Overworked and Isolated - (Lazy?) Help Requests
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Hello, I have a mild form of Autism that makes it Very difficult for me to communicate without being verbose, but I will try to be brief. My company has two major offices, one where we do all of our software development and one where I work. We are very far apart and run independently with very little communication. For many various (and legitimate) reasons our software has fallen extremely far behind, maybe 1-2 years past due. I learned some C programming about 15 years ago mostly on my own with the bible by (Ritchie and Kernighan?) and with some mentoring, but ended up in a completely different career. I decided to try and help fix our software and I worked very hard (20hrs a week after work). I researched and learned and developed a successful proof of concept project showing I could do the work. This I presented to the bosses and they said Great! and gave me a full time development position. I am the only one in my entire office who understands programming and software development in any detail. They gave me whatever resources they could get for me which I greatly appreciate. However, as I began developing new software from a fresh perspective and a different approach, I said let me extend our existing work with mine to bridge the gap as quickly as possible and I started looking into our internal database format / structure. They said "Our existing work is junk and we don't want to cross breed the two approaches, we will not share information about our ways with you. Please develop a proof of concept for your approach in two weeks". I said that will take four weeks. They said "We need to make a decision about the direction of our development for 2019 and we need to make it right now". And my ultimate boss said "get it done". So I work 6-7 days a week 55-60 hours again. Which is all OKAY, except that short term deadline sucks. Because of it I have to rush my code, putting off restructuring and refactoring as it grows, ignoring exception handling for thusfar unencountered scenarios and whatever other myriad shortcuts I've taken that should be corrected. The TODO list is a mile long; it's not the way I work. It affects my decision making; I do plenty of work just to try and make the deadline that will be a useless waste in the long term. It's a little hacked up and ugly but greatly improved this weekend. I also have to look at each new roadblock and try to find a temporary shortcut that is faster than a real solution. And I have to do all of this to achieve a result
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Hello, I have a mild form of Autism that makes it Very difficult for me to communicate without being verbose, but I will try to be brief. My company has two major offices, one where we do all of our software development and one where I work. We are very far apart and run independently with very little communication. For many various (and legitimate) reasons our software has fallen extremely far behind, maybe 1-2 years past due. I learned some C programming about 15 years ago mostly on my own with the bible by (Ritchie and Kernighan?) and with some mentoring, but ended up in a completely different career. I decided to try and help fix our software and I worked very hard (20hrs a week after work). I researched and learned and developed a successful proof of concept project showing I could do the work. This I presented to the bosses and they said Great! and gave me a full time development position. I am the only one in my entire office who understands programming and software development in any detail. They gave me whatever resources they could get for me which I greatly appreciate. However, as I began developing new software from a fresh perspective and a different approach, I said let me extend our existing work with mine to bridge the gap as quickly as possible and I started looking into our internal database format / structure. They said "Our existing work is junk and we don't want to cross breed the two approaches, we will not share information about our ways with you. Please develop a proof of concept for your approach in two weeks". I said that will take four weeks. They said "We need to make a decision about the direction of our development for 2019 and we need to make it right now". And my ultimate boss said "get it done". So I work 6-7 days a week 55-60 hours again. Which is all OKAY, except that short term deadline sucks. Because of it I have to rush my code, putting off restructuring and refactoring as it grows, ignoring exception handling for thusfar unencountered scenarios and whatever other myriad shortcuts I've taken that should be corrected. The TODO list is a mile long; it's not the way I work. It affects my decision making; I do plenty of work just to try and make the deadline that will be a useless waste in the long term. It's a little hacked up and ugly but greatly improved this weekend. I also have to look at each new roadblock and try to find a temporary shortcut that is faster than a real solution. And I have to do all of this to achieve a result
My advice would be to do what they ask:
Quote:
Please develop a proof of concept for your approach in two weeks
It clearly states it has to be a proof of concept, meaning it doesn't have to be fancy, or nice, or robust. When presenting, do note that it is just that (a "proof-of-concept") and not a complete end product. A bonus would be to give them some estimates on how long (or how much work) the real end product would take. From your question it looks like you're trying to get a polished end-product. If you find the time: Read this: [Programming Vs. Software Development](https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/608871/Programming-Vs-Software-Development) to get my point of view on what development is and what a prototype is. Read this: [Timing is Everything](https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/1228163/Timing-is-Everything) for some tips on how to estimate timing and work. Hope this helps.
V.
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Hello, I have a mild form of Autism that makes it Very difficult for me to communicate without being verbose, but I will try to be brief. My company has two major offices, one where we do all of our software development and one where I work. We are very far apart and run independently with very little communication. For many various (and legitimate) reasons our software has fallen extremely far behind, maybe 1-2 years past due. I learned some C programming about 15 years ago mostly on my own with the bible by (Ritchie and Kernighan?) and with some mentoring, but ended up in a completely different career. I decided to try and help fix our software and I worked very hard (20hrs a week after work). I researched and learned and developed a successful proof of concept project showing I could do the work. This I presented to the bosses and they said Great! and gave me a full time development position. I am the only one in my entire office who understands programming and software development in any detail. They gave me whatever resources they could get for me which I greatly appreciate. However, as I began developing new software from a fresh perspective and a different approach, I said let me extend our existing work with mine to bridge the gap as quickly as possible and I started looking into our internal database format / structure. They said "Our existing work is junk and we don't want to cross breed the two approaches, we will not share information about our ways with you. Please develop a proof of concept for your approach in two weeks". I said that will take four weeks. They said "We need to make a decision about the direction of our development for 2019 and we need to make it right now". And my ultimate boss said "get it done". So I work 6-7 days a week 55-60 hours again. Which is all OKAY, except that short term deadline sucks. Because of it I have to rush my code, putting off restructuring and refactoring as it grows, ignoring exception handling for thusfar unencountered scenarios and whatever other myriad shortcuts I've taken that should be corrected. The TODO list is a mile long; it's not the way I work. It affects my decision making; I do plenty of work just to try and make the deadline that will be a useless waste in the long term. It's a little hacked up and ugly but greatly improved this weekend. I also have to look at each new roadblock and try to find a temporary shortcut that is faster than a real solution. And I have to do all of this to achieve a result
A "proof of concept" is just an app that prooves you can do what you want to do. It is not a prototype, it is not production ready. Approach it that way, and don't get more fancy on the UI than is require for them to see the proof. You may even go as far as putting a banner on the screen stating that the app they're looking at is NOT production code, or even a protype. Make sure you put the overtimer you're working on your time card (if you have tio fill one out). If you don't have a timecard, keep a spreadsheet of hours spent on it.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013 -
Hello, I have a mild form of Autism that makes it Very difficult for me to communicate without being verbose, but I will try to be brief. My company has two major offices, one where we do all of our software development and one where I work. We are very far apart and run independently with very little communication. For many various (and legitimate) reasons our software has fallen extremely far behind, maybe 1-2 years past due. I learned some C programming about 15 years ago mostly on my own with the bible by (Ritchie and Kernighan?) and with some mentoring, but ended up in a completely different career. I decided to try and help fix our software and I worked very hard (20hrs a week after work). I researched and learned and developed a successful proof of concept project showing I could do the work. This I presented to the bosses and they said Great! and gave me a full time development position. I am the only one in my entire office who understands programming and software development in any detail. They gave me whatever resources they could get for me which I greatly appreciate. However, as I began developing new software from a fresh perspective and a different approach, I said let me extend our existing work with mine to bridge the gap as quickly as possible and I started looking into our internal database format / structure. They said "Our existing work is junk and we don't want to cross breed the two approaches, we will not share information about our ways with you. Please develop a proof of concept for your approach in two weeks". I said that will take four weeks. They said "We need to make a decision about the direction of our development for 2019 and we need to make it right now". And my ultimate boss said "get it done". So I work 6-7 days a week 55-60 hours again. Which is all OKAY, except that short term deadline sucks. Because of it I have to rush my code, putting off restructuring and refactoring as it grows, ignoring exception handling for thusfar unencountered scenarios and whatever other myriad shortcuts I've taken that should be corrected. The TODO list is a mile long; it's not the way I work. It affects my decision making; I do plenty of work just to try and make the deadline that will be a useless waste in the long term. It's a little hacked up and ugly but greatly improved this weekend. I also have to look at each new roadblock and try to find a temporary shortcut that is faster than a real solution. And I have to do all of this to achieve a result
Not sure if it helps, but a friendly warning: [Things You Should Never Do, Part I – Joel on Software](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/) (BTW the whole blog is very informative) I think it's one of the guys who created Stack Overflow.
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Not sure if it helps, but a friendly warning: [Things You Should Never Do, Part I – Joel on Software](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/) (BTW the whole blog is very informative) I think it's one of the guys who created Stack Overflow.
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:thumbsup: One of the only nontechnical books on my shelf.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
Yeah he can write and talk. Here a video where he explains pretty much the question asked here: how to get help when stuck with a problem: [Joel on Software - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jeCt\_WTFhE)
