Some developers think they are perfect...

Slacker007

and that they can't possibly make a mistake and it is always someone else's fault. I am working right now with a project supervisor on a contract and he is a senior developer as well. I have found a bug in one of his processes and he and I have been bumping heads on this for 3 days now. I just sent him irrefutable proof of his error. and I thought I was the only dumb-ass programmer on this project.

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz

Are you talking to me? Who you doubting?

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams "Let me get this straight. You know her. She knows you. But she wants to eat him. And everybody's okay with this?"

M dHatter

Maybe he has self modifying code. ;)

"I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones." Einstein "Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." Mark Twain

Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

My first programming job ever I was tasked with integrating Java 1.0, Javascript, ESRI, and 2D in the pre Java 2D Api days. For three weeks my boss complained that my transforms were wrong and for three weeks I rewrote sections upon sections of code and mountains of proofs. His code, of course, was beyond refute and I did not have access. Finally, my boss saunters over to my fold-out table and proclaims, "I have found the error. It was in my code." Two months later during my performance review I was dinged for taking so long to finish the project. They thought it should have taken a lot less time and I was told not to expect a position after I returned from Summer break because of my poor performance. Crap rolls down-hill. Get used to it. And, on a related note, I have used solid mathematically proofs in defense of my code and have learned it just isn't worth it. When faced with an idiot who claims the math is wrong vs. two pages of proofs a Manager is going to take the path of least resistance and agree with the idiot.

Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost

Slacker007

Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:

Crap rolls down-hill. Get used to it.

I live with it but I don't think I will ever get used to it.

swjam

as much as i agree with you, i'd be the devil's advocate and say that it's has much got to do with how one has pointed out the error. people can be very sensitive, especially if you say he's your senior.

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Ger Hayden

Everyone knows testers insert bugs before reporting them!

Ger

Johnny J

Slacker007 wrote:

and I thought I was the only dumb-ass programmer on this project.

Don't mean to be rude, but it could very well be that you'll become the only dumb-ass programmer out of that project - If your super doesn't know how to take critiscism... :~

I'm not heavy - I'm KIDNAP RESISTANT...
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Don't tell my folks I'm a computer programmer - They think I'm a piano player in a cat house...
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Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo!
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Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects - Will Rogers, September 7, 1924

modified on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 4:55 AM

Slacker007

swjam wrote:

especially if you say he's your senior.

He is not "my" senior. He is a senior developer that I am working "with" on this project.

swjam wrote:

it's has much got to do with how one has pointed out the error.

Don't you worry, I approached him in a tactful and professional manner. If I didn't I would have been fired. My company doesn't put up with cowboys.

Slacker007 · modified on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 4:55 AM

He is not my super. He can't touch me in that respect. I am working with him on a project. He runs a different department. My supers like me and I am well protected so to speak. I still have to show him respect and professionalism but I will not get in trouble for pointing out his mistakes. By the way, I don't think you were being rude; you were speaking your mind. ;)

BrainiacV

Yeah, I used to work with this programmer who thought if his program failed, it was the user's fault. Luckily I was in charge of QA'ing one of his applications. I used to delight in seeing how fast I could crash his programs (15 seconds!). Then I'd write him a step by step list of how I did it, give it to him him and say, "See me when this no longer crashes the program." In his application, after entering data for fifteen minutes or more and you brushed the ESC key, you lost everything. I asked him to put in an "Are you sure?" pop-up and he gave me such grief about how hard it was to test to see if values had been changed. I told him to just add a flag to the input routine and test it. I guess he was used to BS'ing his previous supervisors on how things couldn't be done if he didn't want to do them. After a while, he decided to move to greener pastures.

Psychosis at 10 Film at 11

Lost User

Slacker007 wrote:

Don't you worry, I approached him in a tactful and professional manner. If I didn't I would have been fired. My company doesn't put up with cowboys.

Apparently, they do, or the problem child you're spanking wouldn't be there.

SeattleC

Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:

I was told not to expect a position after I returned from Summer break because of my poor performance.

Did you realize at the time what a favor they were doing you? Oh gosh, you mean I don't get to come back and work for idiots who can't tell that I'm smarter and better educated than they are? Oh the pity. I call this kind of dismissal, "being offered a seat on the last lifeboat off the Titanic". It's usually the case that companies with that kind of management burn brightly for a couple of years, then go out.

cshenar

There was this one dev that I was working with on a Windows Mobile project. I found a bug and dutifully reported it, with repro steps and all that happy jazz...he came back with "Not my code". I dug further and found the resources involved (all owned by him) and replied back with my findings, to which he replied "Still not my code". I asked him how it wasn't his code when his name was all over it and he came back with my 4 favorite words ever "It works on my machine. Therefore it must not be my code". So, I grabbed a phone, took it to his office, installed the Mobile app (from his machine) and had him repro the bug using the steps that I originally pointed out. ... ... This time, he came back with "Well, that's not working right...but it's still not my code". :doh: Shortly thereafter, he was asked to move on.

Old Ed · modified on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 4:55 AM

My take on criticism: many people don't know how to give it objectively. When I "criticize" a program or code I simply state what isn't working and supply as much relevant information as I can, i.e. error messages, steps to reproduce error, etc. I consider it presumptuous to inform as to best practices or standards unless asked. Just my thoughts.

fglenn

On reading the replies to this thread, it just confirms my position: I have zero tolerence for and zero patience with anyone who cannot say: "I was wrong". If I am wrong, I'll own it. But it's a mistake to assume that others can be that secure in their behavior. It beggars the mind to see how many people cannot admit to themselves that they are human enough to make mistakes. Or worse, that they cannot believe that others will forgive them for their errors. [Edited because I misspelled "forgive"]

Fletcher Glenn

RobertBarnes

I too used to be an egotistical conceited arrogant developer. However I'm perfect now.

Robert

ghle

I'll usually ask the developer if they'd bet a paycheck that they are correct. It usually gets them to back down, rethink their stance, and open up to discussion. It also generates hesitant snickers, including from others, but only once did I get a "yes" answer. Of course, they want my paycheck if they are right, and when I offer it, they really reanalyze their code. :rose:

Gary

KP Lee

Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:

When faced with an idiot who claims the math is wrong ...

I've been the "idiot" who claimed the math was wrong and spent half a week getting the manager to listen to what I was saying. Only after I had the manager manually process the loop and finally seeing that I was right would they consider changing the code. It isn't always easy to get managers to listen to the idiot.

Slacker007

cshenar wrote:

It works on my machine

Ah, I love that one. Anyone who solely goes by that is a retard and should not be programming.