Speaking of perks of negative value, I once worked somewhere with ping pong tables, fuzzball, and so on, where a man started playing the bagpipes directly behind me when I was trying to get some damned work done!
Good to know that ping pong tables are a red flag for someone else! I personally avoid any gig advertising for "rock star" developers on much the same basis...
We hired a rock star developer. He had been an actual rock star, with a song that was nominated for a Billboard Music Award. Does that count? Fortunately, he doesn't play music when I'm trying to get work done. We hired him to develop software.
I wish I liked using our ping pong table. It would help shrink my belly. Getting up out of your seat to get your blood flowing is important. Some people take a walk around the block at our office. Some people lift weights. Some people pace. Maybe ping pong is kind of silly, but it fills a need. Humans aren't built to sit motionless all day long.
I often see Imposter Syndrome being discussed on HN and in other software development circles. While I have yet to face the feeling of being an imposter; this particular quote from the article strikes a bit of a nerve,
"Sturgeon’s law says “ninety percent of everything is crap”. I’ve found this to be true of developers. Nine out of ten developers are not just bad but incompetent."
I'm not a mathematician, but if this statement is true, chances are I am an awful developer. Knowing this, how do I and others proceed? Can we be useful on a team?
I am reminded of the addage "If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole." I suspect the author is has systemic problems working with others. I think if someone is earnestly doing their best to improve their skills, a true professional will accord them the respect they deserve.
I think my estimate was a little on the high side. I've tempered my opinion since then (and I've edited that part out of the post). I don't think 9 out of 10 developers are incompetent.
I disagree with his point about '"interesting" technical problems' not being a perk. He describes working on 40+ different jobs which were all about the same in terms of technical interestingness, and says that the majority of business applications are boring CRUD apps/"a giant ball of TPS reports". This isn't an argument against working on technically interesting problems being a perk -- it just means that he hasn't ever worked on technically interesting problems.
If his point is that most job ads are lying about whether the work is technically interesting, fair enough. I have no idea whether or not that's true. But his point as stated, that technically interesting work is not a perk that developers care about, is just wrong in my experience. Not all jobs are doing tedious CRUD work, and that is a legitimate perk.
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[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 24.7 ms ] threadGood to know that ping pong tables are a red flag for someone else! I personally avoid any gig advertising for "rock star" developers on much the same basis...
I wish I liked using our ping pong table. It would help shrink my belly. Getting up out of your seat to get your blood flowing is important. Some people take a walk around the block at our office. Some people lift weights. Some people pace. Maybe ping pong is kind of silly, but it fills a need. Humans aren't built to sit motionless all day long.
"Sturgeon’s law says “ninety percent of everything is crap”. I’ve found this to be true of developers. Nine out of ten developers are not just bad but incompetent."
I'm not a mathematician, but if this statement is true, chances are I am an awful developer. Knowing this, how do I and others proceed? Can we be useful on a team?
If his point is that most job ads are lying about whether the work is technically interesting, fair enough. I have no idea whether or not that's true. But his point as stated, that technically interesting work is not a perk that developers care about, is just wrong in my experience. Not all jobs are doing tedious CRUD work, and that is a legitimate perk.