
I Am a Bad Software Developer - ColinWright
http://eewz0z.pen.io/
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pedalpete
I'm a bad software developer too. I've always had my suspicions, and nobody
has commented on how bad my code is, but I'm convinced I too am bad.

But here's the thing, the author (if that is you Colin) and I have both
created things that people use. The author has even contributed to open source
projects (I can't imagine my code would pass that mustard), so it can't be
THAT bad.

Is there a balance between creating beautiful code and actually solving
problems?

I'm constantly trying to get better at coding, but after years I still find
myself making mistakes. Often mistakes that don't break code, but just are not
efficient.

So, what are we to do?

~~~
ColinWright

        But here's the thing, the author (if that is you Colin)
        and I have both created things that people use.
    

I'm not the author, it's just something that I thought would resonate with the
HN crowd, and about which they might be able to offer some thoughts and
possible solutions.

    
    
        ... can the system be so wrong as to consistently overlook
        a good developer even if they are bad at interviews?
    

Yes, it can. I'm sure that when I've been hiring I've overlooked or even
actively passed on candidates that would have been excellent employees. The
system is not set up to find the best programmers, or even the best employees.
I do know what it is optimised for, but certainly good, and even excellent,
programmers can easily be overlooked.

Especially if they are bad at interviews.

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ColinWright
Oh, bother - just seen that this is a duplicate. the discussion is over here:

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5664839>

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DavidPlumpton
Bad developers tend to be really bad. They have seldom heard of SICP, or
contributed to an open source project etc. You sound like you are simply going
through a run of bad luck.

