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The shittiest project I ever worked on

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Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#41

Post by misterjangles »

redact207 wrote: post #12

Although it's a fun read, it's a classic example of diving into coding without giving a project it's due diligence. There's nothing that's derailed my projects more consistently when I started out as not understanding the user's needs. They'll never tell you what they want, only what they don't want after you deliver something. I think that's the key difference to an experienced dev/BA. One who can actually sit with…

The tricky part is often convincing a client that pre-planning is a necessary part if the process and, though it is billable time, will ultimately save money. Many client don't appreciate that programming is not just writing code.

Also you can wind up meeting and planning yourself right out of a gig sometimes - which is fine if the gig wasn't truly necessary. But can be bad for your business if you spend hundreds of hours doing this for no compensation. This is a real situation that happens - you get a client that wants a big project and after many meeting and calls you determine that a Wordpress install will suit them perfectly. Their network guy does the install and for all the money you saved them your reward is that you don't get the gig!

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#42

Post by hef19898 »

grumps wrote: post #26
redact207 wrote: post #12

Although it's a fun read, it's a classic example of diving into coding without giving a project it's due diligence. There's nothing that's derailed my projects more consistently when I started out as not understanding the user's needs. They'll never tell you what they want, only what they don't want after you deliver something. I think that's the key difference to an experienced dev/BA. One who can actually sit with…

Oh yes the "easy" project... we just need... The real issue is sales...you make the sale because you have to. Then you stick the project on some poor PM/Ba/Dev who will fight with them forever over this stuff. Maybe I'm just bitter about the situation that I continually get stuck in.

Boy, do I feel with you. But look on the bright side of it, we are not alone, are we? ;-)

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#43

Post by n1ghtmare_ »

grumps wrote: post #26
redact207 wrote: post #12

Although it's a fun read, it's a classic example of diving into coding without giving a project it's due diligence. There's nothing that's derailed my projects more consistently when I started out as not understanding the user's needs. They'll never tell you what they want, only what they don't want after you deliver something. I think that's the key difference to an experienced dev/BA. One who can actually sit with…

Oh yes the "easy" project... we just need... The real issue is sales...you make the sale because you have to. Then you stick the project on some poor PM/Ba/Dev who will fight with them forever over this stuff. Maybe I'm just bitter about the situation that I continually get stuck in.

Amen, brother :) !

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#44

Post by misterjangles »

thekingshorses wrote: post #19
nekopa wrote: post #11

I never cease to be amazed that the more things change, the more they stay the same. If you removed the dates from this story, you'd be hard pressed to fix when this happened. (Except the static HTML idea is a bit of a give away, no web developer would ever dare suggest a static page in our brave new world of Web X.0)

Just say we will load data(phone number) using AJAX in JSON format and everyone will be happy. Page is static. JSON is a static file with a phone number. And use jQuery to load the JSON file.

My sarcasm detector is showing erratic results from your post. AJAX was 3 years from being invented and John Resig was about 10 years old in 1995.

Perhaps a whooshing sound should be made though, if I didn't get the joke..?!

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#45

Post by nedwin »

adamconroy wrote: post #38

Sounds like poor contract negotiation more than anything. Fixed quotes are very tricky things to navigate. I simply don't go there. If the client insists then I try to negotiate a fixed budget, then when the budget us running dry they can extend the budget or reduce scope. If they don't agree to that I walk.

So you would take on a project if they kept paying you per hour, even if the end result was useless?

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#46

Post by nostrademons »

misterjangles wrote: post #41
redact207 wrote: post #12

Although it's a fun read, it's a classic example of diving into coding without giving a project it's due diligence. There's nothing that's derailed my projects more consistently when I started out as not understanding the user's needs. They'll never tell you what they want, only what they don't want after you deliver something. I think that's the key difference to an experienced dev/BA. One who can actually sit with…

The tricky part is often convincing a client that pre-planning is a necessary part if the process and, though it is billable time, will ultimately save money. Many client don't appreciate that programming is not just writing code. Also you can wind up meeting and planning yourself right out of a gig sometimes - which is fine if the gig wasn't truly necessary. But can be bad for your business if you spend hundreds of…

If you're billing time & materials (which might be a good idea for a contract of indefinite scope), you'd still get paid for the time spent doing due diligence. You might even be able to sell a time & materials contract on the basis that it gives you an incentive to point out simpler solutions that require less maintenance even if they involve using competing off-the-shelf products.

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#47

Post by n1ghtmare_ »

paulhauggis wrote: post #40

The shittiest project I ever worked on was a php project that was converted from another language (I don't remember which one). This doesn't sound bad, except they used software to automatically convert it. The PHP code had no comments, minimal white space, and the variables were all hex. My job was to fix bugs. I worked there for about a week before I quit in frustration.

Well, I once worked on a Web App that was written in PL/SQL, that produced HTML. Every variable was named v1, v378, vT31 (yeah no order), and the whole app was in 3 procedures each 80,000 lines of code, AWFUL AWFUL CODE. Honestly the horrors. Stuff like:

   if condition
      do x
   else
      do x
I worked on it for a month and it felt like years.

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#48

Post by josephagoss »

paulhauggis wrote: post #40

The shittiest project I ever worked on was a php project that was converted from another language (I don't remember which one). This doesn't sound bad, except they used software to automatically convert it. The PHP code had no comments, minimal white space, and the variables were all hex. My job was to fix bugs. I worked there for about a week before I quit in frustration.

How can someone suggest auto convert into another language like that?

In the long run it would be cheaper rebuilding the entire thing.

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#49

Post by stef25 »

josephagoss wrote: post #48
paulhauggis wrote: post #40

The shittiest project I ever worked on was a php project that was converted from another language (I don't remember which one). This doesn't sound bad, except they used software to automatically convert it. The PHP code had no comments, minimal white space, and the variables were all hex. My job was to fix bugs. I worked there for about a week before I quit in frustration.

How can someone suggest auto convert into another language like that? In the long run it would be cheaper rebuilding the entire thing.

Every developer would agree and every suit would disagree.

Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on

#50

Post by adamconroy »

fusiongyro wrote: post #22

> In 1995 I quit my regular job as senior web engineer You had the job title "senior web engineer" when the web was 4 years old. That's pretty cool.

Sorry if it reduces self-esteem, but we (software developers) are not engineers.

I've been brainwashed for many years by my brother, who is a Phd civil engineer, that professions that hijack the term engineer are kidding themselves.

I know it sounds cool, and my current title is 'Senior Software Engineer', but it is all a scam.

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