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Just like Twitter is one guy hacking on RoR for two days... we've heard this old canard before.
by hyperbovine 4y ago
Just like Twitter is one guy hacking on RoR for two days... we've heard this old canard before.
- redisman 4y agoIt’s just some text on the web! And they wonder why software engineers are bad at estimates
- Barrin92 4y agoWhatsapp used to service 900 million users with literally 50 engineers. Instagram had 13 employees when it was acquired. The old canard is true if you focus on a core product and make smart architectural choices. (in Whatsapp's case they credit a lot of their efficiency to Erlang). [1]https://www.wired.com/2015/09/whatsapp-serves-900-million-users-50-engineers/ https://www.wired.com/2015/09/whatsapp-serves-900-million-us...
- bradlys 4y agoSimplistic messaging apps aren’t really a good model to run off of. Designing WhatsApp and Instagram are common system design questions because they’re trivial in comparison to design Uber/Lyft, etc.
- DeathArrow 4y agoEven Waze isn't complex enough to compare with Uber. Waze has to process real time data but doesn't have to deal with processing payments and complying to regulations worldwide.
- CaptainZapp 4y agoCould it be that introducing compliance at a later stage in development is just that much more expensive? That's after shitting on compliance for years as part of your business model.
- websap 4y agoDon't conflate scale complexity with business complexity
- phillipcarter 4y agoThere's a bunch of reasons why this model doesn't hold up in the long run, and I'll give one of them: accessibility. Once your business decides that your app must be sufficiently accessible to reach the many people who need accessibility work, your backlog explodes.
- DrJokepu 4y agosays who? accessibility is not that hard to achieve if you know what you're doing and make efforts from the very beginning to build your product in an accessible fashion
- dwaite 4y agoThe problem is that accessibility is not a common high priority requirement for most software, making people with accessibility experience rare.
- phillipcarter 4y agoShow me a single piece of successful software that didn't suffer the "new business requirement upends everything about how we built it" problem.
- MacsHeadroom 4y agoSo ignore accessibility. It's not a legal requirement and it doesn't pay. McDonald's restaurants have handicap accessible ramps but they don't staff ESL speakers. Apps and web services are no different. Clubhouse, for example, isn't accessible to the hearing impaired and that's ok.
- XorNot 4y agoTechnically it isn't: if you run an American business, you are subject to the Americans With Disabilities act as it is pursuant to electronic services [1]. Uber specifically would definitely fall under a "public transportation" service - accessibility is non-optional if someone decides to sue. [2] [1] https://www.ada.gov/2010ADAstandards_index.htm https://www.ada.gov/2010ADAstandards_index.htm [2] https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10900-ada-website-requirements.html https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10900-ada-website-requirem...
- DeathArrow 4y agoAnd MS Notepad is servicing billions of people with one engineer. Do you think complexity of Uber is comparable to that of Whatsapp?
- TuringNYC 4y ago>> Whatsapp used to service 900 million users with literally 50 engineers. Instagram had 13 employees when it was acquired. There is a big difference here -- revenue. Real transactions. Financial reporting. Country-by-country regulations and reg reporting.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- pessimizer 4y agoYes, it would be impossible to do something as complex as the Uber app with only 10,000 employees. Better to run the company into the ground.