a chicken and the egg issue here; perhaps the author really does not enjoy coding and thus is not willing to…

>I'm really bad at basketball. I have to insight to realize this, and I tried to get better. I really cared about getting better. But at the end of the day, I am not athletic. Sure, I can devote time and energy to improving my basketball skills, but I will never achieve anything beyond 'mediocre'. None of that is in question, but let me ask you this: are you a professional basketballer? I'm not a professional chef, r…

No, I am not a professional basketball player. I can't even compete in a neighborhood pickup game. That is the point; I lack the raw material to be a professional athlete. It's very possible to be bad at something AND know that you're bad at AND not be able to reach the proficiency to perform the task at a professional level.
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