

What would you do? Boss thought I copied code from Web - tryanother

My boss recently instructed a coworker to rewrite my feature behind my back, and I found out by chance. More than a week and dozens of panic attacks later, he told me that he thought some of it was stolen because he didn&#x27;t think I was capable of writing sophisticated JavaScript. I am a green dev, but I spend tons of time outside of work becoming a better developer, and primarily I have focused on JS because that is the bulk of what I do at work. I was completely baffled by this accusation and just explained to him that I spend lots of time researching and want to write the absolute best code possible. He seemed to understand, but this situation makes me extremely uncomfortable. It is insulting on multiple levels to think that I am so incompetent that I would steal. Has anyone else encountered this?
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orand
I would leave that job as quickly as possible. Life is too short to work for a
boss who is crazy.

You have the drive to learn and grow. Go to meetups, user groups, etc. and get
to know others who are like-minded. You'll build the connections you need to
find a better job, even if you are a junior dev. They'll see your passion and
potential and hire you for that.

~~~
tryanother
Thank you so much for this. I will start going to meet ups ASAP. I have worked
so hard to get into this industry (I am almost completely self taught, no tech
degree) and all I want is to work with passionate people who are inspired by
my passion. I want to make awesome things and be better than I was yesterday.
This current job is so disheartening.

~~~
aefeuer
Also, if you see startups you like, apply for jobs there. I know that sounds
really basic but I'm surprised how often folks don't apply for jobs they could
get (or fear they need a warm intro, etc.). Companies, esp. startups, are so
hungry for engineering talent that, IMHO, it's very much a meritocracy, and
you don't necessarily need relationships, etc.

~~~
tryanother
This is good to know. I think a startup would be a great fit for me in many
ways.

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elmojenkins
I'd update your resume and look around. Things could get better at your
current job, however, if you are able to find something new, you should
consider it..especially given your current issue.

You are right to feel annoyed by this. I would. I think anyone who put the
time & effort into something would too. Hopefully your boss will figure it out
one day.

~~~
tryanother
thanks, i will definitely update my resume. i moved 800 miles for this job, so
there's an extra layer of frustration there, too. i don't want it to have been
for nothing.

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rajacombinator
If you're not copying from the web (with appropriate attention to licensing)
you are seriously doing it wrong. Especially on an internal facing enterprise
product. Sounds like your boss is a moron.

~~~
tryanother
ha - that's a good point. i hadn't thought of that.

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tptacek
That does not sound like a recoverable problem.

~~~
tryanother
That's what I am afraid of. I am very uncomfortable with the culture of
conniving and suspicion that seems to be rampant here.

~~~
tptacek
If I was accused of plagiarism, I'd start making plans to leave. I don't say
that lightly; this might, I think, be the first time in my overlong time on HN
to give that piece of advice.

~~~
tryanother
this is my first job in the industry, and i've only been there for less than 3
months. i'm afraid i won't be able to find another job with my experience.

~~~
glimcat
You are probably _drastically_ underestimating the marketability of "can write
production-ready JavaScript given sufficient time browsing docs & without
copying it directly from StackOverflow."

And I only say "probably" because it sounds like you're looking for a local
W-2 gig, and there are some places (e.g. rural Idaho) where there's likely to
be a shortage of potential employers.

Elsewhere, consider "any company with senior programmers to report to" as a
location which is probably hiring, or at least entertaining applicants -
regardless of what any public listings may say about what openings exist, or
how much experience or what madcap assortment of skills any job postings say
that they'd like (yes, like).

~~~
tryanother
Thank you for the perspective. I take the requirements on job listings very
literally and definitely underestimate what I have to offer. I will broaden my
search. I am not in a tech hot spot, but also not in the middle of nowhere.

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notjustanymike
Welp, we're always looking for front-end devs. [http://www.tapad.com/about-
us/careers/openings/](http://www.tapad.com/about-us/careers/openings/)

~~~
tryanother
thank you for the link! if i had the experience you guys were looking for, i
would absolutely go for it.

~~~
notjustanymike
Meh it's flexible. I wrote the front-end job posting and handle reviewing the
resumes. If you want to post what your current resume I wouldn't hold any
formatting errors and whatnot against you. It's not like you have anything to
lose.

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cafard
Who is having the panic attacks, and who thinks the code is stolen? I'm
guessing a) you, and b) the boss, but the antecedents aren't clear.

Using code from the web _without understanding it_ is not a good thing. But I
would think worse of somebody who (for example) spent a week reimplementing in
Perl what he could have installed from CPAN. (Do I understand everything I
pull down from CPAN? Umm, well, I understand how to use it.)

~~~
tryanother
yes, you're right about a) and b).

the bottom line was that he didn't understand my code, and he thought i wasn't
smart enough to write it.

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pawn
Show of hands. Who DOESN'T copy snippets of code from the net occasionally?
Anybody? Cobol programmer in the back, your hand has been noted, you can put
it down now...

~~~
chrisBob
Do answers on StackOverflow count?

~~~
pawn
I would count that, yes. Any time you think "I need to do X" but don't know
the syntax, do you hopelessly read through help docs or do you Google it and
keep going?

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thinkerer
Ermmm well we all learn by observing other codes out there many times and rest
of it troubleshooting isnt it?

If it works, it works. Why bother re-writing it anyway? Unless its
refactoring.

If its me, Ill confront him and ask him about his insecurities and if theres
any issues.

But thats just me.

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thejteam
The one time I encountered this was in 9th grade. The health class teacher
wasn't used to people writing good essays. I got an A on the first essay of
the year, and she wrote on the paper "Good job, if you actually wrote it."

Her and I did not get along very well that year.

~~~
tryanother
ugh, i would imagine not.

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crazypyro
Is your boss a dev? Did he think you straight copy/pasted from the internet?
Did he even ask about the licensing?

Your boss sounds incompetent, but these answers would probably help us
understand.

~~~
tryanother
Yes, he is a dev. He thought I copied/pasted. He did not ask about licensing.

He also told me that "inner JavaScript classes" are inappropriate for
enterprise code. I asked him to explain what he was talking about - he meant
my object constructors. He said I could not create new java (yes, java)
classes in my JavaScript code. ????

~~~
smileysteve
> "inner JavaScript classes" are inappropriate for enterprise code. I asked
> him to explain what he was talking about - he meant my object constructors

I'd guess that he and the product do not tend to use javascript objects when
writing code - which means that the code was above his (and the product's
average) coding head. This also means that it wasn't the best way for you to
code the project.

For a code review to pass, the reviewer should think about the minimum person
working on the project and whether they would understand or make guesses when
fixing it - or at least know where / when to get help.

~~~
tryanother
Thank you for that feedback. These are the kinds of thing I can't learn on my
own. There is absolutely no formal code review, much to my surprise; in fact,
the closest thing to "process" here is to push to UAT as fast as humanly
possible. I would love to work in an environment where I felt as though I were
actually learning from my coworkers and from the process.

------
Fiona_Y
用你的优秀让他哑口无言～

------
BorisMelnik
yea man that is no good. most bosses would kill to know that their staff goes
home and learns on their own. run, fast, and far.

~~~
tryanother
Thank you, I will take this advice to heart.

