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In my experience, competent but unpassionate programmers will do a good job of implementing a flawed spec and be happy about it, because it's management's probl

by Shish2k 12y ago

In my experience, competent but unpassionate programmers will do a good job of implementing a flawed spec and be happy about it, because it's management's problem and they get paid the same either way; competent and passionate programmers won't be happy unless the flaws are fixed and they get to make a good product. Both approaches can work, but it's not good to mix the two personality types within a team as their goals are mutually exclusive.

Silhouette 12y ago
But a flawed spec is management's problem, and it is management's job to make a call on whether you ship despite any known flaws. A competent (in the professional sense) programmer will follow management's lead even if they personally don't like the decision or aren't happy with the results. Being passionate about your work does not give you the right to be in charge, in programming or any other field. Yes, good programmers want to make a good product, but as the saying goes, sometimes the best is the enemy of the good. Shipping a product with fewer bugs six months after the money to pay for it runs out... usually doesn't happen, because the money ran out.
- mgraybosch 12y ago
  Flawed spec? Oh, please. My first job didn't even have a spec. It had two reams of paper worth of MicroFocus COBOL listings and a directive to implement that code's functionality for Windows using Visual Basic 6. It also had a VB6 codebase that half a dozen contractors had hacked into the sort of unholy mess that even H. P. Lovecraft knew better than to try to write about. This is no joke, people: every variable was global.
- collyw 12y ago
  Being competent does though (well I guess its down to the individual workplace). I certainly take over from my incompetent team leader, because his solutions are not well thought through. They will work fine for a week or two then need constant debugging and tweaking. I have the experience and knowledge to see better solutions. That extra knowledge doesn't come by itself. I constantly try to improve my ability. I read articles about programming techniques and tools.
  - Silhouette 12y ago
    Yes, competence is what matters. The problem as you describe it seems to be that your managers did not hire a competent senior developer as the team leader, nor have they fixed their error since. It is also possible -- I can't tell from just your previous post -- that you are relatively inexperienced and place a lot of weight on the modern/trendy programming techniques and tools you read about, while your team leader is more experienced and sees through the hype.

by Shish2k 12y ago

Silhouette 12y ago

But a flawed spec is management's problem, and it is management's job to make a call on whether you ship despite any known flaws. A competent (in the professional sense) programmer will follow management's lead even if they personally don't like the decision or aren't happy with the results. Being passionate about your work does not give you the right to be in charge, in programming or any other field. Yes, good programmers want to make a good product, but as the saying goes, sometimes the best is the enemy of the good. Shipping a product with fewer bugs six months after the money to pay for it runs out... usually doesn't happen, because the money ran out.

mgraybosch 12y ago
Flawed spec? Oh, please. My first job didn't even have a spec. It had two reams of paper worth of MicroFocus COBOL listings and a directive to implement that code's functionality for Windows using Visual Basic 6. It also had a VB6 codebase that half a dozen contractors had hacked into the sort of unholy mess that even H. P. Lovecraft knew better than to try to write about. This is no joke, people: every variable was global.
collyw 12y ago
Being competent does though (well I guess its down to the individual workplace). I certainly take over from my incompetent team leader, because his solutions are not well thought through. They will work fine for a week or two then need constant debugging and tweaking. I have the experience and knowledge to see better solutions. That extra knowledge doesn't come by itself. I constantly try to improve my ability. I read articles about programming techniques and tools.
- Silhouette 12y ago
  Yes, competence is what matters. The problem as you describe it seems to be that your managers did not hire a competent senior developer as the team leader, nor have they fixed their error since. It is also possible -- I can't tell from just your previous post -- that you are relatively inexperienced and place a lot of weight on the modern/trendy programming techniques and tools you read about, while your team leader is more experienced and sees through the hype.