It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code • Hacker News Board

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#201

Post by bbwharris » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:06 PM UTC

badclient wrote: post #52

This shit happens at my job and leaves me feeling depressed and at times questioning my own skills because I know and my bosses know that on my part, I just had to make a tiny, tiny change. But when you have a dozen such experiences, I feel like something is wrong with me because when the dust settles, this was a one line code change that took me a week to push to production. It also makes my bosses question my estim…

As much as this sounds counterintuitive, say no, and stop being a team player.

Petty requests for emails that someone should have are their responsibility. If you think about it, why should your resourcefulness help them complete their job while it blocks your own progress?

Your boss is doling out reviews, he's #1 priority. Everyone else gets "no" and no access to your time without talking to him first.

"Being a team player" is a fluffy way of saying "do other peoples jobs for them". Sure, help people out and don't be a dick.

It does sound like a mess, but this type of mess exists everywhere. When you meld highly technical people with less technical people you will get these scenarios. Before you know it, you will be expected to replace the toner.

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#202

Post by sp332 » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:09 PM UTC

nknight wrote: post #200

sp332 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you burst into someone's office and start telling them all the problems you expect them to fix without even saying hi?

First of all, you're not bursting into someone's office. Second of all, if you burst into my office while I'm working and start making smalltalk, I will, depending on my mood and whether or not I've previously judged you to be a useless person, either immediately ask you to get to the point, or throw you out. Stop wasting my time. If sending "Hi" makes you feel better, fine, but the substance had better be on my scre…

How do I know you're even at your desk? After I type in my problem how long should I wait for a response before giving up and doing something else?

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#203

Post by S_A_P » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:16 PM UTC

While I can both relate and empathize with the story here- the initial "crisis" seems forced and arbitrary. Once a company becomes sufficiently large to mandate a promotion process like the one described in this story, the management would probably know that there is no "immediate" changes that can be made unless they want to bypass those processes. Further, if it took 6 days to change a line of code to meet everyone's standards and satisfy requirements, imagine how long it would take to push through a layoff. :)

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#204

Post by DugFin » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:17 PM UTC

masklinn wrote: post #166

DannoHung wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On this subject: Whenever someone chats me in the following manner, I want to kill them. Straight up. Just fucking take an ice pick and jab it right through their skull: Other Dude: Hi. Me: Hello A minute elapses Other Dude: I'm having a problem Me: How can I help A minute elapses Other Dude: ACTUAL PROBLEM THAT THEY NEEDED HELP WITH Me: Oh, here is your resolution which took all of 15 seconds to give to you. WHAT TH…

> On this subject: Whenever someone chats me in the following manner, I want to kill them. Then refuse this, set your status to "don't bug me, if you have a question just bloody ask it" and check your IM when you've got a lull[0]. If it's not a question, kill the window it's not relevant. I don't need "social interaction" on IM when I'm coding, if the other guy can't get to the point screw him, I'm not interested. [0…

>If IM is specifically a way to get you immediately, start blacklisting people who can't get to the point and waste your time and have they go through email.

But of course they won't use email, they need the answer NOW. No, they'll come over to your desk and start tugging on your shirtsleeve.

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#205

Post by DugFin » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:21 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #202

nknight wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all, you're not bursting into someone's office. Second of all, if you burst into my office while I'm working and start making smalltalk, I will, depending on my mood and whether or not I've previously judged you to be a useless person, either immediately ask you to get to the point, or throw you out. Stop wasting my time. If sending "Hi" makes you feel better, fine, but the substance had better be on my scre…

How do I know you're even at your desk? After I type in my problem how long should I wait for a response before giving up and doing something else?

The same way you know he's not at his desk when you type that useless "Hi": you don't get a reply. How long do you wait after typing a useless "Hi"? Wait that same amount of time after typing your relevant question.

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#206

Post by npsimons » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:34 PM UTC

DannoHung wrote: post #150

badclient wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if your workplace environment really doesn't permit that, move on. Doing just that :) It's basically a startup with 10 of us where I am the only in house developer. I've tried many things like asking folks to Skype me instead of walking over to my desk or calling my name. I've gone to great lengths to get em to understand why skyping to get my attention is different than other ways. None of these guidelines reall…

On this subject: Whenever someone chats me in the following manner, I want to kill them. Straight up. Just fucking take an ice pick and jab it right through their skull: Other Dude: Hi. Me: Hello A minute elapses Other Dude: I'm having a problem Me: How can I help A minute elapses Other Dude: ACTUAL PROBLEM THAT THEY NEEDED HELP WITH Me: Oh, here is your resolution which took all of 15 seconds to give to you. WHAT TH…

YOU JUST BROKE MY FLOW AND STOLE 2 GOD DAMNED MINUTES!

Actually, it's worse than that. The (average) time it takes to get back into flow is 15 minutes[1], so add the time to respond to them to that to get your wasted time. And if you get another interruption before the fifteen minute descent into flow is complete? Start over - another fifteen minutes. If this happens constantly, you will effectively never get any work done. There's more than one way to kill productivity.

[1] - See "Peopleware", Chapter 10.

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#207

Post by Akram » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:42 PM UTC

redcircle wrote: post #151

DannoHung wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On this subject: Whenever someone chats me in the following manner, I want to kill them. Straight up. Just fucking take an ice pick and jab it right through their skull: Other Dude: Hi. Me: Hello A minute elapses Other Dude: I'm having a problem Me: How can I help A minute elapses Other Dude: ACTUAL PROBLEM THAT THEY NEEDED HELP WITH Me: Oh, here is your resolution which took all of 15 seconds to give to you. WHAT TH…

This is why I stopped using all chat clients.

I had clients calling me and don't hang up until i get the problem fixed...

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#208

Post by rubynerd » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:50 PM UTC

This is the model which my Computing coursework bases around, you get something like 6 marks for code and 8 marks total for a "test plan"

The best thing? I think I've lost the majority of marks for using RSpec instead of 100 screenshots

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#209

Post by swah » Fri, May 18, 2012, 2:57 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #171

ojbyrne wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Door? Who has those anymore? In the interest of collaboration open-plan offices have become the norm, to the detriment of productivity everywhere.

I'll frequently work from home in the morning or evening if I want to get stuff done; no coworkers there. Or if I need to concentrate, I'll leave my office and go find a massage chair or cozy nook and curl up with my laptop, or even go to a different building and work alongside a team where nobody knows who I am. Only thing I miss is my 3 24" monitors.

So how well does Linux support that setup? Or you're using OSX at Google?

Re: It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

#210

Post by DannoHung » Fri, May 18, 2012, 3:08 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #199

nknight wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not "faster", immediately . Say absolutely nothing until you've typed out your question. Would you send an email that says "Hi", then another that says "I have a question", then another with your question?

Would you burst into someone's office and start telling them all the problems you expect them to fix without even saying hi?

Have you heard of these things called sentences? You don't need to hit return between each one.

"Hi Dude, I've got this thing I need help with. Here is the description of what it is and what I am having a problem with."

It's not an issue if they put it in the same chat message, it's the "Hi", send message, "I have a problem", send message, "This is what the problem is", send message that drives me up a wall.

And if you REALLY need him to get back to let you know if he can help out immediately, you can send a second message along the lines of, "And sorry to be a bother, but I need help pronto. Please let me know if you can take a look at this right now." At that point, it's not a big deal if there's another message, because you haven't wasted time in relaying it.