3 ms·

To a certain extent, as a contractor, I sometimes feel like a fraud. Primarily because every place I go to people do things differently. Do I change it for the

by awjr 10y ago

To a certain extent, as a contractor, I sometimes feel like a fraud. Primarily because every place I go to people do things differently. Do I change it for the better? No. They have their development 'pattern'. I adapt to fit their coding style, technology base, and more importantly, their working pattern without criticism. It is fun, but sometimes you really do say in an interview, "Yes I've used X but not deeply" knowing full well you have a weekend to get up to speed or you've spent a week playing with framework "x". But whatever you do, deliver, and more importantly, keep delivering. To be able to achieve that, as the OP stated, takes years of being a developer. That may also be the inherent beauty of what we do. Learning something new everyday is what excites me about the world of application development and probably why I dance in the moshpit that is modern javascript.

3chelon 10y ago
Well said. One major difference I've noticed between contract and permanent developers, esp. senior ones, is humility. I think most developers have met at least one so-called "rockstar" coder (or as I prefer, prima donna). They used to be rampant in the games industry, but they turn up almost everywhere. And they are almost always permanent staffers. That's because they'd be fired as contractors. Contractors are totally used to seeing different coding styles and practices, and dealing with a multitude of personality types. They are also well used to criticism, willing to learn from it when justified, and taking it on the chin when not. Having no political power makes you adaptable and diplomatic, the antithesis of the prima donna.
- bshimmin 10y ago
  I don't know... I've met some absolutely maniacal contractors too. I met one guy once who didn't seem to understand that projects sometimes started before he'd arrived, and often continued after he'd left; the concept that maybe a load of code was written to satisfy some business requirements a year ago, but those requirements had now been dramatically changed, seemed impossible for him to understand - "Why wasn't this just done the same as the other thing in the first place? Code re-use is supremely important! This is lazy programming!" "We get that, but these two things used to be totally different, but now we've decided to merge them." "Well that's stupid! Obviously anyone who understood OOP would've subclassed this thing in order to..." lead developer loses it and pushes the contractor off the balcony
  - awjr 10y ago
    Yeah, I've seen contractors walk into the PM's office on day one and tell them how they should be running their project to be fired an hour later. I never get that attitude. Then again I do get extensions on a regular basis ;)
  - 3chelon 10y ago
    Yes, I agree not all contractors can see the bigger picture, and some of them can be pretty opinionated. I met one just recently. I guess that's the flip-side. But most good contractors in my experience are acutely aware of the restrictions and realities of dealing with living, evolving codebases.
    - awjr 10y ago
      Primarily it's the fear of being asked back in a couple of years to add features to your own code ;)
debaserab2 10y ago
> It is fun, but sometimes you really do say in an interview, "Yes I've used X but not deeply" knowing full well you have a weekend to get up to speed or you've spent a week playing with framework "x". I think having the confidence and knowing that you just need a weekend to get yourself up to speed is what makes you a good coder. The more I progress in my career the more I surprise myself how quickly I can switch from one language to another or pickup a framework that shares some basic concepts as one that I've used before. Proficiency isn't about knowing everything, it's in having the ability to learn quickly.
- awjr 10y ago
  That reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend about what I do and me stating "I'm a software engineer who is currently using x,y, and z".
distances 10y ago
> I adapt to fit their coding style, technology base, and more importantly, their working pattern without criticism. It doesn't have to be like this, though. I feel lots of clients really appreciate if you bring some fresh air also for the patterns and ways of working. Being able to change the working culture for better on the side will probably have longer-lasting effects than a couple of months of fully focused grunt development work.
analyst74 10y ago
I've noticed an interesting parallel with musicians. Professional musicians can learn to play a new song fairly quickly just by listening to it; intermediate musicians can learn to play by following music sheet; and beginner musicians has to be guided by a teacher, and they basically emulate what the teacher does.

by awjr 10y ago

3chelon 10y ago

Well said. One major difference I've noticed between contract and permanent developers, esp. senior ones, is humility. I think most developers have met at least one so-called "rockstar" coder (or as I prefer, prima donna). They used to be rampant in the games industry, but they turn up almost everywhere. And they are almost always permanent staffers. That's because they'd be fired as contractors. Contractors are totally used to seeing different coding styles and practices, and dealing with a multitude of personality types. They are also well used to criticism, willing to learn from it when justified, and taking it on the chin when not. Having no political power makes you adaptable and diplomatic, the antithesis of the prima donna.

bshimmin 10y ago
I don't know... I've met some absolutely maniacal contractors too. I met one guy once who didn't seem to understand that projects sometimes started before he'd arrived, and often continued after he'd left; the concept that maybe a load of code was written to satisfy some business requirements a year ago, but those requirements had now been dramatically changed, seemed impossible for him to understand - "Why wasn't this just done the same as the other thing in the first place? Code re-use is supremely important! This is lazy programming!" "We get that, but these two things used to be totally different, but now we've decided to merge them." "Well that's stupid! Obviously anyone who understood OOP would've subclassed this thing in order to..." lead developer loses it and pushes the contractor off the balcony
- awjr 10y ago
  Yeah, I've seen contractors walk into the PM's office on day one and tell them how they should be running their project to be fired an hour later. I never get that attitude. Then again I do get extensions on a regular basis ;)
- 3chelon 10y ago
  Yes, I agree not all contractors can see the bigger picture, and some of them can be pretty opinionated. I met one just recently. I guess that's the flip-side. But most good contractors in my experience are acutely aware of the restrictions and realities of dealing with living, evolving codebases.
  - awjr 10y ago
    Primarily it's the fear of being asked back in a couple of years to add features to your own code ;)

debaserab2 10y ago

> It is fun, but sometimes you really do say in an interview, "Yes I've used X but not deeply" knowing full well you have a weekend to get up to speed or you've spent a week playing with framework "x". I think having the confidence and knowing that you just need a weekend to get yourself up to speed is what makes you a good coder. The more I progress in my career the more I surprise myself how quickly I can switch from one language to another or pickup a framework that shares some basic concepts as one that I've used before. Proficiency isn't about knowing everything, it's in having the ability to learn quickly.

awjr 10y ago
That reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend about what I do and me stating "I'm a software engineer who is currently using x,y, and z".

distances 10y ago

> I adapt to fit their coding style, technology base, and more importantly, their working pattern without criticism. It doesn't have to be like this, though. I feel lots of clients really appreciate if you bring some fresh air also for the patterns and ways of working. Being able to change the working culture for better on the side will probably have longer-lasting effects than a couple of months of fully focused grunt development work.

analyst74 10y ago

I've noticed an interesting parallel with musicians. Professional musicians can learn to play a new song fairly quickly just by listening to it; intermediate musicians can learn to play by following music sheet; and beginner musicians has to be guided by a teacher, and they basically emulate what the teacher does.