No post body was provided.
Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
101–110 of 519 posts
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably 2-3 times a week actually. My team is specifically the spear point of new tech and integrating it for the company to use. From a point of self-evaluation I think it would help if I tried to listen more than talk.
From what I've seen here: you have a family life you enjoy, at least a few competent coworkers that you are actively engaging with and learning from, you're successful and sought-after at your place of work in a field you seem to enjoy, you have a hobby that you're consistent with, you have consistent and not overly-demanding work hours, you've tried challenging yourself by changing sectors, etc. You're hitting all o…
Thanks for your perspective, and taking the time to express it.
I truly appreciate it.
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#103I hear you.
The one problem with being so useful is that all problems slide your way.
While it is hard to hear, you might be enabling the problem. If everyone believes you know the best way or are the most efficient problem solver, they will default to you. There's long maintenance tails in certain problems... so even if you are great at what you do it can quickly become overwhelming.
Making opportunities for others will improve your peer group, improve your life and reduce your stress.
Loneliness is not going to be fixed overnight, and certainly is not "one more thing I got to fix". Give people space, time and mentorship to grow. If you don't see progress after doing this, move on. Perhaps you've been too long in your role.
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#104I think you're an above average developer working at a below average company. This could be the root of all your problems. Nothing is more frustrating than working with peers you know aren't carrying their weight. Do you want to be an engineering leader? This is what you are, regardless of your official title at your company. Engineering leaders are judged by how much better they make everyone else. You may hear the…
Or he just bangs out a ton of crappy code in the name of "pragmatism", while everyone else has to clean up after him and thus takes longer. I've seen this many times.
You can be fast while also writing great code.
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#105From the looks of it you _are_ being challenged, just not in the way you expected. > The worst part is I am sensing within myself this frustration that everyone else appears to move so slowly. The thought of "great, one more thing I got to fix" is coming up too frequently. I find it very respectable that you are so self-aware. In my worldview, stronger shoulders should carry more weight, but that also means that you…
A very interesting point of view. A theme in replies is that I should be teaching / helping others. I do that in terms of advice, but I am starting to realize that I need to focus more on not giving the right answer, but explaining how I go to it, and ideally solve the problem for everyone if I can.
Have you read How to Solve It (Polya)? It's a short read and has great advice in terms of problem solving and teaching. If not: Maybe you get some inspiration from there, seems you will like it.
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#106I think the problem is the gap in your social life. most people are good at their job the way you describe it. and they think about the business as much as they should. You think you're an artist, but you're not sorry. I understand you well since we have similar thoughts and I think the main problem is loneliness.
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Teaching other developers. Maybe open a youtube channel for teaching programming, but for more senior techniques, i.e, how to build a robust software, approach to testing, error handling, logging, etc.
I debated starting a Youtube channel. I don't think I'm that special. I truly believe that what sets me apart is that I have good processes to get me working, asked a lot of questions to developers I admired as I was learning and read a lot of code to figure out how things work. It would probably be cool to explain that to others. I enjoy talking about the developer mindset I possess when mentoring Jr Devs that cycle…
I for one would want to have more senior devs mentor me. I’m sure a lot of devs would appreciate the content.
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've thought about this. I actually do not think I'm the smartest person in the room, hell two of the people in my direct team are definitely smarter than me. I think I have really good systems that allow me to consistently solve problems and write code. On the loneliness front, I meant in the scope of working. I have four kids, I am everything BUT lonely with them. However, I do agree that aside from work and one of…
A tip from me... Try intermittent fasting and spend the 1 hour allotted for lunch on a brisk walk or a short (30-40 minutes) exercise if you have a nearby gym. I think you will feel better. I certainly do, on a similar regime.
Good ideas. Put them in my list.
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#109Try teaching. This world needs more of competent developers to teach. It could also help with your loneliness, and people will appreciate it. Win win situation. FWIW, one of my friend is the maintainer of one of the most popular FOSS. He doesn't code as much anymore, but instead focusing on building relationships with people, like a dev evangelist. He seems really happy doing it.
Yeah, in particular, try teaching and motivating your colleagues. Programming computers is easy, programming people is a lot harder. “If you wish to build a ship, do not divide the men into teams and send them to the forest to cut wood. Instead, teach them to long for the vast and endless sea.” -Attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry I often feel like I’m working more efficiently towards a goal than colleagues (and I…
Yeah. And it is easier to do this in a smaller company.
Re: Tell HN: The loneliness of a pretty good developer
#110I think you're an above average developer working at a below average company. This could be the root of all your problems. Nothing is more frustrating than working with peers you know aren't carrying their weight. Do you want to be an engineering leader? This is what you are, regardless of your official title at your company. Engineering leaders are judged by how much better they make everyone else. You may hear the…
The pivot I have been debating is to become a Lead Development Manager with the express purpose of enabling everyone else, removing obstacles, creating better processes etc. My problem is that I love code much more than talking to people all day. I have been mentoring Jr Devs for a while now in an official capacity which helps. I like the idea of "make systemic changes to help your peers become more effective". So th…
Don't do it.