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How we keep GitHub fast

github.com

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Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#21

Post by ceejayoz »

bkbleikamp wrote: post #6
aggronn wrote: post #2

Should I feel bad knowing that if I were project manager, I'd feel like someone wasted valuable time making the dashboard look so pretty? Am I an idiot just for assuming that was done in house? Edit: I'm not trying to make a case either way, but I look at the color scheme, specific typography decisions, and other small things that would have taken a non-trivial amount of time to work on or think about (ie, more than…

Why should internal tools be ugly? Well designed tools help people work better and more efficiently—putting a little bit of thought into them is not a waste of time.

It also instills a "just because only a few people will see this doesn't mean you can half-ass it" attitude.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#22

Post by particlebanana »

digitaltoad wrote: post #11

The mission control bar looks very familiar. Although I can't remember the name of it now, I seem to remember there being a debug bar of sorts that worked with merb/rails projects that had the same type of look. Anyone remember the name of it? Edit: I was thinking of FiveRuns Tune-Up toolbar.

Maybe your thinking of the old FiveRuns Tune-Up app. I used that all the time when I was doing early rails projects. They got bought and shut down awhile ago but I found an old TechCrunch article on it.

http://techcrunch.com/2008/05/29/dont-debug-alone-with-fiver...

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#23

Post by digitaltoad »

particlebanana wrote: post #22
digitaltoad wrote: post #11

The mission control bar looks very familiar. Although I can't remember the name of it now, I seem to remember there being a debug bar of sorts that worked with merb/rails projects that had the same type of look. Anyone remember the name of it? Edit: I was thinking of FiveRuns Tune-Up toolbar.

Maybe your thinking of the old FiveRuns Tune-Up app. I used that all the time when I was doing early rails projects. They got bought and shut down awhile ago but I found an old TechCrunch article on it. http://techcrunch.com/2008/05/29/dont-debug-alone-with-fiver...

That is indeed it. I had just found it too.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#24

Post by stephengillie »

kalid wrote: post #18
aggronn wrote: post #2

Should I feel bad knowing that if I were project manager, I'd feel like someone wasted valuable time making the dashboard look so pretty? Am I an idiot just for assuming that was done in house? Edit: I'm not trying to make a case either way, but I look at the color scheme, specific typography decisions, and other small things that would have taken a non-trivial amount of time to work on or think about (ie, more than…

"When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through." -Steve Jobs

That's not actually true. You'll use the plywood because it's stronger and because it's not seen. You get both the cost savings and increased structural stability, which will get you more customers.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#25

Post by atlbeer »

digitaltoad wrote: post #11

The mission control bar looks very familiar. Although I can't remember the name of it now, I seem to remember there being a debug bar of sorts that worked with merb/rails projects that had the same type of look. Anyone remember the name of it? Edit: I was thinking of FiveRuns Tune-Up toolbar.

Django debug toolbar?

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#26

Post by grandalf »

aggronn wrote: post #2

Should I feel bad knowing that if I were project manager, I'd feel like someone wasted valuable time making the dashboard look so pretty? Am I an idiot just for assuming that was done in house? Edit: I'm not trying to make a case either way, but I look at the color scheme, specific typography decisions, and other small things that would have taken a non-trivial amount of time to work on or think about (ie, more than…

Github has so much raw talent on staff that such things are totally reasonable indulgences. Why would Kyle be happy working on it if it was going to be ugly. It's that drive for excellence that motivates the kind of people Github hires.

I think it would be a major management mistake to force (or even urge) someone like Kyle to do things half ass.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#27

Post by RivieraKid »

bkbleikamp wrote: post #6
aggronn wrote: post #2

Should I feel bad knowing that if I were project manager, I'd feel like someone wasted valuable time making the dashboard look so pretty? Am I an idiot just for assuming that was done in house? Edit: I'm not trying to make a case either way, but I look at the color scheme, specific typography decisions, and other small things that would have taken a non-trivial amount of time to work on or think about (ie, more than…

Why should internal tools be ugly? Well designed tools help people work better and more efficiently—putting a little bit of thought into them is not a waste of time.

And even if it doesn't result in higher productivity, it would be a often a good thing to do, because it makes the developers' work more pleasant.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#28

Post by thisishugo »

stephengillie wrote: post #24
kalid wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through." -Steve Jobs

That's not actually true. You'll use the plywood because it's stronger and because it's not seen. You get both the cost savings and increased structural stability, which will get you more customers.

That's not the point Steve Jobs was making. The point is: if you care about what you do, you'll do your best even when you don't have to. Because as far as you're concerned you do have to.

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#29

Post by thibaut_barrere »

particlebanana wrote: post #22
digitaltoad wrote: post #11

The mission control bar looks very familiar. Although I can't remember the name of it now, I seem to remember there being a debug bar of sorts that worked with merb/rails projects that had the same type of look. Anyone remember the name of it? Edit: I was thinking of FiveRuns Tune-Up toolbar.

Maybe your thinking of the old FiveRuns Tune-Up app. I used that all the time when I was doing early rails projects. They got bought and shut down awhile ago but I found an old TechCrunch article on it. http://techcrunch.com/2008/05/29/dont-debug-alone-with-fiver...

I think it is (I remembered the black bar too).

It seems to be there (but not updated):

https://github.com/fiveruns/fiveruns_tuneup

Re: How we keep GitHub fast

#30

Post by bradleyland »

aggronn wrote: post #2

Should I feel bad knowing that if I were project manager, I'd feel like someone wasted valuable time making the dashboard look so pretty? Am I an idiot just for assuming that was done in house? Edit: I'm not trying to make a case either way, but I look at the color scheme, specific typography decisions, and other small things that would have taken a non-trivial amount of time to work on or think about (ie, more than…

Plenty of tools get by being ugly, but that's not the point. Github is killing it right now, and they're killing it by having a very well designed product that developers really like to use.

Thinking of your (team's) effort as a zero sum equation can get you in to trouble. Yes, you only have limited time and effort, but on the flip side, all the time you spend doing something, you're training. By building ugly things, you're training yourself to build... well... ugly things.

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