Paul Buchheit on Joining Google, How to Become a Great Engineer, and Happiness

Post by neolefty » Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 2:05 PM UTC

YokoZar wrote: post #58

nodesocket wrote: post #22

> When they sat down with me they said, “we want you to build an email something.” As I understand Paul began work on Gmail in 2001 at the time Yahoo Mail and Hotmail were market leaders. Interesting Google execs knew they could do better, even though Gmail didn't officially launch until over 3 years later.

it's been widely reported that gmail was a 20% project to start with. That seems inconsistent with this version of events.

Post by SamReidHughes » Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 2:13 PM UTC

Sytten wrote: post #120

[Off topic] Can someone help me understand why computer scientists call themselves engineers in the US? Is there a reason beside the fact that it is probably not regulated? Here that would be so totally illegal if you are not a member of the order which requires an engineering diploma.

Post by borroka » Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 2:16 PM UTC

badpun wrote: post #109

borroka wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 99% of people within FAANG are the most friendly people ever I worked at one the FAANG and I found in my team and some of the neighboring teams the most insecure, unfriendly, back-stabbing, conspiratorial bunch of technically semi-competent losers I ever had the displeasure of working with. Other people were competent, trustworthy, confident in themselves and thus enjoyable. I also interviewed at other FAANGs and m…

> I worked at one the FAANG and I found in my team and some of the neighboring teams the most insecure, unfriendly, back-stabbing, conspiratorial bunch of technically semi-competent losers I ever had the displeasure of working with. I think a lot of people would enjoy a blog post elaborating on that experience (possibly under a pseudonym to protect you from vengeance).

Post by pjc50 » Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 2:25 PM UTC

lighthazard wrote: post #116

anoncoward111 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Down here in real world land, I would be fired for voluntarily leaving my shift at any time. I once had a manager tell me, "Show up or be fired. We will judge if you deserve to go home or not." Yes, one should look for a better job elsewhere, and lately the economy has found more room for all of society's laborers regardless of vogue credentials. However, I can't pay the bills with interviews, and often times I lose…

This sentiment is typical of the general HN population - a disconnect on the average person. What job wouldn't fire you for leaving in the middle of the day? Most likely a job where OP has a lot of freedom, trust, and respect - something that isn't readily available everywhere else.

Post by username3 » Fri, Oct 19, 2018, 2:30 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #48

username3 wrote: post #42

Anyone have videos of someone programming fast or a video of a 10x engineer working or a comparison output of a 10x vs above average?

This question misses the point I think. The differences aren’t going to be that they type 1200 wpm or something that would be interesting or obvious on video. It would more likely look like someone spending time thinking carefully, not (necessarily) at a keyboard, thinking about really needs doing, how to best do it, what the user needs and will value, and they might write 1/3 of the code of a median engineer. The ac…