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Coding Off Days!!!
- Thread starter SallyAnne
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SandyDown said:
Another great debater in our midst
. Look at some of the greatest software ever written and some of the major feck ups that over ran and resulted in millions of wasted money. eg, Linux vs NHS computer system. One was written by a very talented programmer(s) the other was probably written by 100 Project managers and mediocre programmers.Try and give some more substance this time to your response.
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I'm getting quite confused here. Not unusual.
Super coders. What are they?
According to Dim they are sit-in-the-corner-talking-to-nobody-writing-obscure-unmaintainable-systems types.
Sorry, but good coders are also good designers, moderately good communicators and know the value of sharing ideas. Really good ones also know how to code for the future of a product.
One of the best managers I ever met knew this and made sure his team contained good coders who could be left to produce a quality product. He was kept in the picture but his main purpose was to manage his managers. This was appreciated and rewarded by a the support and effort afforded him by his "coders". He also got the promotions he deserved because his teams worked and delivered.
Super coders. What are they?
According to Dim they are sit-in-the-corner-talking-to-nobody-writing-obscure-unmaintainable-systems types.
Sorry, but good coders are also good designers, moderately good communicators and know the value of sharing ideas. Really good ones also know how to code for the future of a product.
One of the best managers I ever met knew this and made sure his team contained good coders who could be left to produce a quality product. He was kept in the picture but his main purpose was to manage his managers. This was appreciated and rewarded by a the support and effort afforded him by his "coders". He also got the promotions he deserved because his teams worked and delivered.
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OrangeHopper said:
Why are we all making categories and stereotypes here? There are good coders with good communications skills and all the possible matrix combinations. Unfortunately, there are very few ideal candidates so somehow companies need to get along also with people of not much communication level. A good PM should understand that and be able to leverage everybody's skills, not just pointing fingers and label them as "code monkeys" - what you are doing right now. Some are better at design, some are better at coding. Everybody has a different talent. Sure, perfection is the best thing to have but unfortunately it doesn't belong to this world and you have to accept that hardly you'll find someone with all the skills.
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Getting back to the point.
Code reviews are good - no one person knows it all, thinks of all the possible pitfalls, or is without making a silly mistake.
Code that is easily understood by peers in the industry is much preferred to what I will call "super code", that only the original coder can really fathom.
Design, API, coding and naming standards are there for a reason. Follow them.
It doesn't require a "meeting" to review code. We are living in the 21st century, code can be reviewed using powerful tools, email, instant messaging etc.
Supporting and enhancing a product over its lifetime costs far more than development, therefore code for maintainability. It's the No.1 cost factor.
Testing up front using NUnit of equivalent is a must have. Otherwise changes break modules that worked and it doesn't get picked up until formal testing, which costs a lot of money. Code that fails unit tests should not be in any build.
Crikey, all this is (and more - it's called quality) well known in blue chips IT companies. God knows where you buggers hack your Linux kernals for cash.
Code reviews are good - no one person knows it all, thinks of all the possible pitfalls, or is without making a silly mistake.
Code that is easily understood by peers in the industry is much preferred to what I will call "super code", that only the original coder can really fathom.
Design, API, coding and naming standards are there for a reason. Follow them.
It doesn't require a "meeting" to review code. We are living in the 21st century, code can be reviewed using powerful tools, email, instant messaging etc.
Supporting and enhancing a product over its lifetime costs far more than development, therefore code for maintainability. It's the No.1 cost factor.
Testing up front using NUnit of equivalent is a must have. Otherwise changes break modules that worked and it doesn't get picked up until formal testing, which costs a lot of money. Code that fails unit tests should not be in any build.
Crikey, all this is (and more - it's called quality) well known in blue chips IT companies. God knows where you buggers hack your Linux kernals for cash.
Last edited:
18:44
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