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Signs that you are a bad programmer

yacoset.com

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Re: Signs that you are a bad programmer

#111

Post by alanh »

FuzzyDunlop wrote: post #40
veb wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must admit I'm bad at this. However, in my defense it comes down to: bad management. I'm forever being told to work on the next MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER only to be told after a few days that I need to work ON THE NEXT MOST IMPORTANT THING and that the MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER that I was working on is no longer important at all. le sigh

"Hey, FuzzyDulop, we're a day before deadline but I've been thinking, we could do SUPER BRILLIANT IDEA THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING and it'd be amazing! What do you think?" ... "You can forget about your deadline if you want that in, boss." * skip forward a week * "Hey, FuzzyDunlop, we're a day before deadline but..."

Dealt with this from an asshat running a semester-long school project. Solution: Drafting my own spec doc, sharing w/ rest of team, asking for comments, saying it would lock in two weeks.

Followed that doc for the next month or two.

Of course, the asshat was ticked off when the semester was about to close and tried to edit the doc (for the first time). I just said no.

I consider it a success even though even Those Kids who contribute nothing got As and I got a B+ despite working quite a bit.

Re: Signs that you are a bad programmer

#113

Post by runT1ME »

rickmb wrote: post #3

The opposite approach is much simpler. There's only one sign that you are a great programmer: Clients and fellow programmers are still happy with your work two years after you've delivered it. (Of course: "still" implies that they we're happy at delivery, which includes actually shipping working software in a timely fashion.)

This is a ridiculous assertion. I believe it's the kind of attitude that keeps our profession from gaining respect among other professional groups.

I've cooked meals for people that were impressed and happy, does that make me a great chef? Perhaps the people I fed are easy to please, have a simple tastes, spend most days eating unflavored oat meal.

If i'm capable of changing a car's spark plugs, and it continues to run well does that make me a great mechanic?

People having low or incorrect expectations does not change the overall quality of something you create or deliver.

Re: Signs that you are a bad programmer

#115

Post by clawrencewenham »

krobertson wrote: post #69

Hilarious, but some of the alternative careers I don't agree with. Particularly the first example of order of execution. If you can't grasp that and decide to be an architect, I wouldn't want to drive on your bridge, work in your building, or live in your home. Same for the options!

You may be able to grasp the instantaneous distribution of forces in a building or charges in a circuit without needing to know the order that they deploy. While a computer itself is an example of a circuit where the order of execution matters, a radio is not.

Order-of-execution is not perceived the same way as cause-and-effect, even though they're both the same thing. It's a damn weird thing that I've seen people do. A little bit like how artists can comprehend how the position of an arm has an effect on the way bones, fat and muscle are distributed over the rest of the body, but can't understand why they got smacked with an overdraft fee when their average daily balance would have covered it easily.

Re: Signs that you are a bad programmer

#116

Post by jakejake »

joe_the_user wrote: post #72

The problems described by the article are certainly real problems I've seen and seem like an indications of someone who indeed hasn't taken the time to deeply understand the programming process. But the term "bad programmer" and the general attitude of the article seems deeply mean-spirited, I would rather work with an actual "bad programmer" than with the kind of person who'd spend their time thinking up "alternativ…

In my experience just about everybody fancies themselves a great programmer and considers anybody who doesn't know (insert semi-random list of skills) to be a shitty programmer.

I kinda think it's like the Roth test for obscenity. I can't really explain what makes a shitty programmer, but "I know it when I see it."

Re: Signs that you are a bad programmer

#117

Post by 5hoom »

JonnieCache wrote: post #100
Sniffnoy wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to wonder if someone who can't determine order of execution should be an electrician or plumber either -- those aren't static systems!

I guess the point is that there's no "privileged" position in these systems which changes with time, like the point of execution in programming. What is the proper name for the bit of code that's currently being executed? I've suddenly realised that its a concept you think about constantly when coding, but its so much a part of the scenery so to speak that you never consciously consider it.

That's an interesting point.

I know that when I'm in the flow coding, there is a sort of Tick:the-program-does-this, Tock:the-program-does-that stepwise execution of the code in my head.

There are many answers as to what the hardware is actually doing with the instructions, but more generally what exactly is the name of an imaginary discrete state of a program that currently only exists in a coders head?

Re: Signs that you are a bad programmer

#118

Post by mcantor »

philwelch wrote: post #88
FuzzyDunlop wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Good" is also arguably subjective and relative to the subject's perceptions of "bad"(and vice-versa). So of course that "good" tradeoff to one programmer might be a "bad" one to another.

That's a "good" point.

I laughed, you bastard.

Re: Signs that you are a bad programmer

#119

Post by spenrose »

andrewflnr wrote: post #93
krobertson wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also assumes those fellow programmers are also good programmers. Can a mediocre programmer tell the difference between mediocre code and good code? To the original point, the happiness of the client and other developers is a good indicator, but not the only.

Can a mediocre programmer tell the difference between mediocre code and good code? Maybe not directly, but they can probably tell how well they understand the code and how hard it is to change. Not as well as a good programmer, since they'll have more trouble with both regardless, but somewhat.

My bad; thanks to philwelch and saraid for flagging the error. The resulting discussion is interesting, as is 13 upvotes for a post based on a misreading :-). FWIW, my favorite bit on programmer's understanding each other's work is Yegge's Done and Gets Things Smart.

Re: Signs that you are a bad programmer

#120

Post by mcantor »

clawrencewenham wrote: post #76

I wrote this years ago to get it out of my system, and after Infogami went to the big web host in the sky I ported it and my other nonsense to Google Sites. The slightly updated version of the same article is now here: http://www.yacoset.com/Home/signs-that-you-re-a-bad-programm...

Just FYI, I love your articles. I routinely forget who wrote them and where to find them again, then fail to find the link in my bookmarks, so I spend a half hour Googling phrases I vaguely remember being included in the essays ("how to deliver without everything getting fucked up", nope. "how to write code without shit exploding", nope. "how to..."). I think they reside in some kind of cognitive null zone in my brain. So, thanks for linking them again!
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