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Originally Posted by TNT Bot
An anonymous reader writes "I am downright embarrassed by the quality of my code. It is buggy, slow, fragile, and a nightmare to maintain. Do you feel the same way?
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@ First, many times? YES!
(And, when I look @ code I wrote YEARS to DECADES ago, I often say "boy, I could have done that MUCH better & NOW, I know that" or "That needs work & I have learned BETTER ways of doing that particular routine" etc. et al)
Quote:
Originally Posted by TNT Bot
If so, then what is holding you back from realizing your full potential?
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Time, & know-how I gain over time (on personal code I have done for freeware/shareware MOSTLY, sometimes on the job too - you learn more & better ways of doing things, either by first-hand experiences, OR, by just reading others' stuff too - thank goodness for the internet in THAT capacity (when I started writing wares online for instance, circa 1994-1996? You did NOT have the "wealth of available code" you have now online, this is sure)).
Certainly NOT in Delphi, most of all, my fav language/tool - it did not 'come out' until 1995, & that was only for 16-bit Windows... 1996-1997 saw Delphi 2.0 & 32-bit, & around 1997 is when more & more code came out for it (still, nothing like there is out there, today/nowadays)
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Originally Posted by TNT Bot
More importantly, what if anything are you planning to do about it?
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Learn, learn, learn... & DO! The ONLY way... practice makes perfect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TNT Bot
I enjoy programming and have from a young age (cut my teeth on BASIC on an Apple IIe). I have worked for companies large and small in a variety of languages and platforms. Sadly the one constant in my career is that I am assigned to projects that drift, seemingly aimlessly, from inception to a point where the client runs out of funding.
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THAT, happens, on occasion to the "best of us" (not saying I am 'one of the best', my estimation of myself is "I can get the job done" (usually))...
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Originally Posted by TNT Bot
Have any developers here successfully lobbied their company to stop or cut back on 'cowboy coding' and adopt best practices?
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YES...
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Originally Posted by TNT Bot
Has anyone convinced their superiors that the customer isn't always right and saying no once in awhile is the best course of action?
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Heh, two times it has gotten me fired, believe it or not... for 'doing the right thing' & pointing out problems (be it in code, OR in the network topology or software problems (like Antivirus etc. being setup wrong for LAN client-server setups for it))...
You have to "watch it" here... many mgt. figures STILL in this field are nowhere NEAR as good as you the coder OR network engineer are & have some "b.s." MCSE or CCNA etc. & THAT IS ALL... but, no real "earned in the school of hard-knocks" experience in the trenches.
You expose them for that (even IF meaning well, & doing it privately)? They will get you fired... it's happened to me.
I was told, literally "Pick your battles more wisely next time" & it WAS NEVER A BATTLE, but intended for the good of the company itself (where I was hired to secure code AND network stuff too).
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OVERALL THOUGH?
Yes, I am proud of it... but, ONLY AFTER I REALLY FINE-TUNE IT!
Then, I take the time to OPTIMIZE (by hand, not just compiler, & sepulchre a member here:
http://www.thenewtech.com/forums/viewpost15670.html
has even SEEN me go thru it) & PROFILE it, so it is fast, and commented FULLY, so it is clean + easy to maintain!
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* You learn that, over time, to HELP YOURSELF mostly... code you wrote years ago? It's NOT going to "stay in your head" perfectly, especially as to its 'algorithm & exact idiosyncracies' in its detailed mechanics!
APK
P.S.=> For personal code I wrote/write such as freeware-shareware? I take the time for that... my name's on it, across the planet, so I try my best...
However, for business related code? Man, sometimes, they promise such INSANE deadlines, you CAN'T take that kind of time & do that stuff... PLUS, you're often TOLD not to! apk