• (cs) in reply to Bluesman
    Bluesman:
    So let me get this: nice cushy job, and since he's by far the most knowledgeable programmer there, he can do what he wants (even if it's the right thing).

    Why the hell does he want out???

    It's not that simple. Having been in a similar situation, a VERY similar situation that is, (except for the fact that the startup did not had shiny macbooks and was housed in the basement of a university, okay, it's not -that- similar), I can relate to this comment.

    There is a certain thrill in having the opportunity to organize chaos and to define the future of the software architecture. You'll probably be the guy who's going to introduce the IDE, the source code versioning system, the code conventions, best practices etc. You'll also be the 'senior' instantaneously, which can be quite a fight to become at companies that are already well organized.

    On the other hand, you do have to put up, probably for many years, with an incredible amount of ignorance. Everybody knows you should not mix your core business logic in between HTML tags in the view layer and duplicate this logic by copy-pasting all of it whenever you need a new page. For any sane developer this is such basic knowledge that you wouldn't even think to discuss it.

    Not so with ignorant people.

    They'll actually try to talk you into it. They will be with a group of four or five, and you'll be on your own preaching that one should not put that core logic there. It'll be an uphill battle. The manager will have serious talks with you. Five other developers claimed you say their code is sh*t. Why do you think you know better than five other people? Isn't the majority always right? Besides, Pete finished this task in half an afternoon, while you claim you need a week at least? What's up with that?

    If you have the stomach to survive in such an environment for a couple of years, then eventually the code of the idiots will come tumbling down. And believe me, it eventually will. There is just no way that business code living in between HTML tags being duplicated all over the place with no validations applied and gaping SQL injection vulnerabilities can stay up.

    You'll be the hero then. But your hair may have turned gray in the meantime and scars may have found their way on your soul. When a devastating security leak is exploited in some legacy module, you'll remember the day when Daniel-the-supposedly-developer-guru-who- fried-burgers-just-the-other-week slammed his fist on the table screaming: "What do you mean my code is not secure? Now you've really insulted me!". You may then mumble to yourself: "See, I was right after all 3 years ago".

Leave a comment on “A Winning Aptitude”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #:

« Return to Article