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I call it resume driven engineering. Just making one server run well won't do much to your resume. Creating some distributed micro service buzz word bingo mons

by nn3 6y ago

I call it resume driven engineering. Just making one server run well won't do much to your resume. Creating some distributed micro service buzz word bingo monstrosity on AWS on the other hand looks impressive. It's all a question of incentives.

gopalv 6y ago
> Just making one server run well won't do much to your resume. That's pretty much true, because doing that and that only will also mostly get you hired at a place which has a single server (like say "use SQLite" instead of RDS). On the other hand, if you can justify what you did to make a single request better (as in, "what I did meant that a single request came back in 40ms instead of 120", like that mixed API example - like if you bypassed the standard 1+N problems), then I'd be very keen to pick out what that person did. A lot of work involved for the latter is also the same for the first, but it is a difference in attitude towards user relevant functionality which I've noticed in the best people I've worked with. That is not to say don't use SQLite, but more along the lines of this is a simplicity hack, I can make a complex working system out of this simple system, because I used the right abstractions for that bit (like say, JDBC or PDO - maybe not a full on ORM).
ineedasername 6y ago
It's the mechanical engineering equivalent of building a Rube Goldberg device and then showing it off as "Look how great of an engineer I am!"
rubyist5eva 6y ago
I'm not sure about that. I've got a pretty good track record in interviews where I get right into the technical nitty gritty of reducing operating costs by 90%.
- tartoran 6y ago
  You're splitting hairs. Yes, technically knowledgeable and capable people are still in demand but on average the trend that the OP is mentioning is quite true. And due to human limitations one cannot go both in depth and breadth. And with the proliferation of technologies and the rapid pace of cycles and recycles, the ones who keep up with the trend are more likely to be better rewarded.
- mehrdadn 6y ago
  That requires operating costs to have been 10x in the first place right? It doesn't do you much good if you kept them low from the beginning.
Aeolun 6y ago
Our app ran on a set of 100 servers! Sounds impressive until you hear that it’s serving maybe 300k requests a day.

by nn3 6y ago

gopalv 6y ago

> Just making one server run well won't do much to your resume. That's pretty much true, because doing that and that only will also mostly get you hired at a place which has a single server (like say "use SQLite" instead of RDS). On the other hand, if you can justify what you did to make a single request better (as in, "what I did meant that a single request came back in 40ms instead of 120", like that mixed API example - like if you bypassed the standard 1+N problems), then I'd be very keen to pick out what that person did. A lot of work involved for the latter is also the same for the first, but it is a difference in attitude towards user relevant functionality which I've noticed in the best people I've worked with. That is not to say don't use SQLite, but more along the lines of this is a simplicity hack, I can make a complex working system out of this simple system, because I used the right abstractions for that bit (like say, JDBC or PDO - maybe not a full on ORM).

ineedasername 6y ago

It's the mechanical engineering equivalent of building a Rube Goldberg device and then showing it off as "Look how great of an engineer I am!"

rubyist5eva 6y ago

I'm not sure about that. I've got a pretty good track record in interviews where I get right into the technical nitty gritty of reducing operating costs by 90%.

tartoran 6y ago
You're splitting hairs. Yes, technically knowledgeable and capable people are still in demand but on average the trend that the OP is mentioning is quite true. And due to human limitations one cannot go both in depth and breadth. And with the proliferation of technologies and the rapid pace of cycles and recycles, the ones who keep up with the trend are more likely to be better rewarded.
mehrdadn 6y ago
That requires operating costs to have been 10x in the first place right? It doesn't do you much good if you kept them low from the beginning.

Aeolun 6y ago

Our app ran on a set of 100 servers! Sounds impressive until you hear that it’s serving maybe 300k requests a day.