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Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

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121–130 of 316 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#121
post #96

Because Coding is not Working. Coding is not Planning. Coding is not Being Efficient. Coding is not Accomplishing Goals. Coding is not Saving Money. Coding is not Gaining Customers. I am getting paid to get things done in a good manner. If I wanted to have a house built for me, I would not expect to pay somebody and immediately have them start laying bricks without them looking at the land, taking soil samples, sketc…

Coding can be all of those things if you're doing it right.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#122

Mainly because I’m helping other people be able to code. One of the interesting things about the 10x engineer meme is that they’re 10x because they improve the productivity of their team. Well extend that to DevRel and that’s maybe another order of magnitude or two of effect again. Extend that to the average person looking to build and it’s another order or perhaps two again. Hopefully the stuff I’m doing now will ge…

I’ve worked with 0.1x engineers, where the whole team is slowed down. It becomes very draining. This is why I’ve retired and am just doing my own projects

If you work with 0.1x engineers, and you are 1x, does that make you a 10x within the organization?

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#123
Technicians should be coding all the time. Engineers should be solving problems.

Sometimes it will be coding, sometimes it will be asking questions, sometimes it will be thinking, etc...

The more senior I become in my career, the more I realize that less is more, with coding. There is no thinking tech debt.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#124
When you do contracting, you outline a maximum number of hours you can charge. It's usually You don't usually get overtime or benefits, so working more than ~120% time sets a bad precedent. (It's good to do right by your clients, and people appreciate not being specifically billed for small things)

Setting aside time to not-work is a good hedge against getting over-committed, especially since individual contracts can ebb and flow in the volume of work required.

Also, do you realize exactly when you are asking this question? It's two days before Valentine's Day, and a Friday evening for most readers. I know this is Hacker News, but I'm kind of surprised at how tame the responses are.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#126
post #96

Because Coding is not Working. Coding is not Planning. Coding is not Being Efficient. Coding is not Accomplishing Goals. Coding is not Saving Money. Coding is not Gaining Customers. I am getting paid to get things done in a good manner. If I wanted to have a house built for me, I would not expect to pay somebody and immediately have them start laying bricks without them looking at the land, taking soil samples, sketc…

> Because Coding is not Working Then what is it?

It's necessary but not sufficient.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#128
post #96

Because Coding is not Working. Coding is not Planning. Coding is not Being Efficient. Coding is not Accomplishing Goals. Coding is not Saving Money. Coding is not Gaining Customers. I am getting paid to get things done in a good manner. If I wanted to have a house built for me, I would not expect to pay somebody and immediately have them start laying bricks without them looking at the land, taking soil samples, sketc…

I think you’re right but that doesn’t mean the questioner is naive or inexperienced. It’s a legitimate question with lots of potential interesting answers.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#130

When you do contracting, you outline a maximum number of hours you can charge. It's usually You don't usually get overtime or benefits, so working more than ~120% time sets a bad precedent. (It's good to do right by your clients, and people appreciate not being specifically billed for small things) Setting aside time to not-work is a good hedge against getting over-committed, especially since individual contracts can…

> When you do contracting, you outline a maximum number of hours you can charge. It's usually Is this really the norm? I was under the impression that charging 30+ hours can easily happen. Especially if the contract is for longer term and it's practically a mini-employment.
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