Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship • Hacker News Board

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#321

Post by whateveracct » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 7:52 PM UTC

threecheese wrote: post #102

What does it say about me, that I was SURE his article was going to be admitting out loud that we are engineering ourselves into obsolescence, a lot of us are really enjoying it, and nobody is seriously discussing how afraid we should be for our families and future. I’m afraid to mention it professionally, given we have a literal policy around “AI doomers” (not the exact term) that has the word “separation” in it. Wo…

idk...all the Claude-generated code I'm seeing checked into our codebase is as bad as the code the same people wrote themselves. Claude probably makes it less strenuous and faster for them to produce those results though.

Uh oh.. maybe it's a problem to grease the wheels of the least-skilled...

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#322

Post by devmor » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:00 PM UTC

redrove wrote: post #196

devmor wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t say I have ever experienced this problem after conversing with someone more than a handful of times. Sure it applies to things like random people on social media and such, but after a mutual exchange or two you should be over it.

Maybe it applies more if you’re on the spectrum? (and the spectrum being wider than most people imagine)

Anecdotally, I don’t think that’s true. A lot of the good friends I have made purely through the internet are on the spectrum.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#323

Post by devmor » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:01 PM UTC

pgwhalen wrote: post #247

devmor wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the author’s primary reasonings for why remote work sucks is apparently that they find it difficult to treat other people like human beings without close proximity to them. That’s pretty weird and uncomfortable and I don’t know that I would want to work with someone like that in or out of office.

I think it’s pretty mature of the author to recognize that this is the way they (and most humans) work, rather than acting like they always have the ability to treat others with their absolute full capacity for respect.

I don’t think that’s how most humans work, but yes it is good for the author to recognize and seek to rectify it.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#324

Post by ReptileMan » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:02 PM UTC

almost wrote: post #314

ReptileMan wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Way more common. Tests are at best overrated. And doing them properly is big PITA. The first thing is that the person writing the tests and the person writing the code should be different. And our languages are not really suited for the requirements of testing. They can and do save your ass in certain situation, but the false security they provide is probably more dangerous.

This sounds very "the perfect is the enemy of good". Tests don't need to be perfect, they don't need to be written by different people (!!!), they don't need to cover 100% of the code. As long as they're not flakey (tests which fail randomly really can he worse than nothing) it really helps in development and maintenence to have some tests. It's really nice when the (frequent) mistakes I make show up on my machine or…

>they don't need to be written by different people

If you make logical error in the code, chances are you will make logical error in the test that tests that segment too.

A big problem with tests is making sure they are correct.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#325

Post by ryanackley » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:13 PM UTC

saghm wrote: post #316

ryanackley wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're wrong (IMO) The onus should not be on the communicator to qualify every statement of opinion. This is tedious and unreasonable. Not prefacing what clearly is an opinion with "IMO" is not a jedi mind trick that makes others believe it as fact. You're also demonstrating some hypocrisy by presenting your own point of view in the same manner. No qualifiers. You're simply stating something as truth

> The onus should not be on the communicator to qualify every statement of opinion. This is tedious and unreasonable. I fundamentally disagree with this. In my experience, it's in pretty much in possible for people to perfectly understand intent without a certain amount of effort from both the communicator to express it clearly and the listener to understand it. In practice, I don't think there's a good chance of suc…

This argument over the semantics of how to express an opinion feels like a proxy for people who strongly disagree with him on remote work seeking an outlet.

I say that because you (and everyone else who seems upset) clearly understand it's just his opinion. Therefore, why are you offended by his intent? Whatever his intent might be, I think it's irrelevant. It's simply a strongly held opinion.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#326

Post by standarditem » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:15 PM UTC

optymizer wrote: post #149

I like the vulnerability displayed by the author. I'll share a moment myself: A few years ago I was the TL on a FAANG Android project, where for a few months I was doing more spreadsheet/TPM work than usual, and didn't have much time for coding. Once we had a meeting where I ended up coding in Kotlin live in front of a dozen younger devs to discuss the implementation of some feature. My work background is Android and…

I write switch statements rarely enough that I probably have to look up the syntax every second or third time I use one. There is no shame in forgetting something used rarely enough that it doesn't stick. Especially when you can quickly look it up.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#327

Post by standarditem » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:24 PM UTC

I work with a very smart guy who opened my eyes to digging until you understand. He is unafraid to look like he doesn't understand something and always willing to just ask the next clarifying question. It takes a lot of self-confidence and patience to keep asking questions and learn in public.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#328

Post by venturecruelty » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:37 PM UTC

TRiG_Ireland wrote: post #283

wiseowise wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would also not judge you for having your own preferences and opinions. I too prefer working in an office to remote work, but when I say this out loud other developers take it as advocating RTO or saying remote work is worse when it just doesn't suit my personality. I get that it's a touchy subject but there is no need to get up in my face about it. You ever wonder why? Serfes finally got freedom after corona, but…

That is a very strange (and very emotional) take. I find it easier to focus with some other people around me, so long as they're being quiet. An office (or a library) is easier to work in than my house. I also really like the idea of separation between my home and my workplace. If I was rich and had room in my house for a separate office I could close the door on when the workday was over, perhaps I'd feel differentl…

Nobody is stopping you from spending time breathing the same stale, rhinovirus-ridden air as other people. What people take umbrage with is the idea that the rest of us should be forced into propping up the commercial rental market as well.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#329

Post by venturecruelty » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:39 PM UTC

tomyedwab wrote: post #143

Well written article full of humility and vulnerability? I love it. My reaction: you don't need to feel ashamed of not knowing something, there is far too much to know and I'm still learning new techniques and concepts 37 years in, so I would never judge you for it. I would also not judge you for having your own preferences and opinions. I too prefer working in an office to remote work, but when I say this out loud o…

>I suspect there is a lot of insecurity and imposter syndrome that causes people to write hyper-confident blog posts about why they are better without AI...

I mean, it's better than the hyper-confident blog posts about how AI made them an ubermensch superdooper 100000000x developer but "no you can't see the code because it's for WORK". Nice subtle dig, though.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#330

Post by venturecruelty » Sat, Nov 29, 2025, 8:41 PM UTC

I thought this was going to be, like: "here's why my manager sucks", and not "I wish I wrote more Ruby". Also, I'm sorry, but broad statements like "remote work sucks" are not confessions, they're statements of a preference specific to the author. I love remote work, personally. I love being able to do laundry during the day, or run an errand. I love not breathing in the same COVID air as other people, or having to listen to them have no social grace while they scream into a microphone in a room with no walls.