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I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

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Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#91

Post by merlincorey »

vectorpush wrote: post #36
jakobe wrote: post #17

That's why I still use vanilla PHP & Postgres for web projects. I don't use any hot new technologies, I don't use frameworks, I don't do unit testing. I try to use as little client side JS as possible. Whenever possible, I use static HTML. The advantage is that I can create a working prototype in days. I can show something to the client very early, and I don't spend months to fulfill specifications the client didn't…

I don't use any hot new technologies, I don't use frameworks, I don't do unit testing. I try to use as little client side JS as possible. When I leave the project, any PHP developer will be able to pick up and implement changes within hours. Famous last words for PHP apps rolled from scratch with no unit tests.

I find the most utility of unit tests, aside from basic validation and regression testing, actually comes from the fact that you are documenting usage examples of your entire API.

Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#92

Post by ruswick »

padolsey wrote: post #45
edw519 wrote: post #21

56 instances of the word "I". That's your problem. All the rest is fluff. OP, try rewriting this, substituting "he", "she", "they", or "you" for "I". Funny how quickly your perceived problems melt away as soon as you stop dwelling on yourself and start focusing on others. Edit: I realize that OP is being slightly sarcastic, but I took this as an opportunity: This is a condensed version of pretty much the same feedbac…

I found the OP's style of introspection refreshing. I am not sure why it matters how many times he used the word 'I', after all, it is a post about the OP himself. Yours is not even a valid criticism. How about commenting on the actual content surrounding the words you're focusing on instead of arbitrary metrics that enforce your own perceptions?

There is a positive correlation between frequency of use of personal pronouns and of insecurity and inferiority.

This sort of inferiority can manifest itself structurally, eg. an army private vs. a captain, or individually, eg. insecurity and conceit. Based on the sheer volume of personal pronouns, it is clear that he is being subjected to a sort of myopia, and that he can't look at the issue objectively.

Removing oneself from the situation can be a valuable tool used to create objectivity, and one that this person has not attempted to employ.

Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#94

Post by vectorpush »

merlincorey wrote: post #91
vectorpush wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use any hot new technologies, I don't use frameworks, I don't do unit testing. I try to use as little client side JS as possible. When I leave the project, any PHP developer will be able to pick up and implement changes within hours. Famous last words for PHP apps rolled from scratch with no unit tests.

I find the most utility of unit tests, aside from basic validation and regression testing, actually comes from the fact that you are documenting usage examples of your entire API.

Indeed. This aspect is especially useful when new developers join the team and they have questions about which modules and methods to use for common tasks.

Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#95

Post by polskibus »

ruswick wrote: post #92
padolsey wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found the OP's style of introspection refreshing. I am not sure why it matters how many times he used the word 'I', after all, it is a post about the OP himself. Yours is not even a valid criticism. How about commenting on the actual content surrounding the words you're focusing on instead of arbitrary metrics that enforce your own perceptions?

There is a positive correlation between frequency of use of personal pronouns and of insecurity and inferiority. This sort of inferiority can manifest itself structurally, eg. an army private vs. a captain, or individually, eg. insecurity and conceit. Based on the sheer volume of personal pronouns, it is clear that he is being subjected to a sort of myopia, and that he can't look at the issue objectively. Removing on…

I'd love to read more about the correlation you mention. Can you share a reference to a relevant publication ?

Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#96

Post by Spooky23 »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #31
edw519 wrote: post #21

56 instances of the word "I". That's your problem. All the rest is fluff. OP, try rewriting this, substituting "he", "she", "they", or "you" for "I". Funny how quickly your perceived problems melt away as soon as you stop dwelling on yourself and start focusing on others. Edit: I realize that OP is being slightly sarcastic, but I took this as an opportunity: This is a condensed version of pretty much the same feedbac…

Wasn't the OP's intention to write about themselves though? Changing I to he/she etc doesn't seem like it would make much sense? Could you expand on what you mean?

It's irritating when you read a narrative that is very heavy with personal pronouns, because you generally are reading a bunch of declarations strung together. As a reader, you're stuck wading through the muck to figure out WTF is actually being said. The whole point of introspection is to examine your actions and reach conclusions. Nobody cares about the minutae. If you're describing a trip to Tahiti, don't make me read about how you fed the cats and cut your toenails before heading for the airport.

For example:

"We opted to go for a web app purely because I was the most familiar with this platform but even then I had no prior experience and my friends were aware of this. I would be balancing my time between this and a well paid part time job at a local school as a music technician."

56 words and bunch of fluff. It sounds like a deflection of guilt.

What does it actually say? "I already had experience with web apps, so we decided a webapp would get things done quickly."

Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#97

Post by alexvr »

When I read the title, I thought, "Hey, that sounds just like me." But after reading it, I realized that his use of "perfectionism" as an excuse is just incomplete. Perfectionism can explain underperformance, certainly. A perfectionist might write half of a timed essay, and the part that exists might be outstanding. But incomplete or slow is generally insufficient when it comes to a job. While he may suffer from a bit of perfectionism, that's not what holds him back; he's simply indecisive and using "Oh, I'm rewriting everything" as an excuse for his incompetence, uncertainty, or anxiety for solving the actual problems. "Rails vs. Node.js" is a contrived, invented problem. It's really easy to blame things on the language or framework when things are tough, but I think everyone does this to some extent; it's not a problem faced exclusively by perfectionists. Wise perfectionists understand that perfection is impossible. I think the best programmers, overall, are both pragmatic and perfectionistic. People just have to get over their overwhelming preference for one or the other and use both to their advantage.

Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#98

Post by simonbarker87 »

Spooky23 wrote: post #96
simonbarker87 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't the OP's intention to write about themselves though? Changing I to he/she etc doesn't seem like it would make much sense? Could you expand on what you mean?

It's irritating when you read a narrative that is very heavy with personal pronouns, because you generally are reading a bunch of declarations strung together. As a reader, you're stuck wading through the muck to figure out WTF is actually being said. The whole point of introspection is to examine your actions and reach conclusions. Nobody cares about the minutae. If you're describing a trip to Tahiti, don't make me…

Good example, my issue was really that the suggestion of changing I to he/she etc by edw519 was overly flippant and added little value to the OP; who probably liked constructive feedback - nice job on clarifying

Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#99

Post by semiel »

ollerac wrote: post #77
RyanZAG wrote: post #33

This is how everybody learns - you make something, see the flaws in the process or the outcome, and then iterate again to fix them. Your technical approach to it is perfect, just keep it up. However, you've missed the key point in the game - hustling. By the sound of it, you were not picking up a paycheck while doing this for 2 years. This is a major mistake. The product itself doesn't matter - if you're inexperience…

I disagree with you that the product doesn't matter. I've worked at a few startups and it really matters if everyone can get on board with the vision of the company's leadership. It improves your concentration if you think you're actually making a positive difference in people's lives with every feature you develop or bug that you fix. And it improves team motivation and cohesion if you all think that what you're bui…

It's a cost-benefit analysis. As a completely entry-level developer, I could a lot of time trying to find a company whose product I believe in that will hire more, or I could spend that same time working for whoever will cut me a paycheck, and be in a much better place to decide what I care about working on once I have a bit of actual experience and money in the bank.

It would be lovely if you could just walk into a meaningful project that you care about, but that's not how it works in the current system.

Re: I’m young, inexperienced and a perfectionist

#100

Post by TheSOB88 »

jmilloy wrote: post #87
btilly wrote: post #81

Here is a td;lr. I keep on making the mistake of throwing away what I've got and starting over because I've learned how to do things better. I've just made this mistake again, but it's better because I've learned how to do it better this time, honest. My response to this. Don't write the retrospective bragging about what you've learned until after you have demonstrated success in a measurable way. I've encountered th…

Also: I chose ruby on rails because it was hip. Then I chose node.js because it was hip. Now I'm evaluating those choices as mistakes because they were hip, because that's hip. Get a job, get on a team, write code, and stop reading about writing code!

Stop reading about writing code. Man oh man I wish I had done that a long time ago.
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