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Imagine that every time you implemented a new feature in your existing Java codebase, everyone asked you to explain Java. Would you be happy to prove the value

Imagine that every time you implemented a new feature in your existing Java codebase, everyone asked you to explain Java. Would you be happy to prove the value of Java to your colleagues constantly? Would you start thinking that your peers maybe weren't similarly reasonable to you? At what point does explaining things become frustrating to you?

vemv 9y ago
I think you should reword your question as it's not a realistic scenario. Engineers freely choose to learn Java and apply to Java job postings, and if that's not the case I doubt they'd be vocal against the "value" of Java.
- lazyasciiart 9y ago
  You seem like you're imagining a very ideal world. I personally know many engineers who joined a company for one reason, then the team/company began a new project and migrated to Java. I have seen people argue about the choice of underlying technology in code reviews. And if you think my specific scenario was unrealistic, then perhaps attempt to understand it as a general example of "something that is obvious to you and which you think you have explained adequately in the past and should not need to explain again and again". If you still can't understand it, then I think you may simply have never worked with anyone who was at a significantly lower level of knowledge/comprehension than yourself, and perhaps you just aren't capable of understanding the situation without having been in it.
  - vemv 9y ago
    I see your point. Still that's quite an extreme case. Devs regularly questioning a programming language is not a code-review problem, or a should-I-be-a-jerk problem. It's more like the problem that you escalate to the CTO (with argumentation!). Or you can pick your battles and move to a saner company.
UncleMeat 9y ago
The key is to provide clear and actionable feedback. If people fail to act on that feedback and continue to hold the team back, you should escalate the problem. "Don't be a jerk" does not mean "be a doormat". It means that when your provide and receive feedback you do it in a careful and effective manner.
s73ver_ 9y ago
If you are that high above, then it is part of your responsibility to educate and help bring those people up with you.
- AstralStorm 9y ago
  At the cost of not doing your job and not getting promoted, right? If you're paid to do another job, yet you are working as a mentor or teacher and expected to do it still...
taternuts 9y ago
>At what point does explaining things become frustrating to you? After the third time I get asked the same exact question

vemv 9y ago

I think you should reword your question as it's not a realistic scenario. Engineers freely choose to learn Java and apply to Java job postings, and if that's not the case I doubt they'd be vocal against the "value" of Java.

lazyasciiart 9y ago
You seem like you're imagining a very ideal world. I personally know many engineers who joined a company for one reason, then the team/company began a new project and migrated to Java. I have seen people argue about the choice of underlying technology in code reviews. And if you think my specific scenario was unrealistic, then perhaps attempt to understand it as a general example of "something that is obvious to you and which you think you have explained adequately in the past and should not need to explain again and again". If you still can't understand it, then I think you may simply have never worked with anyone who was at a significantly lower level of knowledge/comprehension than yourself, and perhaps you just aren't capable of understanding the situation without having been in it.
- vemv 9y ago
  I see your point. Still that's quite an extreme case. Devs regularly questioning a programming language is not a code-review problem, or a should-I-be-a-jerk problem. It's more like the problem that you escalate to the CTO (with argumentation!). Or you can pick your battles and move to a saner company.

UncleMeat 9y ago

The key is to provide clear and actionable feedback. If people fail to act on that feedback and continue to hold the team back, you should escalate the problem. "Don't be a jerk" does not mean "be a doormat". It means that when your provide and receive feedback you do it in a careful and effective manner.

s73ver_ 9y ago

If you are that high above, then it is part of your responsibility to educate and help bring those people up with you.

AstralStorm 9y ago
At the cost of not doing your job and not getting promoted, right? If you're paid to do another job, yet you are working as a mentor or teacher and expected to do it still...

taternuts 9y ago

>At what point does explaining things become frustrating to you? After the third time I get asked the same exact question