Deadlines
Posted by cdg in Development Bitching on 2008/11/18
I don’t miss deadlines, it’s just not part of what I do. In the course of several hundred projects in my consulting career, I’ve never been late, over budget, or anything less that spec-complete.
Until now.
The team I’ve been working with for a while has this habit of keeping me entirely in the dark about when things are due (or anything that’s going on with the client, for that matter). I’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt, and think that they’re trying to allow me to focus on the code, but the problem is that I usually don’t know that there’s a deadline to make until it’s looming (sometimes 2-3 days out, frequently on the due date, and one time three days after).
I know that no one should care about this but me, but this situation is good for neither my digestion, nor my ever-lovin’ soul. It might be time to be moving on…
Why the code is not clean
Posted by cdg in Development Bitching on 2008/11/14
This is obvious, I know, but some people/companies still don’t seem to understand so I feel the need to whine about it. So you’ve got a project to develop. You want clean code. Here’s how:
- Don’t shortchange the time (or budget). faster || cheaper == sloppier.
- Don’t hold back on what you’re actually expecting. if ( unknowns > 0 ) { for ( i = 0; i <= absurd; i++ ) { add configuration; } }.
- Don’t change the damned requirements mid-stream without changing the deadlines. changes == spaghetti.
- Allow time in each phase or cycle for refactoring. cleanliness == ( refactoring_time * 10 ).
- Don’t talk about how it’s going to look when I’m trying to talk about how it’s going to work. if ( project < functional ) { design == fuck_it; }.
- Hire some actual, qualified QA personnel. your_stupid_users != testers.
Why Sisyphus Was Happy
Posted by anna in Uncategorized on 2008/11/11
There are days in which recognizing the eden (3d3n) in which I live is beyond my grasp, however, today is not one of them. I woke up feeling like I should not only feel happy and thankful (that we do not live in a cardboard box) but that I should relay a story, a myth that is familiar to many, with a slight twist that somehow I convinced myself was how the story actually went until Curt pointed out to me that I had changed it. I like my rendition better than the original (even though the original has survived for thousands of years).
So there’s this guy named Sisyphus, a king actually. He betrays the powerful god Zeus and is sentenced to roll an enormous boulder to the top of a steep hill. To his dismay, he loses control of the boulder just as he reaches the crest and the boulder thunders down to the base of the hill. Sisyphus is doomed to repeat this meaningless, absurd, and demanding task ad infinitum as the scene loops for all eternity. Just as all seems truly hopeless to Sisyphus and he has given himself over to the task at hand, a ray of sunshine strikes the boulder and illuminates the intricate beauty and delicate colorations in a spot. Upon closer inspection, Sisyphus wonders at the impossibly beautiful patterns he has never noticed before. As he pushes the heavy boulder higher and higher, he no longer feels the heft. He no longer concentrates on his sore body. The grandeur and beauty in front of him is enough to exalt his spirit and bring joy to his task at hand. Joy (or God if you like) is in the details.
Camus wrote about Sisyphus and how in the moment that Sisyphus gave in to the abusurdity in his routine, he gained the freedom to be happy. (This is of course my overly simplified version.) I can see that…but I like to think that the appreciation for minute detail is a great source of pleasure we all to often overlook. This story reminds me to look for the joy.