Object Mentor Blog: Hate is good

Hate is good

Ben Rady — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:04:00 -0500

Great people make great software. So what makes great people? Who knows…certainly not I. But I do know some traits that good software developers all seem to share. One of them is a healthy disdain for mediocrity.

Good developers cannot stand sloppiness (in software, anyway). Apathy, haste, and carelessness send shivers down their spines. They may disagree on the best way to do things, but they all agree that things should be done the best way. And they’re constantly looking and learning to find exactly what the best way is. They realize that seeking it is an ever-changing, lifelong quest.

Part of this is a recognition that the best way is the fastest way. Part of it is simply pride in one’s work. I also think part of it may be due to the discreet nature of software…either it works or it doesn’t. The line between success and failure is only one bit wide, and good developers learn through experience that there’s no room for maybe, sort-of, and kinda.

Whatever the reason for it, I see this trait often in the best developers, and not just with code. Slow builds, lackluster testing, and poor communication are met with intolerance and contempt, quickly followed by an intense desire to set things right.

Of course, it’s possible to take this too far. Simply throwing everything out and starting over is rarely the best option. While good developers can’t stand bad code, great developers make cleaning it up appear effortless. The code just gets a little better every day. Every change is a new opportunity for improvement, and every improvement is done in the context of delivering something useful. If you treat your software like boy scouts treat campgrounds, you’ll never work with ugly code for long.

If you already have this disdain, foster it. Critique code (especially your own), and improve it. Discuss it with your coworkers. Read books, articles, and blogs. Most importantly, realize that any code you change is never “done”. If it was done, you wouldn’t be changing it, now would you? Take the opportunity to make things better now. Right now. Otherwise, you’ll lay crap on top of crap and things will be even worse tomorrow.

Peter Gibbons, the downtrodden programmer from the movie Office Space, said “Ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that’s on the worst day of my life.” If you don’t want to follow Peter down the road to code hell, you have to start making things better today. You have to start hating bad code, at least, hating it enough to want to clean it up.

"Hate is good" by otel

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:13:45 -0600

Acnezine, Natural Pain Relief, Hoodia Gordonii, Breast Actives, Lip Plumper

"Hate is good" by Ashley Bowling

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 05:33:38 -0500

what makes this event really, really special are the attendees.

"Hate is good" by nimic

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 00:48:19 -0500

healthy disdain for mediocrity is a wonderful software made by great software developer .This is an impressive shearing by Ben Rady mentioned various important software and their developers.

"Hate is good" by free audio books

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:05:49 -0500

wonderful post …

"Hate is good" by download free magazine

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:02:01 -0500

thanks for the post friend

"Hate is good" by beats by dre store

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:14:02 -0500

disdain for mediocrity is a wonderful software made by great software developer .This is an impressive shearing by Ben Rady mentioned various important software and their developers.beats by dre sale cheap beats by dre

"Hate is good" by new orleans surgeon

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 21:44:16 -0500

healthy disdain for mediocrity is a wonderful software made by great software developer .This is an impressive shearing by Ben Rady mentioned various important software and their developers.

"Hate is good" by deadbeat millionaire

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:46:57 -0500

very cool blog post ! i’ve been reading this blog for some time and it have cool content!

"Hate is good" by Jewellery

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:46:29 -0500

Online UK costume and fashion jewellery shop with, c

"Hate is good" by christian louboutin shoes on sale

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:10:30 -0500

The article has been finished.

"Hate is good" by f350 leveling kit

Sun, 15 May 2011 17:04:28 -0500

I like the posting of your website, it is beautiful and superb very useful your posting information. Thanks for sharing your beautiful info in this blog!!!!

"Hate is good" by leveling kit f250

Sun, 15 May 2011 17:03:19 -0500

Good work and very useful information, thanks a lot for your wonderful posting in this blog…

"Hate is good" by leveling kit ford

Sun, 15 May 2011 16:57:04 -0500

Thanks for sharing your wonderful information and i enjoyed your writing about this topic…

"Hate is good" by ford leveling kit

Sun, 15 May 2011 16:54:51 -0500

Nice article to read this blog. Thanks for sharing this to us and God Bless!!!!!

"Hate is good" by okey oyunu oyna

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:35:25 -0500

oooo yes i agree with it

internette görüntülü olarak okey oyunu oyna, gerçek kisilerle tanis, turnuva heyecanini yasa.

"Hate is good" by Big pony

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:08:50 -0500

Wow, this is too cool. I am very like it, Thank you for sharing

"Hate is good" by Big pony

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:05:58 -0500

Good work,thanks a lot…

"Hate is good" by vienna

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:34:49 -0500

.They dont have seams, in which you you women’s bracelet you can see where the cheap bracelet connects to when they are produced flat. They are round, and wont turn or oval, and keep its roundness. They stretch, and dont easily snap off. They have great texture, not those that that women’s bracelets that you would feel itchy after wearing it.Of course, when you are ordering something, the first thing you would look is the quality of the silicone wristbands. Some wristbands just have this poor texture. This means that when you touch touch women bracelets touch or wear these wristbands, they feel rough and sometimes this could cause skin irritation.Another thing is, when you put

the other bracelets, they just snap off because of its poor quality.

"Hate is good" by Apartments for rent Bucharest

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:07:53 -0500

When you have a deadline to meet, there isn’t much time that you can spend improving the quality of the code. But the most important are the other people you work with. Someone who wants things to be better but does nothing about it and always complain is a disaster.

"Hate is good" by Sunglass

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 04:57:54 -0600

sung

"Hate is good" by Sunglass

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 04:56:11 -0600

sun

"Hate is good" by dswehfhh

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:37:45 -0600

We are the professional scarfs manufacturer, scarfs supplier, scarfs factory, custom scarfs.

"Hate is good" by jaclyn

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:12:49 -0600

I totally agree, thanks for sharing this. Your information is different from any that ive seen but definitely intriguing! Enormous Lash Reviews

"Hate is good" by iPhone SMS to Mac Backup

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:38:35 -0600

Thanks for shareing! I agree with you. The artical improve me so much! I will come here frequently. Would you like to banckup iphone SMS to mac, macBook, macbookPro as .txt files? Now a software iphone SMS to Mac Backup can help you to realize it.

"Hate is good" by ssara

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:30:52 -0600

Hate is good but it is being done for the good of someone otherwise its of no use. daycare grants