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Show HN: App that simulates a software engineer's daily job

59 points by ghulammurtaza 2y ago

I built an app that lets users get on the job experience to better prepare them for dev roles by assigning them - mock tickets on a large codebase - reviewing their PR submissions - giving them AI mentorship. it's just the frontend for now and would really welcome feedback from you guys!!

notpushkin 2y ago
Looks sleek but I don’t get the premise. Why not let people just work on a real (open-source) project instead?
- ZaoLahma 2y ago
  Was thinking the exact same thing - build real world real experience, and learn how to deal with other humans, perhaps with different goals than yours, at the same time. Tech and the stuff around it is just one small dimension of the software engineering space.
- lmm 2y ago
  The way open-source projects tend to run is quite different from the typical corporate dev experience.
bschwindHN 2y ago
I was hoping for satire but this seems to be earnest attempt at something. From a "dashboard" point of view it's not bad for giving an overview of the state of things on a team project, but at the same time the main question in my head is: "Why not just work on an open source project?". That would give you experience, _and_ (hopefully) contribute to the improvement of something. I question the experience of anyone interacting solely with AI to learn what it's like to work with others on a project.
- Raed667 2y ago
  > earnest attempt at something that's what makes it even funnier
computers3333 2y ago
Love it! Is the code available by chance?
firtoz 2y ago
"Next Step" after Start Development Server doesn't work Unsure what to do in Git workflow practice page, maybe some code didn't work for me? i can press "practice" or "visualisation" toggle but nothing happens The AI mentor keeps saying "I understand you're interested in learning about that. Let me help you break it down and suggest some resources." The whole thing feels like an incomplete placeholder? From your message, that's probably the intention to share it earlier, but people may expect more of it to be working... I kinda get the idea though, could potentially lead somewhere, for example an actual onboarding step for a new role, or preparing for an entry level role before you start interviewing. The steps does give a hint to my experience as a SWE, at least.
simonbarker87 2y ago
Nice idea but it lacks context and that is the most important part of being a software engineer. We write code to solve problems for a user/business/etc. This is something that a company called Wilco were trying to solve. I thought they went under a year or so back but a quick google implies they are still around.
molf 2y ago
Is it satire because many of the buttons and links don't work so you can't actually finish anything? If it’s serious, I doubt it provides much real value. Developer experience is built on accomplishing actual tasks, not the surrounding administration and ceremony. Aspiring devs should probably work on personal/toy projects or open source. That said, it looks great—well done!
- pinoy420 2y ago
  Great feedback. Others can learn from you
- eterm 2y ago
  The outstanding task of "Implement OAuth" being overdue nearly a year hits too close to home.
  - zwnow 2y ago
    Whats good about OAuth if you dont require Authorization though? Most apps I know of mostly only need Authentication. Never implemented it myself so I really want to know
    - kvdveer 2y ago
      Maybe I'm zooming in too much on semantics here, but I have a hard time imagining an application that needs authn, but not authz. Even editing your own preferences requires authz, as other people shouldn't be able to do that.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - eterm 2y ago
      Often when people ask for Oauth they really mean OAuth2/OIDC, and what they really want is managed authentication, with further authorisation being managed at the application level rather than through oauth. The advantages are there: 1. Reducing sign-up friction. Despite how much this crowd dislike such things, it's much easier for most people to hit "Use google login" or "use facebook login" than create a new account. One less password to remember ( or one less place to store the same password you use everywhere ) for people without password managers. 2. People trust "Google" or "Facebook" more than they trust random service they're just checking out. Having that "sign in with google" extends that trust to your service. 3. If you ever do need Authorization, it's much easier retro-fitting that if you already have OAUTH than trying to retro-actively fit it all to get that authorization. 4. Letting someone else take care of user account cancellation. Businesses hate it when there's no OAUTH, because they don't want to have to track down and change / cancel accounts when someone leaves their organization. They want to suspend/remove them from their Azure AD / Octa / etc and that user instantly becomes persona-non-grata across all services. They might also want to have different groups at their end, so they're still the same identity, but lost authorisation to log into <Service> now they moved from an ops role into development, for instance. They're still the same identity and same authenication in this case, but should no longer be authorised for your service.
djmips 2y ago
Make it into a game
fsloth 2y ago
As a developer that looks horrible but if I was running a bodyshop I would probably love this. Just plug-in people to whatever codebase. If I was VC I would probably immediately fund this. ”The human adapter”. As technology develops AI agents could be plugged in to replace human workers for suitable tasks. Go seek funding now :)
nikanj 2y ago
Where's the coworker who interrupts your flow every 10 minutes?
- davethedevguy 2y ago
  Presumably this would be Jane, who felt the need to comment on the OAuth ticket: > Make sure to follow the security best practices Thanks Jane! Appreciate the input, don't you have your own work to do?
lencastre 2y ago
This is lo-key brilliant. It could be a meta Stanley Parable both in its soul crushing despair and pointless meaningless existence. Keep up the great work!!
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
hnthrow90348765 2y ago
>const login = async (email, password) => { // Implementation } For real, are you guys are redoing the auth implementation for every project?
Terretta 2y ago
If I squint, I see a real product: living onboarding. We've taken steps towards organizing our company dev knowledge by diataxis.fr (see the excellent Tailscale docs for a fleshed out example, whether purposeful or not), but the very first page of this gives the best docs overlay I've seen for one's first days at a new firm. We'll likely reframe our onboarding around these layouts, where the detail is drawn from current work in the new hire's area, wrapped with references into docs, from how to set up one's dev env to how to write up a PR or pair on code review.
appleorchard46 2y ago
I see a lot of negativity in the comments but I think there is potentially some value in this, if I'm understanding it correctly. Some people (me) find the procedural parts of a job that you cannot prepare for in advance the most overwhelming aspect - moreso than any actual programming. That being said, there isn't enough here to get any real idea of what it offers. Getting feedback early is good but this is too early.

59 points by ghulammurtaza 2y ago

notpushkin 2y ago

Looks sleek but I don’t get the premise. Why not let people just work on a real (open-source) project instead?

ZaoLahma 2y ago
Was thinking the exact same thing - build real world real experience, and learn how to deal with other humans, perhaps with different goals than yours, at the same time. Tech and the stuff around it is just one small dimension of the software engineering space.
lmm 2y ago
The way open-source projects tend to run is quite different from the typical corporate dev experience.

bschwindHN 2y ago

I was hoping for satire but this seems to be earnest attempt at something. From a "dashboard" point of view it's not bad for giving an overview of the state of things on a team project, but at the same time the main question in my head is: "Why not just work on an open source project?". That would give you experience, _and_ (hopefully) contribute to the improvement of something. I question the experience of anyone interacting solely with AI to learn what it's like to work with others on a project.

Raed667 2y ago
> earnest attempt at something that's what makes it even funnier

computers3333 2y ago

Love it! Is the code available by chance?

firtoz 2y ago

"Next Step" after Start Development Server doesn't work Unsure what to do in Git workflow practice page, maybe some code didn't work for me? i can press "practice" or "visualisation" toggle but nothing happens The AI mentor keeps saying "I understand you're interested in learning about that. Let me help you break it down and suggest some resources." The whole thing feels like an incomplete placeholder? From your message, that's probably the intention to share it earlier, but people may expect more of it to be working... I kinda get the idea though, could potentially lead somewhere, for example an actual onboarding step for a new role, or preparing for an entry level role before you start interviewing. The steps does give a hint to my experience as a SWE, at least.

simonbarker87 2y ago

Nice idea but it lacks context and that is the most important part of being a software engineer. We write code to solve problems for a user/business/etc. This is something that a company called Wilco were trying to solve. I thought they went under a year or so back but a quick google implies they are still around.

molf 2y ago

Is it satire because many of the buttons and links don't work so you can't actually finish anything? If it’s serious, I doubt it provides much real value. Developer experience is built on accomplishing actual tasks, not the surrounding administration and ceremony. Aspiring devs should probably work on personal/toy projects or open source. That said, it looks great—well done!

pinoy420 2y ago
Great feedback. Others can learn from you
eterm 2y ago
The outstanding task of "Implement OAuth" being overdue nearly a year hits too close to home.
- zwnow 2y ago
  Whats good about OAuth if you dont require Authorization though? Most apps I know of mostly only need Authentication. Never implemented it myself so I really want to know
  - kvdveer 2y ago
    Maybe I'm zooming in too much on semantics here, but I have a hard time imagining an application that needs authn, but not authz. Even editing your own preferences requires authz, as other people shouldn't be able to do that.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - eterm 2y ago
    Often when people ask for Oauth they really mean OAuth2/OIDC, and what they really want is managed authentication, with further authorisation being managed at the application level rather than through oauth. The advantages are there: 1. Reducing sign-up friction. Despite how much this crowd dislike such things, it's much easier for most people to hit "Use google login" or "use facebook login" than create a new account. One less password to remember ( or one less place to store the same password you use everywhere ) for people without password managers. 2. People trust "Google" or "Facebook" more than they trust random service they're just checking out. Having that "sign in with google" extends that trust to your service. 3. If you ever do need Authorization, it's much easier retro-fitting that if you already have OAUTH than trying to retro-actively fit it all to get that authorization. 4. Letting someone else take care of user account cancellation. Businesses hate it when there's no OAUTH, because they don't want to have to track down and change / cancel accounts when someone leaves their organization. They want to suspend/remove them from their Azure AD / Octa / etc and that user instantly becomes persona-non-grata across all services. They might also want to have different groups at their end, so they're still the same identity, but lost authorisation to log into <Service> now they moved from an ops role into development, for instance. They're still the same identity and same authenication in this case, but should no longer be authorised for your service.

djmips 2y ago

Make it into a game

fsloth 2y ago

As a developer that looks horrible but if I was running a bodyshop I would probably love this. Just plug-in people to whatever codebase. If I was VC I would probably immediately fund this. ”The human adapter”. As technology develops AI agents could be plugged in to replace human workers for suitable tasks. Go seek funding now :)

nikanj 2y ago

Where's the coworker who interrupts your flow every 10 minutes?

davethedevguy 2y ago
Presumably this would be Jane, who felt the need to comment on the OAuth ticket: > Make sure to follow the security best practices Thanks Jane! Appreciate the input, don't you have your own work to do?

lencastre 2y ago

This is lo-key brilliant. It could be a meta Stanley Parable both in its soul crushing despair and pointless meaningless existence. Keep up the great work!!

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

hnthrow90348765 2y ago

>const login = async (email, password) => { // Implementation } For real, are you guys are redoing the auth implementation for every project?

Terretta 2y ago

If I squint, I see a real product: living onboarding. We've taken steps towards organizing our company dev knowledge by diataxis.fr (see the excellent Tailscale docs for a fleshed out example, whether purposeful or not), but the very first page of this gives the best docs overlay I've seen for one's first days at a new firm. We'll likely reframe our onboarding around these layouts, where the detail is drawn from current work in the new hire's area, wrapped with references into docs, from how to set up one's dev env to how to write up a PR or pair on code review.

appleorchard46 2y ago

I see a lot of negativity in the comments but I think there is potentially some value in this, if I'm understanding it correctly. Some people (me) find the procedural parts of a job that you cannot prepare for in advance the most overwhelming aspect - moreso than any actual programming. That being said, there isn't enough here to get any real idea of what it offers. Getting feedback early is good but this is too early.