4 ms·

I don't remember the original source of this image but it's a comical take on the SDLC, showing how different roles / teams understand what the customer wanted

I don't remember the original source of this image but it's a comical take on the SDLC, showing how different roles / teams understand what the customer wanted versus needed when building a tree swing: https://www.amarkota.com/Content/images/portfolio/trees.jpg https://www.amarkota.com/Content/images/portfolio/trees.jpg

k__ 4y ago
I worked in many companies that had it at the door to the Dev department.
trynewideas 4y ago
Variations of it date back to at least the 1970s: https://www.businessballs.com/amusement-stress-relief/tree-swing-cartoon-pictures-early-versions/ https://www.businessballs.com/amusement-stress-relief/tree-s...
- agumonkey 4y ago
  Impressive how not modern we are.
S04dKHzrKT 4y ago
In a similar vein, I thought of the comic on how software companies are organized. https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts
- Quarrelsome 4y ago
  is there much truth to these patterns? I've never worked for FAANG so am unaware of their structures.
  - timidger 4y ago
    It was probably very true 10 years ago, for some of them it has become less true
  - porbelm 4y ago
    The Microsoft one was VERY true, at least until the mid 2K's. Small groups with lots of middle managers, bad communication, and hatred towards the other small groups. Dunno how it is now though.
    - jiggawatts 4y ago
      Worse.
    - threeseed 4y ago
      http://minimsft.blogspot.com http://minimsft.blogspot.com is highly recommended for a view into this era.
  - Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
    For MS, it was definitely true when there was the policy of firing the bottom 10% every year or something like that. It created extremely perverse incentives where nobody wanted to help each other or would even go as far as to sabotage other people's work in order to make sure they're not on the bottom. Some managers would hire people with the intent to fire them later.
  - threeseed 4y ago
    Apple these days is very traditional with the SLT comprising the various VPs and everyone reporting to them via middle management layers. In the period where Steve Jobs was not CEO it was a lot more like Microsoft with the various geographical divisions e.g. EMEA, AMR in particular having their own fiefdoms and starting wars with each other. And then of course the ridiculous number of skunkworks projects that would compete with other teams.
  - complex_exp 4y ago
    Looks about right for Google, but then which software company doesn't look like that?
- dx034 4y ago
  Honest question for those who have worked at several software companies: What works best? The chart displayed with Google with lots of connections but also a lot of complexity, or the "traditional" Amazon chart?
sideproject 4y ago
This is exactly what I thought of coming into this post! I think I actually saw this first nearly 20 years ago and boy oh boy things don't change much (or should I say, people don't change much)
eurasiantiger 4y ago
Interesting that what operations supposedly installed was closest to what was actually needed, and only an additional binding away from a complete solution.
echelon 4y ago
Completely orthogonal to yours, but the undergraduate text "Operating Systems Concepts" by Silberschatz et al. has always been good. Every edition features dinosaurs, which totally relate to the concepts of CPU scheduling, IPC, memory management, etc. The seventh edition is the absolute pinnacle, as the sauropod family on the front cover enjoy a host of electronic devices from the 80's and 90's: https://i.imgur.com/5U87Pgt.png https://i.imgur.com/5U87Pgt.png Most of the covers are great.
- shadowofneptune 4y ago
  It at one point was an illustration of how large and ponderous operating systems felt back then compared to most other programs. https://pbgalvin.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/scan0001.jpg https://pbgalvin.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/scan0001.jpg A nice touch that got dropped was that the minicomputer and microcomputer OSes were smaller, more evolved beasts.
  - echelon 4y ago
    That's amazing. Thank you for the history!
GnarfGnarf 4y ago
I first saw this cartoon in 1971.
charcircuit 4y ago
I thought it was from commitstrip
- selcuka 4y ago
  It is much older than that: https://www.businessballs.com/amusement-stress-relief/tree-swing-cartoon-pictures-early-versions/ https://www.businessballs.com/amusement-stress-relief/tree-s...

k__ 4y ago

I worked in many companies that had it at the door to the Dev department.

trynewideas 4y ago

Variations of it date back to at least the 1970s: https://www.businessballs.com/amusement-stress-relief/tree-swing-cartoon-pictures-early-versions/ https://www.businessballs.com/amusement-stress-relief/tree-s...

agumonkey 4y ago
Impressive how not modern we are.

S04dKHzrKT 4y ago

In a similar vein, I thought of the comic on how software companies are organized. https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts https://bonkersworld.net/organizational-charts

Quarrelsome 4y ago
is there much truth to these patterns? I've never worked for FAANG so am unaware of their structures.
- timidger 4y ago
  It was probably very true 10 years ago, for some of them it has become less true
- porbelm 4y ago
  The Microsoft one was VERY true, at least until the mid 2K's. Small groups with lots of middle managers, bad communication, and hatred towards the other small groups. Dunno how it is now though.
  - jiggawatts 4y ago
    Worse.
  - threeseed 4y ago
    http://minimsft.blogspot.com http://minimsft.blogspot.com is highly recommended for a view into this era.
- Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
  For MS, it was definitely true when there was the policy of firing the bottom 10% every year or something like that. It created extremely perverse incentives where nobody wanted to help each other or would even go as far as to sabotage other people's work in order to make sure they're not on the bottom. Some managers would hire people with the intent to fire them later.
- threeseed 4y ago
  Apple these days is very traditional with the SLT comprising the various VPs and everyone reporting to them via middle management layers. In the period where Steve Jobs was not CEO it was a lot more like Microsoft with the various geographical divisions e.g. EMEA, AMR in particular having their own fiefdoms and starting wars with each other. And then of course the ridiculous number of skunkworks projects that would compete with other teams.
- complex_exp 4y ago
  Looks about right for Google, but then which software company doesn't look like that?
dx034 4y ago
Honest question for those who have worked at several software companies: What works best? The chart displayed with Google with lots of connections but also a lot of complexity, or the "traditional" Amazon chart?

sideproject 4y ago

This is exactly what I thought of coming into this post! I think I actually saw this first nearly 20 years ago and boy oh boy things don't change much (or should I say, people don't change much)

eurasiantiger 4y ago

Interesting that what operations supposedly installed was closest to what was actually needed, and only an additional binding away from a complete solution.

echelon 4y ago

Completely orthogonal to yours, but the undergraduate text "Operating Systems Concepts" by Silberschatz et al. has always been good. Every edition features dinosaurs, which totally relate to the concepts of CPU scheduling, IPC, memory management, etc. The seventh edition is the absolute pinnacle, as the sauropod family on the front cover enjoy a host of electronic devices from the 80's and 90's: https://i.imgur.com/5U87Pgt.png https://i.imgur.com/5U87Pgt.png Most of the covers are great.

shadowofneptune 4y ago
It at one point was an illustration of how large and ponderous operating systems felt back then compared to most other programs. https://pbgalvin.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/scan0001.jpg https://pbgalvin.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/scan0001.jpg A nice touch that got dropped was that the minicomputer and microcomputer OSes were smaller, more evolved beasts.
- echelon 4y ago
  That's amazing. Thank you for the history!

GnarfGnarf 4y ago

I first saw this cartoon in 1971.

charcircuit 4y ago

I thought it was from commitstrip

selcuka 4y ago
It is much older than that: https://www.businessballs.com/amusement-stress-relief/tree-swing-cartoon-pictures-early-versions/ https://www.businessballs.com/amusement-stress-relief/tree-s...