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There is a good underlying story here about what makes a "good" programmer. There are plenty of incredibly smart folk out there programming giant, indecipherab

There is a good underlying story here about what makes a "good" programmer. There are plenty of incredibly smart folk out there programming giant, indecipherable messes where somebody like me would write something very boring but did the job. My boring code can always be tizzied up, but you can't always fix an awesomely complex abstraction written in some niche language. What scratches your itch as a "super programmer" is often directly at odds with actually solving a problem. I am kinda tired of inheriting those kinds of messes - the guys that write code that ways inevitably leave when the bug list pile gets too high.

spitfire 3y ago
Or even worse, they're CTO. Ask me how I know. Or even worse, that pile of indecipherable mess runs a good solid business. Ask me how I know. Edit: They were CTO, not CEO.
- richrichie 3y ago
  How do you know?
  - spitfire 3y ago
    Well, I started a job at a small startup doing something relatively mathematically and technically complex. I missed a few red flags. The CTO had built a pile of indecipherable mess that runs a good solid business. And that's the rub, it was a good business. The CTO had build a steaming pile, but had it all in his head. If others couldn't wade through it, well, it was a good business. Being a good business, they could afford to run through bodies. I discovered my "coworkers" were all contract. Another red flag. So as my work extended out into the rest of the system I slowed down, and was eventually moved on. After all the CTO who wrote most of it could handle it, why couldn't I? I'll take the Lisp over 6502 assembly any day of the week.
    - richrichie 3y ago
      > I discovered my "coworkers" were all contract. Another red flag. Why is this a red flag?
deleted 3y ago
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