matfil

5 ms·

1.
by matfil 6y ago
The presence of bugs doesn't necessarily indicate useless software. If tests are failing (or flaky...), that's probably something to look at at some point, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the highest priority t
2.
by matfil 6y ago
One of the most annoying things to deal with in a CI workflow is flaky tests I guess another controversial opinion: this is a problem with the idea of CI (or at least how we work with it and what we expect to get out of it), rather than t
3.
by matfil 6y ago
where are code reviews A valid answer might be "nowhere". Code review is a hot topic at the moment, but I'm pretty sure a lot of software I've found useful over the years was created with little or no formal review, a
4.
by matfil 6y ago
A side effect of this is that if your individual productivity goes up, your real wage might go up, but if your whole industry’s productivity goes up, it’ll be mitigated by this effect. Articles telling us to focus on team, rather than ind
5.
by matfil 6y ago
There's an argument for valuing ten years of Silverlight experience -- especially if it includes some gnarly projects where the framework isn't really holding your hand that much -- over ten years of flitting between web framework
6.
by matfil 6y ago
I'd certainly agree that if a quick fix starts to accrete complexity, that's good evidence that it's time for a rethink. "ad-hoc modifications", I'm less certain about. How often is this happening? How much
7.
by matfil 6y ago
Over the years I’ve learned few things are more permanent than a temporary solution. This is something your hear in a lot of places. Often (not always) it seems to be spoken with regret. I think we should be quicker to celebrate than a
8.
by matfil 6y ago
If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing yourself.
9.
by matfil 6y ago
This can be taken to extremes. Some years ago, a popular historical novelist told me something along the lines of "I often talk to people who say 'I'm writing a historical novel', at which point I'm wondering wheth
10.
by matfil 6y ago
I make a point of re-reading Alan Perlis' preface from time to time: https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/sicp/full-text/... Fun is important, and it seems all too easy to lose sight of
11.
by matfil 6y ago
Thanks! Lighthouses all automated around here, but some of the others sound interesting...
12.
by matfil 6y ago
(Not the OP, but this question does resonate...) It's a good set of questions to keep in mind, but I'm not sure it always leads to a feasible course of action. What I like is working independently on a gnarly problem for some ex
13.
by matfil 6y ago
I'd love to go to Antarctica. However... skimming through some of those, they actually look like pretty typical "work on a team" positions ( e.g. "...technical guidance and mentoring of Computer Technicians with focus o
14.
by matfil 6y ago
- weekly 10% self-directed and dedicated research time - additional research time with sign-off from a lead These are both really great ideas, and have the advantage that they work for people who prefer to work through new stuff in privat
15.
by matfil 7y ago
A coworker from a previous job said something along the lines of “How much work is getting done by teams debating tabs vs spaces?” That's a good question, but having agreed that such debates don't contribute much, you've go
16.
by matfil 7y ago
That's almost word-for-word what I like. I'm actually pretty certain this approach, with the TODO file in VC, would work fine at least up until 4-6 developers, as long as everyone hits a basic level of competence -- but in practic
17.
by matfil 7y ago
I wonder what those other metrics are. A big one is that managers are de facto judged by the size of their team (and, for more senior ones, the size of the tree underneath them, too). It seems to be really, really hard to have middle m
18.
by matfil 7y ago
While I wouldn't necessarily say that problems in this style are the right way to recruit in 2019, something equivalent to: Please do not use an existing networking framework (e.g., Twisted or asyncore for Python, ACE for C++, etc.) t
19.
by matfil 7y ago
I actually quite enjoy the true mysteries that nobody has touched for years. It's a situation where you're expected to slink off into a corner and swear quietly for a few days, and nearly-certain hero status if you pull it off.
20.
by matfil 7y ago
unnecessary competence What on earth do you mean by this? It sounds rather like advocating just doing the minimum you can, for the sake of harmony.
21.
by matfil 7y ago
Perhaps some environmental changes have caused people to think more about whether or not they're introverts. Open offices seem like a strong candidate to me (but there might well be others).
22.
by matfil 7y ago
Go. I don't feel the need for yet another language without conditional expressions. (More generally: I'm pretty firmly in the camp of "terse code tends to be easier to read and reason about", and don't want languag
23.
by matfil 7y ago
The key is to be an independent craftsman, and not e.g. lay carpets as an employee (at the businesses pace and mercy), or stand all day, etc... I think most work is -- at the very least -- bearable given enough independence/autonom
24.
by matfil 7y ago
I'm also in the "breaking things down doesn't really help" camp, so while I recognise that it works for some people, I do think it's possible that "just break things down even further" isn't necessari
25.
by matfil 7y ago
It's a tough question, and I think depends a lot on what you're looking for. For the specific case of work ethic in the sense of committing deeply to projects you believe in, then I'd point you towards "The Soul of a New
26.
by matfil 7y ago
That's a great question, and I'll admit I find it easier to define in the negative than in the positive. And obviously, I'm not the original asker, so it would be interesting to hear their version as well. For me, I think th
27.
by matfil 7y ago
Unit testing seems a lot like tuning to me. There's usually a pretty straightforward definition of "correct" (A=440Hz...), but it's -- at best -- distantly related to the audience's experience of the performance.
28.
by matfil 8y ago
In an industry where 2 year (or less!) tenures seem common, are "founder personalities" really a much higher risk? It seems a sad thing to have to suppress.
29.
by matfil 8y ago
This is far more compelling as an argument against open plans than against table tennis. Taking a break from a problem can be really valuable. Personally, I skew more "take a walk" than "table tennis", but having some i
30.
by matfil 8y ago
I don't think "toxic team culture" is the only way code reviews get frustrating. Other issues include frustrating waiting for reviews to be completed or the flip-side of people being knocked out of flow to do a review becaus

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