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This bit is interesting : "I remember distinctly my first day, a full-time software engineer asked me to finish coding something that was to be pushed out in a

This bit is interesting : "I remember distinctly my first day, a full-time software engineer asked me to finish coding something that was to be pushed out in a firmware update later in the day. He rattled off a few instructions, told me to be careful not to ruin all the cars, and promptly ran off to a meeting." Is this for real? An intern on their first day writing production code to be pushed into a firmware update for same-day release?

sschueller 9y ago
I surely hope they have a rigorous testing process before releasing firmware updates. Also for legal reasons doesn't automotive code need to go through some complex process before being released incase there ever is an investigation by the NTSB?
Someone 9y ago
FTA: "I focused specifically on technical documentation and diagnosis of issues with Model S components. I also worked on the product development of internal widgets" So, he didn't work on things like battery firmware or self-driving. That makes it _slightly_ more believable, but I think the probability is higher that this was either a prank, or they checked his work behind his back.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- Ntrails 9y ago
  > or they checked his work behind his back I'd be pretty sad if there was code being pushed out at Tesla which wasn't checked first. I don't think the implication is that it wouldn't be checked, just that they felt that they got to make a meaningful contribution on the first day.
likelynew 9y ago
I think it is a drill for new interns. I mean look at the parts of the sentence. "asked me to finish coding", "firmware update later in the day", "be careful not to ruin all the cars". I don't think tesla finishes the firmware of such important thing in the last day, let alone be it modified by an intern. This just seems like someone thought it would be fun in the first day of the new interns.
- sangnoir 9y ago
  You're intentionally breaking up the sentence and dropping key words, reassigning new, contradictory meaning based on gut-feel: "I remember distinctly my first day, a full-time software engineer asked me to finish coding something that was to be pushed out in a firmware update later in the day." That is unequivocal - the code was going to be pushed out in the firmware later that day.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - foota 9y ago
    I believe the parent is suggesting that the task was created to be something exciting - not necessarily that it was entirely true in some way.
    - sangnoir 9y ago
      I have no idea what the basis of such a suggestion would be - besides their gut.
alkonaut 9y ago
It is either a) a joke on the new employee, courtesy of the other engineer, or b) true, but "pushed out" means to 1..N internal testing cars. Even the latter would be crazy for a new hire but if the test suite or manual testing barriers are high enough then it's at least a possibility.
yitchelle 9y ago
Wow, their on-boarding process must be really really good. I will be lucky to work the phones and read emails when I start at a new place. The Telsa guys can push code into a car on their 1st day! What's their secret sauce /sarcasm.
sverhagen 9y ago
No one said the intern pushed out the code, did they? Maybe the senior person said: look for string literals, and make sure that all sentences end with a period, to then return later, review the work, push it out, to some cars, of which was never mentioned if they were of customers (probably not) or whether they were even real cars in your and my perception of a car. Maybe they have stripped down test models, or mockup hardware (where you can just manually simulate some inputs at will), we don't know. The idea to have new people push out code to the main development branch, short after their arrival, is a common practice for me, to give them early feeling of accomplishment, before the rather unavoidable overwhelming of new job--lot to learn. It needs to fit the culture, though, of course...

sschueller 9y ago

I surely hope they have a rigorous testing process before releasing firmware updates. Also for legal reasons doesn't automotive code need to go through some complex process before being released incase there ever is an investigation by the NTSB?

Someone 9y ago

FTA: "I focused specifically on technical documentation and diagnosis of issues with Model S components. I also worked on the product development of internal widgets" So, he didn't work on things like battery firmware or self-driving. That makes it _slightly_ more believable, but I think the probability is higher that this was either a prank, or they checked his work behind his back.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Ntrails 9y ago
> or they checked his work behind his back I'd be pretty sad if there was code being pushed out at Tesla which wasn't checked first. I don't think the implication is that it wouldn't be checked, just that they felt that they got to make a meaningful contribution on the first day.

likelynew 9y ago

I think it is a drill for new interns. I mean look at the parts of the sentence. "asked me to finish coding", "firmware update later in the day", "be careful not to ruin all the cars". I don't think tesla finishes the firmware of such important thing in the last day, let alone be it modified by an intern. This just seems like someone thought it would be fun in the first day of the new interns.

sangnoir 9y ago
You're intentionally breaking up the sentence and dropping key words, reassigning new, contradictory meaning based on gut-feel: "I remember distinctly my first day, a full-time software engineer asked me to finish coding something that was to be pushed out in a firmware update later in the day." That is unequivocal - the code was going to be pushed out in the firmware later that day.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- foota 9y ago
  I believe the parent is suggesting that the task was created to be something exciting - not necessarily that it was entirely true in some way.
  - sangnoir 9y ago
    I have no idea what the basis of such a suggestion would be - besides their gut.

alkonaut 9y ago

It is either a) a joke on the new employee, courtesy of the other engineer, or b) true, but "pushed out" means to 1..N internal testing cars. Even the latter would be crazy for a new hire but if the test suite or manual testing barriers are high enough then it's at least a possibility.

yitchelle 9y ago

Wow, their on-boarding process must be really really good. I will be lucky to work the phones and read emails when I start at a new place. The Telsa guys can push code into a car on their 1st day! What's their secret sauce /sarcasm.

sverhagen 9y ago

No one said the intern pushed out the code, did they? Maybe the senior person said: look for string literals, and make sure that all sentences end with a period, to then return later, review the work, push it out, to some cars, of which was never mentioned if they were of customers (probably not) or whether they were even real cars in your and my perception of a car. Maybe they have stripped down test models, or mockup hardware (where you can just manually simulate some inputs at will), we don't know. The idea to have new people push out code to the main development branch, short after their arrival, is a common practice for me, to give them early feeling of accomplishment, before the rather unavoidable overwhelming of new job--lot to learn. It needs to fit the culture, though, of course...