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Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:42 pm
by mr17orange
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Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:56 pm
by Eran
This discussion might be relevant for you - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=110013

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 4:21 pm
by mr17orange
pytrin wrote:This discussion might be relevant for you - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=110013
oh ok...well I don't have a problem testing my work, my work comes out great. I would've loved to have been the original developer, but I'm not. I mostly revise earlier work and improve it.

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 4:24 pm
by AbraCadaver
mr17orange wrote:
pytrin wrote:This discussion might be relevant for you - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=110013
oh ok...well I don't have a problem testing my work, my work comes out great. I would've loved to have been the original developer, but I'm not. I mostly revise earlier work and improve it.
Huh?
I've messed up so much this year that I've actually cost him a lot of money.

I know, I totally suck and should get the boot right!...but I'm still here, and I just don't know what to do. I wish I could be this super genius who does everything right but I'm not, and it's probably hurting this company. What the hell should I do?

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 4:32 pm
by daedalus__
pressure is part of a developers life. nobody understands code, that's why you write it. ya follow?

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 4:47 pm
by mr17orange
daedalus__ wrote:pressure is part of a developers life. nobody understands code, that's why you write it. ya follow?
i understand the pressure. I've gotten used to it now. I just can't shake the feeling that I'm under qualified. I get paid a 35K salary though (originally i was hired on as a designer), so I can sleep at night if I make a mistake :lol:

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 6:45 pm
by daedalus__
well i tell you what with a ten percent unemployment rate id complain as little as possible, especially not on a public forum where your employer could find it.

by the way, is your name richard?

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:19 pm
by josh
daedalus__ wrote:nobody understands code, that's why you write it. ya follow?
No?!.... You are supposed to write code people understand.

mr17orange wrote:l I don't have a problem testing my work, my work comes out great. .
If you describe your daily feelings as "high pressure" there is much room for improvement. Normally "high pressure" reminds me of a boss who dumps a spec on your desk Monday and wants working software Wednesday. It also reminds me of the programmer who never learns to say "no", pushes that software live and spends Thursday through Sunday redoing the work.

The problems you are experiencing here stem directly from not doing TDD (test driven development). Test driven development makes it physically impossible to run into these problems (but its oh so so tempting to "cheat yourself" and not do TDD. For me it took about a year to get into the right TDD mindframe. Now I look back on these types of problems and laugh, with the flick of a wrist my test suites run and I catch a problem in 3 seconds that would have taken up 3 weeks of my time years ago.)

I too worked at a company, personally I quit ASAP. I saved up about a years worth of rent, put it into a high yield savings account and gave my 2 weeks notice. Then I started spending time learning new techniques. I would say your problems are entirely your bosses part, because he is insensitive and is not empathizing with your stresses, and does not encourage you to learn new techniques to deal with it. Tell him you want to spend 12hrs every week learning new techniques, if he says no or says do it on the weekends I'd quit and never look back.

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:24 pm
by daedalus__
haha thats not what i meant. hes the only developer. what i mean is that in a lot of smaller organizations its really easy for people to think that programmers are magic and that programming entails waving a wand around in your office. if you don't ever tell them otherwise, and no one else has ever told them otherwise then they tend to think that because the last guy made stuff that 'works' in very small amounts of time means that you will to whether you can, want to, or will, or not. but i feel like he is in that kind of situation. well give them what they want, keep workin at it and move on when you can unless you can change their minds. but that's harder to do than it sounds.

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:50 pm
by josh
daedalus__ wrote:haha thats not what i meant. hes the only developer. what i mean is that in a lot of smaller organizations its really easy for people to think that programmers are magic and that programming entails waving a wand around in your office. if you don't ever tell them otherwise, and no one else has ever told them otherwise then they tend to think that because the last guy made stuff that 'works' in very small amounts of time means that you will to whether you can, want to, or will, or not. but i feel like he is in that kind of situation. well give them what they want, keep workin at it and move on when you can unless you can change their minds. but that's harder to do than it sounds.
Well I think that true, if the last guy "got stuff done faster" maybe he did it by producing festering piles. And now maybe this guy is being forced to deal with these festering piles, which holds him back from reaching his true potential

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:55 pm
by s.dot
Look at it this way - if you're costing your boss money in certain situation, then he's paid a lot for your training. :) You'll only feel qualified once the experience comes. Mistakes and pressure are a very prudent part of developers lives. Unfortunately, they are unavoidable. Just think of it the positive way... 'YES! I MESSED UP AGAIN! LOOK HOW MUCH I CAN LEARN FROM THIS!"

:mrgreen:

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:56 pm
by josh
When I was working on marinas.com I accidently sent a test order for a picture frame our drop shipper fulfilled. It was one of the most expensive frames, and one of the crappiest "no name" marinas in the middle of the boon docks noone cared about. Well we had a pretty nice picture frame of a pretty ugly marina for $800.

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 10:07 pm
by daedalus__
try to get your employer to pay for certifications or classes. most places, even if they are small, are willing to increase the value of their workforce. if they aren't its a pretty good sign you work for a jackass.

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:38 am
by pickle
daedalus__ wrote:nobody understands code, that's why you write it. ya follow?
Wise Sage once wrote:If code was hard to write it should be hard to read
:wink:

Re: Overwhelmed

Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:42 pm
by josh
Umm, WHY might I ask should the code be hard to read? I think that is horrible advice to give. To me ALL code is hard to write, and ALL code should be easy to read (so we dont end up reinventing the wheel when we need it again simply because we couldn't find it because it was so hard to read in the first place).

I think the harder code is to write,the more you owe it to yourself to MAKE SURE it is readable