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Software engineers hate code.
Summary
This article discusses why software engineers dislike code, particularly code written by someone else. It explains that engineering teams often prefer microservice architectures to avoid dealing with code maintenance. Stack Overflow is a popular resource for finding code without needing to look at it. Engineers often approve pull requests without taking the time to review the code. They have a love for writing code, but senior engineers understand that too much code can cause problems and should be minimized. They are passionate about finding elegant solutions to complex problems, but also strive to delete unnecessary code.
Q&As
Why do software engineers hate code?
Software engineers hate code because it is often written by other people and requires maintenance.
What is the purpose of a microservice architecture?
The purpose of a microservice architecture is to separate code into individual services that can be tucked behind a load balancer and forgotten about until it breaks.
What is a common resource software engineers use to find code solutions?
A common resource software engineers use to find code solutions is Stack Overflow.
What is the difference between a software engineer and a senior engineer?
The difference between a software engineer and a senior engineer is that senior engineers have learned to temper their baser instincts and find joy in reading, understanding, modifying, and deleting other people's code.
How can software engineers minimize the amount of code they write?
Software engineers can minimize the amount of code they write by understanding their tools, leveraging the features of the systems their code runs on, and only writing what is necessary to get the job done.
AI Comments
👍 This is a great article that explains the complex relationship software engineers have with code in a comprehensive way.
👎 This article is too long and could be condensed to get the same point across.
AI Discussion
Me: It's about how software engineers, despite loving to write code, actually hate code because it requires a lot of maintenance and can be very difficult to work with. They'd rather do greenfield projects where they can start from scratch and avoid dealing with old code.
Friend: That's an interesting take. It's true that once code is written, it requires maintenance and can be difficult to work with. I guess senior engineers understand the cost of writing code and are more judicious about when to write code.
Me: Exactly. Senior engineers are more mindful about how much code they write and only write what's necessary. They also understand the cost of writing code and try to avoid extraneous code. It's important to be aware of the cost of writing code and when it's best to avoid writing code altogether.
Action items
- Take the time to understand the tools and systems your code runs on, and leverage their features to minimize the amount of code you need to write.
- Before writing new code, consider if you can use, improve, or fix existing code instead.
- Invest time in reading and understanding code written by other people, and provide detailed reviews when asked.
Technical terms
- Software Engineering
- The application of engineering principles to the design, development, maintenance, testing, and evaluation of software and systems that use software.
- Greenfield Project
- A project that involves creating something from scratch, without any existing infrastructure or code.
- Microservice Architecture
- A software architecture that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled services.
- Load Balancer
- A device that distributes network or application traffic across a cluster of servers.
- Stack Overflow
- A question-and-answer website for professional and enthusiast programmers.
- Pull Request
- A request to merge a branch into another branch in a version control system.
- LGTM
- An acronym for "Looks Good To Me," used to indicate approval of a pull request.
- 10x Engineer
- A term used to describe a software engineer who is exceptionally productive.
- 1,000x Engineer
- A term used to describe a software engineer who is exceptionally productive.
- Senior Engineer
- An experienced software engineer who has a deep understanding of the software engineering process.
- Diminishing Return
- A situation in which the level of benefit gained is less than the amount of effort or resources invested.
- Legacy Code
- Code that is outdated or no longer used.
- Unnecessary Code
- Code that is not needed to complete a task or solve a problem.