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It Takes 6 Days to Change 1 Line of Code

edweissman.com

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

#221

Post by badclient »

grecy wrote: post #219
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…

At my previous company we had the same problem, where people from all over the company would come up to us developers constantly asking us to do things which were great, but not really what we were supposed to be doing. Like you, we never got around to doing something that we said would only take a day. One week we all decided to keep a notepad and paper next to our desks and keep a log of every time we were interrup…

This is great to hear. It is pretty much the problem/solution that I've diagnosed and stated in another post:

I think the root issue is they need a developer who just does tech support for the other 10 non tech people. And then a developer who can actually build shit quietly.

I will push this stance more aggressively having read your post.

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

#222

Post by metageek »

rhizome wrote: post #73
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…

Yak Shaving as an institutional affliction: http://projects.csail.mit.edu/gsb/old-archive/gsb-archive/gs...

Interesting; I've encountered "yak shaving" as meaning something slightly different: it's when your main task depends on a subordinate task which is long, difficult, and stupid--e.g., in programming, it's something which the tools should be doing for you. (Bonus points if you know that, on a different OS, or in a different language, the tools would be doing it for you.)

The original MIT meaning is closer to what I recently heard described as meta-yak-shaving, which is when, before you can start shaving the yak, you discover that each hair of the yak contains a subyak, and each subyak has to be shaved individually.

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

#223

Post by metageek »

rickmb wrote: post #157
sax wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious how many other folks see similar patterns of interruption? (i do)

I see the familiar pattern of programmers not saying "no" and not explaining clearly what they need to work. None of the other people here are being particularly unreasonable, they're just ignorant. And given that "how to work with programmers, writers and mathematicians" is not part of any educations, it's not really their fault.

Nor is "how not to be interrupted" covered in the CS curriculum.

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

#224

Post by nostrademons »

swah wrote: post #209
nostrademons wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Linux supports 2 with no problem. I'm using a second computer and synergy for the 3rd.

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

#225

Post by archangel_one »

helmut_hed wrote: post #136
archangel_one wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that it's worth being careful on mission-critical code, but this isn't being careful, it's just box-ticking. Ed said he'd tested the actual change, but most of the time is taken up by shifting it out to some parameters file, lengthening its name and waiting for permissions.

No one seems to have pointed this out yet, but the code that runs your manufacturing line is indeed "mission critical". Furthermore it's likely that your customers demand that you have strict processes in place for changes, and can actually audit you at their pleasure. So being so bureaucratic about it is not surprising. The Web 2.0 world works very differently, of course.

To clarify, I'm not suggesting that it's not mission critical, just that I don't believe that that kind of process is actually making things any safer.

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

#226

Post by underwater »

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…

This is something the Scrum methodology is supposed to solve. It places the responsibility of prioritizing tasks at the hands of the stakeholders by making the tradeoffs between scheduled tasks and interruptions very explicit.

If you want something more light weight look into the Pomodoro technique. People can bring issues to you but only in breaks between blocks of uninterupted work.

If you go with either then you can explain away refusing to be distracted as merely following a proven methodology. This gives you an easy out as people will vent any frustration at it rather than you.

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

#227

Post by cwfreeman »

DugFin wrote: post #204
masklinn wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I much prefer for people to visit, and to visit people. But it requires being able to take 'no' for an answer, and being able to say 'no'. Or at least, "I'm in the middle of something else; I can help you in 10 minutes. Otherwise, talk to Joe."

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

#228

Post by cheatercheater »

lotharbot wrote: post #149
Dove wrote: post #50

That "legacy code must be brought up to current standards whenever it's touched" policy doesn't seem very wise. I'm all for practical refactoring, but it's a major decision to be treated with care when it comes to legacy code. You don't always want to invite it. I certainly wouldn't want to enforce it. I mean, it's one thing when your oldest legacy code is two years old, and it's all one program. It's something else…

This is similar to laws that require buildings be brought entirely up to code any time any renovations are done. The intent is to keep buildings up to code, but one of the nasty side effects is that buildings which are already substandard continue to deteriorate because of the massive expense (in time and effort as well as money) that is required. I've seen half a dozen instances with churches and other nonprofits de…

If you require a massive overhaul to be tied to a minor fix, then you have let the thing rot for too long.

In your example, those buildings that deteriorate will at some point stop being liveable, and lose in value, which will finally mean that the proprietor's failed business approach will become weeded out. I, personally, welcome this sort of development.

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

#229

Post by 0x0 »

masklinn wrote: post #182
dspillett wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is why I insist on communication via chat clients when I'm busy. I'm not immediately interrupted as I would be if someone walks up or shouts out as I can ignore the little flash of the chat window on the task tray for a few minutes, sometimes tens of minutes, while I bring my train of thought to a more orderly stop. If people start with "Hi, I have a problem" and don't state what the problem is I just respond wi…

> If people start with "Hi, I have a problem" and don't state what the problem is I just respond with "drop me the details and I'll have a quick think" and get back to my work. If people start with "Hi, I have a problem" and don't state what the problem is I close the chat window . My work IM's status clearly states "if you have a question, ask it, don't ask if you can ask", time wasters simply get ignored. > Some pr…

I'd answer that "I have a problem" with "I have a solution".

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

#230

Post by cheatercheater »

Dove wrote: post #54

If you want a change request processed quickly, you should get someone in upper management to help you herd it through the system. Literally, take your VIP with you, and walk up to the desk of each admin in turn. Say, "Don't wait for Tuesday's meeting--approve this right now." And then walk to the next admin and do it again. And then walk to the test guys and say, "Drop everything and test this now." And then gather…

Wishful thinking. Each of those people has a thousand other things to do than to hold your hand all day long. Only works for things that are super-duper-important.

Additionally.. Going to "tell" on your buddies all the time and holding "the grownups" over them is terrible whinery. Everyone on the playground hates kids who do that.

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