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The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

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Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#151

Post by gbacon »

jacquesm wrote: post #12
TimJYoung wrote: post #7

Wow, what a cool project to work on: working out the logic flows in assembler and breaking them out so that they can be translated into a higher-level language. I've always thought that this type of government work should be open to bids from anyone . If the government is worried about trojans, malware, etc., then they can easily hire an auditor to audit the code and vouch for its authenticity. The fact that only ver…

The big trick is the proposal itself. Writing that is only possible if you are already tied in at all kinds of levels. I've seen some of these tenders up close, the companies that land the deals submit phone book sized proposals to tenders that are officially open but actually closed unless you are in a very select circle already. It's not uncommon for the proposal writer to then pass on the actual work to a whole sl…

Almost no one wins submitting proposals out of the blue, certainly the case with unsolicited proposals but also with responses to formal RFPs. Firing in a proposal with no agency contact, no familiarity ("customer intimacy"), no shaping, no premarketing, no office calls, no digging to understand their real pain points is even worse than a cold call because, as you noted, it is horrendously more expensive and painful to prepare a large proposal.

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#152

Post by archgoon »

coldacid wrote: post #86
whataretensors wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Assembler is like Shakespearean English. Author has no idea what assembler is.

Yeah, it's more like the individual phonemes that make up each word of every statement.

That, or instructions for controlling tongue positions and vocal chords.

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#153

Post by abtinf »

jelling wrote: post #62
abtinf wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual federal pay schedules are here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries... The GS-15 range for the DC area is $135k-164k. For federal government employees, salary only represents about half of their total compensation, which includes a lifetime inflation adjusted pension and medical benefits.

...and any sizable employer offers healthcare and a 401(k). So at best you could say they're betting on an inflation-adjusted pension? That's not going to sell many candidates.

The inflation adjusted pension, which roughly works out to 33% of your final salary, is in addition to the federal 401k program and social security.

The fact that it is inflation adjusted is critical. To calculate the value of the pension plan, you would need to compute the NPV of an infinite series (assuming advancing healthcare).

The medical benefits are also quite significant and, for lower grade workers, will dwarf the value of the pension.

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#154

Post by abtinf »

vkou wrote: post #92
maxxxxx wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would take a government guaranteed pension and lifetime health care over 401k any day.

They are only guaranteed until some elected official decides to give you a haircut on your deferred paychecks (Which is what a pension is), right as you're about to retire. (Or shortly after you do.) I'd hedge, and prefer splitting my money between both.

Attempting such a cut would result in a protracted legal battle with some of the most powerful organizations in the country.

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#155

Post by ScottBurson »

lazaroclapp wrote: post #125
TimJYoung wrote: post #7

Wow, what a cool project to work on: working out the logic flows in assembler and breaking them out so that they can be translated into a higher-level language. I've always thought that this type of government work should be open to bids from anyone . If the government is worried about trojans, malware, etc., then they can easily hire an auditor to audit the code and vouch for its authenticity. The fact that only ver…

> If the government is worried about trojans, malware, etc., then they can easily hire an auditor to audit the code and vouch for its authenticity. Not that I disagree with the general idea of democratizing this sort of big government contract, but, well, this is a much bigger hurdle than you are making it sound like. Audits can be good at finding unintentional flaws, but a skilled adversary can often create code tha…

I don't suppose those Java examples were published? I'd love to see them.

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#156

Post by makmanalp »

dragonwriter wrote: post #128
ww520 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the most difficult part of the project. However, nailing down the functionality upfront separates a successful project from a failed one. The implementation is the easy part. The functionality documentation will provide great value beyond this project. I assume this assembly program does the tax calculation, so the IRS tax code can be consulted to verify the functionality. Functional tests can be written against…

> It's the most difficult part of the project. However, nailing down the functionality upfront separates a successful project from a failed one. Yes, in that projects which try to reimplement large existing systems from the ground up by nailing down the requirements and working from there, almost invariably fail (even if they formally “succeed” in the sense of being accepted and then facing years of remediation.) You…

> Ship of Theseus replacement

Love it. It appears engineers have resolved that particular philosophical dilemma with "yes" :P

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#157

Post by gbacon »

jimrandomh wrote: post #8

> Wang was working under streamlined critical pay authority the agency has had since its landmark 1998 restructuring. It gave the IRS 40 slots under which it could pay temporary, full-time employees higher than GS rates. Former Commissioner John Koskinen pointed out Congress did not re-up this authority in 2013, despite his entreaties to former Congressman Jason Chaffetz’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform…

Compensation is a vector, not a scalar.

GS employees almost cannot be fired, government-employee unions protect their members from not the private sector but from the government, they get better than ACA health care, and their retirement is guaranteed by an entity that can print all the money it wants.

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#158

Post by gbacon »

arglebarnacle wrote: post #76
soVeryTired wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not from the US, but I'm guessing a 401(k) pension scheme is defined contribution: you pay in cash in a tax advantaged way, and the risk that the pension scheme loses money or doesn't make enough of a return to support you in retirement is borne by you. I'm also guessing that the government's pension scheme is defined benefit: the risk that the scheme loses money is borne by the government, and you get your pre-d…

Yes that's right, but you've got the terms reversed. Defined contribution is the one where you bear the risk, and defined benefit is where the government bears the risk.

A portion of the risk. PBGC pays out at a significant discount.

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#159

Post by TheCoelacanth »

Deadron wrote: post #116
aninteger wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$103k-$134k sounds very market rate to me... Maybe not for the San Francisco Bay Area but for areas outside of that it seems fine.

As a developer in that area, its not super competitive. It is not even close to what a good senior dev is making. They also don't hire people at this level often because you are talking about a director level position. There is huge political push back. This is why its common for the contractors on the project to be paid twice as much as the employees.

Yeah, as a developer in the area with under 5 years of professional experience I am already at the top end of that range. I did no job hopping, do not work for a company that is particularly well known for high pay and did not graduate from a school with a very well known CS program. I have also heard from former co-workers with similar levels of experience who have moved on to other companies that they are making similar amounts.

It is above average for the area (across all levels of experience, for a very experienced developer it probably isn't), but it is not very far above average, so I would expect someone capable of handling such a massive and critical project to be making significantly more.

Re: The IRS’s Effort to Convert Its Assembly Codebase to Java

#160

Post by gbacon »

jelling wrote: post #62
abtinf wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual federal pay schedules are here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries... The GS-15 range for the DC area is $135k-164k. For federal government employees, salary only represents about half of their total compensation, which includes a lifetime inflation adjusted pension and medical benefits.

...and any sizable employer offers healthcare and a 401(k). So at best you could say they're betting on an inflation-adjusted pension? That's not going to sell many candidates.

Government employees tend to be highly risk averse. This was the insight behind the founding of GEICO, the Government Employees Insurance Company, which used to write policies for public employees only.
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