I'm surprised nobody, not even the author, has said that the program was useful anyway. But instead of publishing it in the web, it should have been used by the toll-free number operators.
The shittiest project I ever worked on
91–100 of 187 posts
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#92Great http://thedailywtf.com/ material.
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#93Most shitty software is not because of the engineers, but management. Not putting value on good coded and tests.
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#94Although 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…
Kind of agree with you and OP, so let me add to the discussion with the caveat that YMMV etc. Some of these points may overlap with comments by fellow HNers in these threads. In any organization as a prospective customer, there are three forces at work that matter to a consultant: users, decision makers and finance folks. Ideally, the decision makers appoint a dedicated person (or team) who mediates users and finance…
Awesome list - deserves a nice little blog post of its own that I can bookmark.
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Kind of agree with you and OP, so let me add to the discussion with the caveat that YMMV etc. Some of these points may overlap with comments by fellow HNers in these threads. In any organization as a prospective customer, there are three forces at work that matter to a consultant: users, decision makers and finance folks. Ideally, the decision makers appoint a dedicated person (or team) who mediates users and finance…
Commenting to save this for myself (fellow consultant) -- thanks for the detailed list. :)
You're the most welcome, :)
I'm curious about any differences in conulsting approach to data science compared to software products: estimation strategies, what works etc.
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's kinda ironic, but my girlfriend's business school classmates (most of whom are electrical, mechanical, or chemical engineers) seem to think that software engineers are at the top of the engineering totem pole. Something about being the only engineering subdiscipline that's paid what they're worth. If it's a scam, it seems to be working.
As a former chemical engineer, I agree with your gf's classmates. In late 90s, I was working on an advanced chemical manufacturing process control project with a team of software developers. I found out they were getting paid twice as much as me and they were half as productive as me (they knew nothing about manufacturing, chemicals and process control) and I was twice as stressed as them. The best decision I made wa…
Or you could have moved to the petrochemical industry, where you would have been paid more than any software engineer anywhere...
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
Kind of agree with you and OP, so let me add to the discussion with the caveat that YMMV etc. Some of these points may overlap with comments by fellow HNers in these threads. In any organization as a prospective customer, there are three forces at work that matter to a consultant: users, decision makers and finance folks. Ideally, the decision makers appoint a dedicated person (or team) who mediates users and finance…
Awesome list - deserves a nice little blog post of its own that I can bookmark.
Thanks for the kind words.
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I'm not convinced. Care to make a case?
Its rather a case of each engineering profession is a regulated industry with an accreditation body, that certifies you as an engineer. Mechanical, electrical, electronic, chemical, industrial, civil, all have standards organisations, usually different ones in each country.
See IEEE for instance...
Also the engineer term is a protected designation in many countries, just as doctor and laywer is...
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#99Although 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…
Kind of agree with you and OP, so let me add to the discussion with the caveat that YMMV etc. Some of these points may overlap with comments by fellow HNers in these threads. In any organization as a prospective customer, there are three forces at work that matter to a consultant: users, decision makers and finance folks. Ideally, the decision makers appoint a dedicated person (or team) who mediates users and finance…
Great list! Mostly works for projects in general, too! Agree that there needs to be a blog post of its own for that.
Re: The shittiest project I ever worked on
#100I 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)
So true. Before leaving to focus on more interesting things I've spent a chunk of my career working developing software services for some big insurers. This tale from 1995 could easily be a story of the challenges we faced in 2012/13.
Data managed in spreadsheets, layer upon layer of disconnected management, no engagement with users, very little willingness to understand software development. More spreadsheets...