

Ask HN: Why can't I find work with a well-documented code base? - joeq

I&#x27;ve been at a variety of places. Some startups, some star companies you&#x27;ve heard of. Yet at each of these places, the documentation is minimal, the code is terribly written with tribal knowledge needed everywhere, and management keeps aggressively trying to push out features before they&#x27;re ready. Have I just been getting bad luck here? Or is well-written, well-documented, well-tested code something that doesn&#x27;t really exist?
======
anonymousdev
Well this is the state of the industry. There certainly are companies with
well-written, well-documented, well-tested code but they don't hire because
they don't need to. Their code is easy to change and maintain, so why pay more
people? This is all most project managers know - absolutely never improve the
process or the tools, just throw more people at the problem, so that's why you
were there.

~~~
joeq
Considering leaving the industry because of this. Which is a shame because I
really do care about good software.

~~~
GFischer
Don't (unless you really don't like writing software).

The answer I've come up with is either become a project manager (not working
out so far, nobody wants to hire a PM without PM experience here, no matter
the certifications), or start your own company (which might be the right
answer in your case).

To be honest, I think both documentation and test cases are overrated, I do
believe in lots of user testing and feedback, which is the most important
thing (and that's why I believe any methodology that encourages frequent user
feedback is a good thing).

What I'm writing about applies for the usual business or customer facing apps,
I don't know about other fields (maybe for scientifical or medical or whatever
apps it's a whole different story).

------
edoceo
Haha. Yea, I've seen those patterns too. Since 1995. Its like nobody reads the
books we all talk about.

~~~
joeq
Yep, Code Complete, Mythical Man-Month. They are so highly regarded, but
nobody seems to follow them!

~~~
SamReidHughes
One of those is highly regarded.

~~~
GFischer
Can you ellaborate? Which one is which? I guess the Mythical Man-Month is the
well-regarded one?

------
yen223
Documentation, like code refactoring and unit tests, don't _directly_ add
value for the client. Most companies don't place a high emphasis on these.

~~~
atmosx
Isn't that a weird thing? Every recruiter post I'm seeing talks about how to
_write unit test_ , _write clear comments_ , _choose methods (functions) name
with care_ , _document your code even if it looks silly_ and again _write
tests!_.

It's like what everyone wants, but then neither needs...

~~~
joeq
It seems as absurd to me as constructing a building without laying down
foundations and having proper blueprints.

~~~
yen223
This is the perfect analogy - people might choose a house based on its size or
its location. But nobody buys a house because it has strong foundations. Not
that foundations aren't important, mind you.

