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  3. Do Software Developers get Emotionally Attached to their code?

Do Software Developers get Emotionally Attached to their code?

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  • M MarcusCole6833

    Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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    raddevus
    wrote on last edited by
    #5

    Very good question. There are a couple of extremes here and I find them related to DevOps and Ownership. 1. Mic-Drop Software I wrote the thing. I'm out! This could/would be fun in many ways. Just writing code and sending it into the world and never looking back. Just make sure the money is in the bank account. That's all that matters. Obviously, Mic-Drop Software is for two types: 1. Genius Software Architects who write bug-free software 2. Posers who sell an idea, get paid and run 2. Complete Ownership Do not touch my code. If it breaks at 3am I will fix it. If it breaks at 3am because of a change you made, YOU will fix it! Team Ownership Somewhere in the middle of these two is a TEAM of people who work together so software doesn't bother them at 3am. But it's difficult to get a team to own something together. This one is based upon trust, social work, liking coworkers, knowing coworkers are intelligent, etc.

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    • M MarcusCole6833

      Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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      thatraja
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      My personal code stash is like my babies even though they're aged(old & obsolete) & in coma(sleeping in archive)

      thatraja

      Coming soon1 | Coming soon2 | Coming soon3New

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      • M MarcusCole6833

        Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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        ZurdoDev
        wrote on last edited by
        #7

        Attached? No chance. But judging from the responses so far I might be in the minority here. :wtf:

        Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.

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        • M MarcusCole6833

          Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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          Maximilien
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          No, not really. Sometimes I go "Wow this works!!" but that is probably it.

          I'd rather be phishing!

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          • M MarcusCole6833

            Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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            Foothill
            wrote on last edited by
            #9

            I think that attachment is proportional to time spent on it. If it's a program that I whipped up in a couple of hours or a day, I really don't care. Now, if it's code that I spent months working on it, of course I get a little attached.

            if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); } Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016

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            • M MarcusCole6833

              Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

              abmvA Offline
              abmvA Offline
              abmv
              wrote on last edited by
              #10

              You have to learn to let it go

              Caveat Emptor. "Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long

              We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. - Greta Thunberg

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              • M MarcusCole6833

                Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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                Rick York
                wrote on last edited by
                #11

                I do but just a little. The vast majority of what I have done has been automation systems and it is interesting to find that most of them are still in operation today, making the chips that go into our computers, phones, tablets, and who knows what else. I guess that's not exactly emotional attachment. They are thoughts similar to wondering how the kids are today.

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                • M MarcusCole6833

                  Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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                  Ehsan Sajjad
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #12

                  One of our team developer had a logger class which was wrote so many years ago and uses in every project needed. It used to open a file every time log method is called write line and close the file, another dev in my team modified the implementation for improvement purpose, and the original author didn't like that, the statement was : "I had been using this class since xx years ago and i am used to it, why have you modified it" and that dev then had to undo the changes to get it back to the original version :laugh:

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                  • abmvA abmv

                    You have to learn to let it go

                    Caveat Emptor. "Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long

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                    Johnny J
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    If only it would! :doh:

                    Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
                    Anonymous
                    -----
                    The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
                    Winston Churchill, 1944
                    -----
                    Never argue with a fool. Onllokers may not be able to tell the difference.
                    Mark Twain

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                    • abmvA abmv

                      You have to learn to let it go

                      Caveat Emptor. "Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long

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                      MarcusCole6833
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #14

                      is that Latin in all your code comments?

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                      • T thatraja

                        My personal code stash is like my babies even though they're aged(old & obsolete) & in coma(sleeping in archive)

                        thatraja

                        Coming soon1 | Coming soon2 | Coming soon3New

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                        Ehsan Sajjad
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #15

                        same here :laugh:

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                        • Z ZurdoDev

                          Attached? No chance. But judging from the responses so far I might be in the minority here. :wtf:

                          Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.

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                          CodeWraith
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #16

                          Why would you waste your precious time on writing something you don't care about?

                          I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

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                          • M MarcusCole6833

                            Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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                            S Offline
                            Slacker007
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #17

                            Yes

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                            • C CodeWraith

                              Why would you waste your precious time on writing something you don't care about?

                              I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

                              Z Offline
                              Z Offline
                              ZurdoDev
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #18

                              CodeWraith wrote:

                              something you don't care about?

                              Where did I say I don't care about my code?

                              Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.

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                              • M MarcusCole6833

                                Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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                                PIEBALDconsult
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #19

                                Young ones maybe.

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                                • M MarcusCole6833

                                  Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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                                  patbob
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #20

                                  No. I never get attached to the code I write. I might be proud or apologetic about my accomplishment, but the code itself, no. Emotional attachment to the code itself usually means people start to act protective of it and create a boundary to keep others out. That kind of behavior is a red flag to me to get someone else into that code pronto. In every case I've seen where there's code that's considered off limits because it's someone's "baby", it has meant that they're doing it to hide how poor of a developer they are.

                                  I live in Oregon, and I'm an engineer.

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                                  • M MarcusCole6833

                                    Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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                                    Marc Clifton
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    No, it's more like a fling, where if the other code finds out there's hell to pay, and like a fling, it gets dull pretty quick, at least until the next cool piece of code. Any long term relationship is quite rare.

                                    Latest Article - Code Review - What You Can Learn From a Single Line of Code Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802

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                                    • M MarcusCole6833

                                      Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

                                      M Offline
                                      M Offline
                                      Munchies_Matt
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      Yes. And it one of the biggest mistakes coders make.

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                                      • M MarcusCole6833

                                        Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

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                                        J Offline
                                        jgakenhe
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #23

                                        No, I don't get attached. My preference is to write clean, easy to read, low defect code that others can easily maintain. I don't need credit for anything. I do get ticked off when someone makes a change to my code and decides to reformat it or not follow the coding standards. The typical reply I get is "it works!"

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                                        • M MarcusCole6833

                                          Wondering on this? is it your baby or just the means to a livin'?

                                          J Offline
                                          J Offline
                                          Jacquers
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #24

                                          Having others work on 'your' project can be both good and bad. I was really attached to my previous project at my old job. I had worked on it for 5+ years and it was my 'baby' and I put in a lot of effort to make it a top notch product. I am pedantic about code formatting and how I think code should be written, so when another developer also worked on the code and didn't do code formatting and left out some things like window icons I wasn't too happy. But it can get too much and make you arrogant, thinking that nobody else can do the job properly. On a recent project I was glad to have some help and I actually found some respect for my fellow workers - they did a very nice job with the code and styling work and I can learn from their code.

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