3 ms·

A lot of it has to do with the culture of shame that causes us to posture in the first place. We bullshit because we're afraid of what the other person's reacti

A lot of it has to do with the culture of shame that causes us to posture in the first place. We bullshit because we're afraid of what the other person's reaction will be like. I feel fortunate to work for a company that has a zero-tolerance policy for shaming others and their code knowledge. In fact, it's much more common to hear something like "I'm not familiar with that - could you teach me?" instead. Weekly, we show off new tools or techniques we've discovered so the chances of being left in the dark are slimmer. It leads to a lot more open discussions and a better overall base of knowledge across the entire company.

BadCookie 13y ago
Something that has been bothering me lately about my company is that the technical founders will make snide comments about old parts of our code base, parts usually written by people who aren't at the company any longer. I'm generally pretty well respected so I don't get these sorts of comments about my code (at least to my face!), but it still makes me less comfortable working here. The other day, one of the founders was joking about how bad some CSS was on a particular page, not realizing that I was the one who wrote the CSS. I just laughed. I wrote that CSS 4 years ago when I had no idea what I was doing, and it took 4 years for anyone to notice a problem with it. It doesn't matter how smart you are. It takes time to develop skills and good practices, and shaming other people is really counterproductive.
- babysteps 13y ago
  At least you were doing some form of code review. Generally when doing web work our team is ultimately pushed for time. The solution normally complies with the request, but most of us are embarrassed with the code, and hope for a time to sort it out later, only to never get that time. There's always a flaw.
  - BadCookie 13y ago
    Well, I wouldn't call demeaning comments about code (that we aren't actively looking at, written by someone who isn't present) a "code review." Usually words like "shitty" and "really bad" are thrown out without any specifics given. And the work environment is not so different at our company. The CEO wants it done yesterday, and he cares more about it working than what the technical founders think of your coding style ... I actually quite like my job, so I shouldn't be complaining so much. I just wish that some of the people I work with weren't so judgmental.

BadCookie 13y ago

Something that has been bothering me lately about my company is that the technical founders will make snide comments about old parts of our code base, parts usually written by people who aren't at the company any longer. I'm generally pretty well respected so I don't get these sorts of comments about my code (at least to my face!), but it still makes me less comfortable working here. The other day, one of the founders was joking about how bad some CSS was on a particular page, not realizing that I was the one who wrote the CSS. I just laughed. I wrote that CSS 4 years ago when I had no idea what I was doing, and it took 4 years for anyone to notice a problem with it. It doesn't matter how smart you are. It takes time to develop skills and good practices, and shaming other people is really counterproductive.

babysteps 13y ago
At least you were doing some form of code review. Generally when doing web work our team is ultimately pushed for time. The solution normally complies with the request, but most of us are embarrassed with the code, and hope for a time to sort it out later, only to never get that time. There's always a flaw.
- BadCookie 13y ago
  Well, I wouldn't call demeaning comments about code (that we aren't actively looking at, written by someone who isn't present) a "code review." Usually words like "shitty" and "really bad" are thrown out without any specifics given. And the work environment is not so different at our company. The CEO wants it done yesterday, and he cares more about it working than what the technical founders think of your coding style ... I actually quite like my job, so I shouldn't be complaining so much. I just wish that some of the people I work with weren't so judgmental.