> But a demo is not a system. A demo is controlled. The input is clean, the edge cases are removed, and the happy path is selected in advance. Real work has missing data, unclear requests, old records, broken integrations, private context, bad formatting, vague instructions, and exceptions nobody wrote down. This has been the case for decades. LLMs are just magnifying it. That's why I feel that an important part of a…
The operating cost starts after the demo
41–50 of 53 posts
Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#42> But a demo is not a system. A demo is controlled. The input is clean, the edge cases are removed, and the happy path is selected in advance. Real work has missing data, unclear requests, old records, broken integrations, private context, bad formatting, vague instructions, and exceptions nobody wrote down. This has been the case for decades. LLMs are just magnifying it. That's why I feel that an important part of a…
Typically when I ship anything that is going to be customer facing I am a nervous wreck. Although I'm only 4 years into my career. Does it get better with time?
But it is really rewarding, to see my work, actually in use.
Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#43> But a demo is not a system. A demo is controlled. The input is clean, the edge cases are removed, and the happy path is selected in advance. Real work has missing data, unclear requests, old records, broken integrations, private context, bad formatting, vague instructions, and exceptions nobody wrote down. This has been the case for decades. LLMs are just magnifying it. That's why I feel that an important part of a…
Typically when I ship anything that is going to be customer facing I am a nervous wreck. Although I'm only 4 years into my career. Does it get better with time?
Saying "im sorry this is broken it will take us a few weeks to fix it" feels infinitely worse than "im sorry this is broken give us a few hours and we'll get it fixed"
Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your comment would've been more valuable if you actually included at least one actual example of evidence.
My pattern recognition is a lot less costly to me than your request for proof
Says HN a thousand times on articles that are older than LLMs. I'm not saying this article is or isn't AI, what I am saying is that randos on HN saying something is AI with any definitive certainty hasn't been a great bet. All you do it does is add noise to the conversation.
Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#45Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
My pattern recognition is a lot less costly to me than your request for proof
I'm pretty sure this comment/article is AI... Says HN a thousand times on articles that are older than LLMs. I'm not saying this article is or isn't AI, what I am saying is that randos on HN saying something is AI with any definitive certainty hasn't been a great bet. All you do it does is add noise to the conversation.
So the pushback on the pushback on slop is also noise.
Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#47> But a demo is not a system. A demo is controlled. The input is clean, the edge cases are removed, and the happy path is selected in advance. Real work has missing data, unclear requests, old records, broken integrations, private context, bad formatting, vague instructions, and exceptions nobody wrote down. This has been the case for decades. LLMs are just magnifying it. That's why I feel that an important part of a…
Typically when I ship anything that is going to be customer facing I am a nervous wreck. Although I'm only 4 years into my career. Does it get better with time?
Lately, I have been working solo, so my stress tracks more closely with development cadence and deadlines. When seeing (or anticipating) the pinch here, I push back with “you can have features or deadlines, but not both”. If you do not push back, you will find yourself being tasked with writing fixes or features for an impossible deadline, and you are not going to have a good time.
Beyond that, your nerves should diminish over time, as you gain more confidence in your ability to produce production quality code. Use language servers and linters, run static and runtime analysis tools, enable every warning, treat warnings as errors, write tests, and so on. Warn the powers that be of the consequences of skipping such steps; once you have clearly warned of possible outcomes from such action (e.g. shipping bugs, slipped deadlines, dropped features), you should not need to carry the burden on your own shoulders.
Good engineering requires constant trade offs, and you should look for a new job if management does not understand and respect such principles. Good organizations should not be stressful places to work.
Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#48Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#49> But a demo is not a system. A demo is controlled. The input is clean, the edge cases are removed, and the happy path is selected in advance. Real work has missing data, unclear requests, old records, broken integrations, private context, bad formatting, vague instructions, and exceptions nobody wrote down. This has been the case for decades. LLMs are just magnifying it. That's why I feel that an important part of a…
Typically when I ship anything that is going to be customer facing I am a nervous wreck. Although I'm only 4 years into my career. Does it get better with time?
Feedback is either positive or negative, constructive or not. If it's positive, great. Maybe that gives you some insight into how your work is positively affecting people. If it's negative and constructive, great! Someone is taking time out of their day to tell you how to make your product better, for free. Print the feedback out and hang it on the wall. If it's negative and not constructive, who cares?
Re: The operating cost starts after the demo
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Typically when I ship anything that is going to be customer facing I am a nervous wreck. Although I'm only 4 years into my career. Does it get better with time?
If you've heard the phrase "it doesn't get easier, you just get stronger" in regards to the gym, I think it's similar for shipping products. I don't feel less nervous about shipping now than I did 15 years ago, but 1) I'm at least marginally better at this than I was then, and most importantly 2) I don't take feedback as personally as I did then. Feedback is either positive or negative, constructive or not. If it's p…
I still get nervous, but I'm nervous about much more ambitious stuff, these days.
I think negative feedback -even nasty negative feedback- is much more useful than positive fluff.
It's nice to get attaboys, but cursing and kvetching is more likely to improve the product.