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I don't remember where I saw this quote, but... "It's okay to half-ass something, when all you need is half an ass". EDIT: Totally agree about the 'important

I don't remember where I saw this quote, but... "It's okay to half-ass something, when all you need is half an ass". EDIT: Totally agree about the 'important mindest for startup', I had a similar eye-opening experience, working in a startup with 'cowboy' code that was actually quite good, but I had to unlearn a bit of stuff I read as a junior/mid-level developper. It was code that was well-architected, had well-concieved data structure, and had business value, but every "professional" coder would deem bad-quality, since it had no unit test, did some stuff unconventionally, and probably would have many linter warning.

bee_rider 2y ago
Most scenarios only warrant fractional assing. Also this philosophy provides the opportunity to say “ok guys, this time… we have to whole ass this one,” which is always fun.
- eru 2y ago
  Some times you might even have to bring two whole donkeys to bear on a project.
chrisbrauns 2y ago
It was Gary Bernhardt in this talk: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZJblyT_XM https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZJblyT_XM
- jwilk 2y ago
  More Gary's talks: https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks
a_t48 2y ago
Well-architected + well designed means you can go back later and fix the code if the project survives. I'm hitting this personally right now - the amount of code I can write is dwarfed by the amount of features needed to get something like a working demo out the door - I can spend time and make every thing perfect, or I can squint and imagine how I will implement fixes later and focus on making sure that I don't have to rearchitect.
- Buttons840 2y ago
  Ask yourself: Will the amount of work it takes to "do this right" increase over time? (And by how much?) I drew some quick placeholder art for a game I'm working on for fun. One day I might sit down and draw some good art, but not today. When the day finally comes to finish the art, the difficulty of creating that art will be no greater than it is now. In fact, with improving art tools, it may be easier to do later. On the other hand, if I'm not quite happy with my database scheme and I want to change it, I can spend a day on it now, or I can spend--based on my experience--months on it in the future. In fact, there's a good chance if I don't fix the database schema now, it will never be done.
  - a_t48 2y ago
    Exactly.
randomdata 2y ago
> since it had no unit test But aren't unit tests the half-assed solution? They are a wonderful help if you want to deliver something fast, but if you had more time you'd probably do something else.
- Buttons840 2y ago
  It doesn't get said enough that unit-tests are not the ultimate in good code. There's a lot of shitty code with unit-tests, and there's a lot of really good code with no tests.
  - randomdata 2y ago
    That's true, but a codebase without unit tests is apt to be deemed poor quality by professionals due to the time factor. Being able to release fast is an important quality of business software. Professionals don't look for perfect artistry, they want to see painter's tape in the right places to get the job done efficiently.
adolph 2y ago
> "It's okay to half-ass something, when all you need is half an ass". Going to mule that over.
- makk 2y ago
  Sometimes, in the interest of efficiency, you only use half your horsepower.
  - lelanthran 2y ago
    > Sometimes, in the interest of efficiency, you only use half your horsepower. Or, in this case, half your asspower. I think the asspower unit of effort makes more sense than story points.
SideburnsOfDoom 2y ago
or "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly." Meaning that e.g. if you really need a ride, then a noisy, beat up old car will do.
ahfeah7373 2y ago
That's such a good quote, haven't heard that before

bee_rider 2y ago

Most scenarios only warrant fractional assing. Also this philosophy provides the opportunity to say “ok guys, this time… we have to whole ass this one,” which is always fun.

eru 2y ago
Some times you might even have to bring two whole donkeys to bear on a project.

chrisbrauns 2y ago

It was Gary Bernhardt in this talk: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZJblyT_XM https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZJblyT_XM

jwilk 2y ago
More Gary's talks: https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks

a_t48 2y ago

Well-architected + well designed means you can go back later and fix the code if the project survives. I'm hitting this personally right now - the amount of code I can write is dwarfed by the amount of features needed to get something like a working demo out the door - I can spend time and make every thing perfect, or I can squint and imagine how I will implement fixes later and focus on making sure that I don't have to rearchitect.

Buttons840 2y ago
Ask yourself: Will the amount of work it takes to "do this right" increase over time? (And by how much?) I drew some quick placeholder art for a game I'm working on for fun. One day I might sit down and draw some good art, but not today. When the day finally comes to finish the art, the difficulty of creating that art will be no greater than it is now. In fact, with improving art tools, it may be easier to do later. On the other hand, if I'm not quite happy with my database scheme and I want to change it, I can spend a day on it now, or I can spend--based on my experience--months on it in the future. In fact, there's a good chance if I don't fix the database schema now, it will never be done.
- a_t48 2y ago
  Exactly.

randomdata 2y ago

> since it had no unit test But aren't unit tests the half-assed solution? They are a wonderful help if you want to deliver something fast, but if you had more time you'd probably do something else.

Buttons840 2y ago
It doesn't get said enough that unit-tests are not the ultimate in good code. There's a lot of shitty code with unit-tests, and there's a lot of really good code with no tests.
- randomdata 2y ago
  That's true, but a codebase without unit tests is apt to be deemed poor quality by professionals due to the time factor. Being able to release fast is an important quality of business software. Professionals don't look for perfect artistry, they want to see painter's tape in the right places to get the job done efficiently.

adolph 2y ago

> "It's okay to half-ass something, when all you need is half an ass". Going to mule that over.

makk 2y ago
Sometimes, in the interest of efficiency, you only use half your horsepower.
- lelanthran 2y ago
  > Sometimes, in the interest of efficiency, you only use half your horsepower. Or, in this case, half your asspower. I think the asspower unit of effort makes more sense than story points.

SideburnsOfDoom 2y ago

or "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly." Meaning that e.g. if you really need a ride, then a noisy, beat up old car will do.

ahfeah7373 2y ago

That's such a good quote, haven't heard that before