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Let he who has never written a permanent "temporary hack" cast the first stone. This is just tech debt. Every company has it, except apparently the ones you've

Let he who has never written a permanent "temporary hack" cast the first stone. This is just tech debt. Every company has it, except apparently the ones you've worked for. I'll bet half of these issues are from the fail whale days when every day brought a new existential threat to the company's survival.

busterarm 3y ago
Hacks and tech debt happen here and there. 70,000 instances of the same hack speaks to a systemic failure of process and a company culture not focused on continuous improvement. This is a public company used to being analyzed for these types of risks. I also work at a public company. That's why I know that this shit is not okay.
- Zigurd 3y ago
  Whatever you do don't apply for a job at Amazon. It will be a traumatic experience.
  - busterarm 3y ago
    Already aware. Amazon also gets away with this because of following the Bezos API mandate and these issues each being in isolation. As long as everything keeps functioning at the "api calls between services" level the code can be sick with rot without killing the organism. Some of the best people I've ever worked with come from Amazon though.
    - Zigurd 3y ago
      Amazon is one of the few top tier companies with a generally good reputation where I know engineers who have left voluntarily. The amount of baling wire and duct tape holding it together is only one reason.
      - busterarm 3y ago
        On the other hand, here in the operations world we talk about designing for failure all the time. You could make the argument that Amazon has baked into their operating model the failings of human beings and the failings of the processes of teams. Being behind the curtain might be a nightmare but being in front of the curtain might just be the best ticket in town.
- rsynnott 3y ago
  > and a company culture not focused on continuous improvement. You have to prioritise these things. At a certain point, you often do have to say “well, it’s not ideal, but we’ll know well in advance of it becoming a problem, deal with it then”. This approach is, of course, not compatible with the company being bought by an insane billionaire who thinks he’s an expert, but that’s a bit of a black swan event, and not something that _should_ form part of your prioritisation process.

busterarm 3y ago

Hacks and tech debt happen here and there. 70,000 instances of the same hack speaks to a systemic failure of process and a company culture not focused on continuous improvement. This is a public company used to being analyzed for these types of risks. I also work at a public company. That's why I know that this shit is not okay.

Zigurd 3y ago
Whatever you do don't apply for a job at Amazon. It will be a traumatic experience.
- busterarm 3y ago
  Already aware. Amazon also gets away with this because of following the Bezos API mandate and these issues each being in isolation. As long as everything keeps functioning at the "api calls between services" level the code can be sick with rot without killing the organism. Some of the best people I've ever worked with come from Amazon though.
  - Zigurd 3y ago
    Amazon is one of the few top tier companies with a generally good reputation where I know engineers who have left voluntarily. The amount of baling wire and duct tape holding it together is only one reason.
    - busterarm 3y ago
      On the other hand, here in the operations world we talk about designing for failure all the time. You could make the argument that Amazon has baked into their operating model the failings of human beings and the failings of the processes of teams. Being behind the curtain might be a nightmare but being in front of the curtain might just be the best ticket in town.
rsynnott 3y ago
> and a company culture not focused on continuous improvement. You have to prioritise these things. At a certain point, you often do have to say “well, it’s not ideal, but we’ll know well in advance of it becoming a problem, deal with it then”. This approach is, of course, not compatible with the company being bought by an insane billionaire who thinks he’s an expert, but that’s a bit of a black swan event, and not something that _should_ form part of your prioritisation process.