Rules of thumb for a 1x developer • Hacker News Board

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#41

Post by pjc50 » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:00 PM UTC

cellularmitosis wrote: post #23

"To replace out MediaWiki with a Java-based alternative (XWiki) ended up taking a total fo 24 dev-years over 4+ calendar years for the team, not counting the interruptions to pretty much every other team at Amazon as their pages were getting constantly migrated and un-migrated" I would love to hear more about this. I'm guessing that's a cost of at least $4M? How was this approved? How did they allow it to continue fo…

Very few organisations really count the cost of things like this internally. And it would have been quoted as "relatively simple" in the beginning; just migrate a wiki from one piece of external software to another, how hard can it be?

("how hard can it be" should be on your Words That Prefigure Expensive Disasters list. It's the business equivalent of "hold my beer and watch this")

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#42

Post by jusssi » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:00 PM UTC

> #1 Rules are good

Only when combined with "Rules are made to be broken". Nothing is worse than taking an arbitrary set of rules and turning it into a cult religion.

Other than that and some of the programming language rules (such an opinionated topic) a rare, level headed treatment. Bookmarked for future quotation.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#43

Post by ValleZ » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:01 PM UTC

noad wrote: post #21

I used to get called a 10x developer, I was also called a rockstar and a ninja and a 100x dev and every other compliment that was hip. Then I hit 30. That type of talk stopped. Then I hit 40. Now I will not be considered for any entry level, mid level, or senior level software dev job anywhere in the United States, despite being very desperate and willing to relocate for anything. Doesn't matter. Too old. I'm suppose…

This is simple because you don't do leetcode enough.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#44

Post by deweller » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:02 PM UTC

> PHP is banned at Amazon due to security reasons, but its successor, Hack, runs a lot of..

Just to be clear, Hack is not PHP's successor. Hack is a fork of PHP developed by Facebook. Hack will not overtake PHP any time soon.

PHP has had security issues in the past. Sure you can do stupid things with it if you want, but modern PHP is security conscious out of the box. Frameworks like Laravel make great default choices about security concerns.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#45

Post by gt2 » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:02 PM UTC

noad wrote: post #21

I used to get called a 10x developer, I was also called a rockstar and a ninja and a 100x dev and every other compliment that was hip. Then I hit 30. That type of talk stopped. Then I hit 40. Now I will not be considered for any entry level, mid level, or senior level software dev job anywhere in the United States, despite being very desperate and willing to relocate for anything. Doesn't matter. Too old. I'm suppose…

Do you think the hip compliments to you were warranted? Or are you saying that it's just something people reserve to tell young people. Can't quite tell.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#46

Post by chii » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:02 PM UTC

miohtama wrote: post #30

noad wrote: post #21

I used to get called a 10x developer, I was also called a rockstar and a ninja and a 100x dev and every other compliment that was hip. Then I hit 30. That type of talk stopped. Then I hit 40. Now I will not be considered for any entry level, mid level, or senior level software dev job anywhere in the United States, despite being very desperate and willing to relocate for anything. Doesn't matter. Too old. I'm suppose…

A startup CTO role might work for you if you can build the product grounds all alone (frontend, backend, DevOps).

i.e., have enough saved up to start a startup, and hope to make it big? What happens if it fails? What happens to your retirement, or is the backup plan either continue working till you drop, or rely on kids to carry you thru retirement years?

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#47

Post by twic » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:04 PM UTC

cellularmitosis wrote: post #23

"To replace out MediaWiki with a Java-based alternative (XWiki) ended up taking a total fo 24 dev-years over 4+ calendar years for the team, not counting the interruptions to pretty much every other team at Amazon as their pages were getting constantly migrated and un-migrated" I would love to hear more about this. I'm guessing that's a cost of at least $4M? How was this approved? How did they allow it to continue fo…

This week it's patio11's turn to tell us that big companies are big because they need to be big, not because they're inefficient:

https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1255371954443505665

It's always satisfying to read reports from the trenches demonstrating the exact opposite.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#48

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:04 PM UTC

llarsson wrote: post #33

noad wrote: post #21

I used to get called a 10x developer, I was also called a rockstar and a ninja and a 100x dev and every other compliment that was hip. Then I hit 30. That type of talk stopped. Then I hit 40. Now I will not be considered for any entry level, mid level, or senior level software dev job anywhere in the United States, despite being very desperate and willing to relocate for anything. Doesn't matter. Too old. I'm suppose…

If you chose the word "desperate" deliberately, would you mind telling us/me why someone with two-to-three decades of experience becomes "desperate" for a job? What did you work on during those years? Did you keep up with the industry? I am asking out of interest for both you and me. For you, I want to help you regain confidence that is rightfully yours, because someone with your experience should not need to feel de…

[deleted]

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#49

Post by onion2k » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:04 PM UTC

rezeroed wrote: post #38

onion2k wrote: post #12

This article really puts me off working for Amazon.

I only read the start. I'm not sure what I make of someone going from zero to Amazon. Is that normal?

Amazon recruit huge numbers of graduates, so obviously that's a yes. I think their graduate roles pay quite well too.

But if this article is to be believed, they also do things like using 15 different languages on the tech stack (16 to choose from minus PHP because it's banned) and give you the idea that estimates are worthless. If your workplace is doing things like that it's a very bad sign in my opinion.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#50

Post by pjc50 » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 1:05 PM UTC

bearjaws wrote: post #11

I hate the notion of "10x developer". It focuses on hiring the best person, rather than firing individuals who undermine the team. The reality is, there are some 1x developers, and some .5x developers. Even worse though are the -1x developers. So many times I see a corporate culture of firing = bad, so lets just try to find someone who is a "10x", when really all you need is to remove the people who cause more work f…

I too have met "-1x" developers, but if someone like that persists then either they have political cover or they are very careful about who they show their bad side to. The worst case is if they were hired as a "10x" developer, at which point they can't be fired without their hiring manager admitting they made a mistake.