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Reality: This is mostly because mid-level dev needs to justify their existence in order to not get laid off or PIP and is worried about losing their H1B and ha

by dheera 2y ago

Reality: This is mostly because mid-level dev needs to justify their existence in order to not get laid off or PIP and is worried about losing their H1B and having to uproot their entire family in 60 days notice. Hyper-optimized, hard-to-read code that only they understand is one way to increase reliance on them while giving a reason that can be put into a promotion doc. Mid-level jobs are worried about maintaining their job. Junior dev doesn't care because they can go wherever, they aren't worried about the uprooting, and well-written code is a ticket to a multiple new jobs. Senior dev doesn't care because they have saved enough money, have permanent status, and if the company doesn't want them they aren't worried about there being better opportunities. They have enough online evidence of their competence and don't need to prove themselves.

ern 2y ago
This is mostly because mid-level dev needs to justify their existence in order to not get laid off or PIP and is worried about losing their H1B and having to uproot their entire family in 60 days notice. Hyper-optimized, hard-to-read code that only they understand is one way to increase reliance on them while giving a reason that can be put into a promotion doc. Mid-level jobs are worried about maintaining their job. That seems to be a matter of survival overriding ethics and professional pride. I know I came up with some really cringeworthy and complex solutions as a mid-level dev, but I would never have done it deliberately. If people are put into a situation where they need to purposefully write substandard code to not get deported, it's something that needs to be fixed.
strken 2y ago
When I was a mid-level dev, the overly complicated code I wrote came about because I read an article on e.g. Ruby metaprogramming, got excited, wondered why we didn't use reflection more, and found a place where I could apply it. Perhaps you thought about job security, but that seems like part of your personal journey and isn't tied to seniority. I was just inexperienced and a touch arrogant, as mid-level engineers must be. At higher levels, the reason I don't write code like that is because I've been burnt too many times by the new hotness. It is slightly about job security, but only because I fully expect that any crazy shit I fling out today will eventually hit the fan and come back to me, probably at 3am during on-call.

by dheera 2y ago

ern 2y ago

This is mostly because mid-level dev needs to justify their existence in order to not get laid off or PIP and is worried about losing their H1B and having to uproot their entire family in 60 days notice. Hyper-optimized, hard-to-read code that only they understand is one way to increase reliance on them while giving a reason that can be put into a promotion doc. Mid-level jobs are worried about maintaining their job. That seems to be a matter of survival overriding ethics and professional pride. I know I came up with some really cringeworthy and complex solutions as a mid-level dev, but I would never have done it deliberately. If people are put into a situation where they need to purposefully write substandard code to not get deported, it's something that needs to be fixed.

strken 2y ago

When I was a mid-level dev, the overly complicated code I wrote came about because I read an article on e.g. Ruby metaprogramming, got excited, wondered why we didn't use reflection more, and found a place where I could apply it. Perhaps you thought about job security, but that seems like part of your personal journey and isn't tied to seniority. I was just inexperienced and a touch arrogant, as mid-level engineers must be. At higher levels, the reason I don't write code like that is because I've been burnt too many times by the new hotness. It is slightly about job security, but only because I fully expect that any crazy shit I fling out today will eventually hit the fan and come back to me, probably at 3am during on-call.