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When you code all the time for over a decade, you know what good code looks like. When you care about the product, you know what a well implemented feature look
by cryptica 6y ago
When you code all the time for over a decade, you know what good code looks like. When you care about the product, you know what a well implemented feature looks like from the user's perspective. So it's easy to approximate value from these two aspects.
The people who work with me learn a lot about architecture because I explain everything. I only had 1 manager who had a similar style as me in my own career as a developer (out of over a dozen) and I wish I would have had more of them or that I could have worked for them longer.
You're assuming things because you've probably never seen a good manager in your life. It's difficult to imagine something better than the best you've known.
- dontreact 6y agoTo put it more concretely, how many people have you been able to promote into a role like yours where they are defining the architecture, in the last 5 years?
- cryptica 6y agoFor simpler projects (like simple front end applications), I usually let developers decide the architecture themselves (I mostly just offer advice). Since in those cases, architecture is not as critical. I was myself overlooked for promotions for over 5 years (in spite of constantly asking for one). I was better qualified than my managers to be making architectural decisions but they only realized this after I left (since I started a competing project). So I know how it feels to not be given the chance. I even know what it feels like to have an incompetent person promoted as my boss. That said, it doesn't make sense to put someone 100% in charge of architecture if they don't yet have the necessary skills. Some systems are extremely complex and easy to mess up architecturally so I wouldn't hand off this responsibility unless I knew that the next person would do it properly.