4 ms·

I can't answer for him. but it would seem to me that there is a pretty universal shortage of quality developers, much less superstar developers familiar with yo

I can't answer for him. but it would seem to me that there is a pretty universal shortage of quality developers, much less superstar developers familiar with your existing codebase. Rehiring him would be a no-brainer.

catacombs 9y ago
That is a good point. The NYT is responsible for other awesome tools: d3.js, ai2html, etc. I'm sure if the company has a person who creates a tool that is used all over the world under its watch, they would allow that person to take as much time off as he or she needs. Still, I know people who are --- no pun intended -- the backbone of codebases at their company, and taking a year off and being rehired is out of the question. What's to stop the company from finding a replacement who can be up to speed with the code in a short amount of time?
- kristiandupont 9y ago
  >What's to stop the company from finding a replacement who can be up to speed with the code in a short amount of time? The fact that it's very, very hard and the competition is fierce? Also, this is not a romantic relationship we're talking about. If you leave your place of work, no matter how irreplaceable you are the company is going to carry on as best they can. If a year later you are available again and they still need a person for this position that they know you would fit well, why would they not rehire you?
  - catacombs 9y ago
    The competition is fierce for whom? The company picking from a pool of developers, or the developers competing for the job? If the former, then the company is an advantageous position to pick someone from the pool. It's not like ZERO people will apply for the job. If you're talking about the latter, then it's irrelevant. I'm mainly focusing on the company.
    - santoriv 9y ago
      I think that something else to take into consideration is that hiring good people is a non-trivial problem. Folks can do well in a interview and seem amicable and then turn out to be incompetent and/or jerks later. So there is substantial risk in hiring. It seems like knowing for certain that someone is competent and works well with the rest of the team is worth A LOT.
    - sotojuan 9y ago
      > If the former, then the company is an advantageous position to pick someone from the pool. It's not like ZERO people will apply for the job The pool of people as talented as jashkenas, that are looking for a job, and want to work in the NY Times is tiny.
rattray 9y ago
jashkenas is a graphics editor, not a developer. Your point still stands though.
- catacombs 9y ago
  Graphics editors are also developers if they are writing code to make graphics, i.e. every newspaper's graphics team that has made interactive projects.
- markdog12 9y ago
  Created CoffeeScript, Backbone, Underscore, but not a developer? https://github.com/jashkenas https://github.com/jashkenas

catacombs 9y ago

That is a good point. The NYT is responsible for other awesome tools: d3.js, ai2html, etc. I'm sure if the company has a person who creates a tool that is used all over the world under its watch, they would allow that person to take as much time off as he or she needs. Still, I know people who are --- no pun intended -- the backbone of codebases at their company, and taking a year off and being rehired is out of the question. What's to stop the company from finding a replacement who can be up to speed with the code in a short amount of time?

kristiandupont 9y ago
>What's to stop the company from finding a replacement who can be up to speed with the code in a short amount of time? The fact that it's very, very hard and the competition is fierce? Also, this is not a romantic relationship we're talking about. If you leave your place of work, no matter how irreplaceable you are the company is going to carry on as best they can. If a year later you are available again and they still need a person for this position that they know you would fit well, why would they not rehire you?
- catacombs 9y ago
  The competition is fierce for whom? The company picking from a pool of developers, or the developers competing for the job? If the former, then the company is an advantageous position to pick someone from the pool. It's not like ZERO people will apply for the job. If you're talking about the latter, then it's irrelevant. I'm mainly focusing on the company.
  - santoriv 9y ago
    I think that something else to take into consideration is that hiring good people is a non-trivial problem. Folks can do well in a interview and seem amicable and then turn out to be incompetent and/or jerks later. So there is substantial risk in hiring. It seems like knowing for certain that someone is competent and works well with the rest of the team is worth A LOT.
  - sotojuan 9y ago
    > If the former, then the company is an advantageous position to pick someone from the pool. It's not like ZERO people will apply for the job The pool of people as talented as jashkenas, that are looking for a job, and want to work in the NY Times is tiny.

rattray 9y ago

jashkenas is a graphics editor, not a developer. Your point still stands though.

catacombs 9y ago
Graphics editors are also developers if they are writing code to make graphics, i.e. every newspaper's graphics team that has made interactive projects.
markdog12 9y ago
Created CoffeeScript, Backbone, Underscore, but not a developer? https://github.com/jashkenas https://github.com/jashkenas