4 ms·
If I'm reading this correctly, the whole fiasco started because the CEO decided they _have_ to release a new version of the app by some arbitrary date? And to m
by trevor-e 5y ago
If I'm reading this correctly, the whole fiasco started because the CEO decided they _have_ to release a new version of the app by some arbitrary date? And to meet this arbitrary deadline, the engineers had to roll out a ton of new features all at the same time inevitably causing a ton of fires/bugs/outages for the end users? Sounds like a nightmare and I'd be super pissed as an engineer having to support this mess. Is there more background on why Helix had to be released so aggressively?
- Tomte 5y agoAt my former employer deadlines were often not even ostensibly about some rational scheduling or roadmap, but simply "the birthday of the long-deceased husband who made the company big and successful".
- edoceo 5y agoSlightly better than random tho right? Cause you can plan around predictable things.
- jccooper 5y agoI've done the deadline-via-management-boast thing, and it's highly corrosive. Burnout's especially bad when you look back when it's all done and ask "why?" and there's no answer.
- thesausageking 5y agoWhat I don't understand is why they did a complete rewrite. If the CEO wants a "new app", you get to work doing a redesign of the UX and a refactor of the code base. You usually end up with a better product and better code, and it gives you the flexibility of not being all or nothing.
- Slartie 5y agoSome codebases have just mutated into junk beyond the point at which refactoring could still rescue any value, so a full rewrite actually becomes the better option. I would assume this problem to be especially widespread in apps of hastily growing startups.