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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 19th, 2023

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  • I’m still waiting for the day I see UML in a professional context. My undergrad teachers were all about it.

    Similarly, I don’t design software using design patterns, and I’ve had to discourage juniors from forcing them into projects where they don’t add any value. But that’s not to say design patterns aren’t useful. They do exactly what you say, allowing your brain to recognise a pattern so you can remember or communicate it without having to go into details. Most of the time it won’t be an exact fit for the ideal pattern implementation, but it’s still easier to remember the variation.

    I wish they were taught more as communication and cognitive tools than silver bullets for good software design.

    In the real world there aren’t even that many patterns. On a very large project you’re likely to see the same patterns repeated throughout the system, because a good architecture doesn’t add variation and complexity unless there’s a lot of value to gain. You learn the default way, and then the diffs.












  • That bloody confirmation bias.

    I was a model employee for many years. Every review was, “you’re one of our brightest, keep doing what you’re doing”. Then I requested some accommodations for my chronic migraines, and they put me under a microscope. Suddenly I was still getting the most complex work because I was the only person they trusted to do it, but now it was an issue that I didn’t churn through change requests as fast as other employees who only do simple bug fixes.

    When I got diagnosed with ADHD I thought it would give me some breathing room if I told them. That just made it worse. Now I had to be on a management plan. Now every review was laser focused in churn rate, and completely ignored all my above-and-beyond contributions.

    I think their long term plan was to either make me give up accommodations or leave, because they didn’t want anyone else thinking they could get “special treatment”.


  • AuDHD here, and I think you’re spot on, but I wouldn’t discount that union issue mentioned also being a factor. If they’re doing anything wrong then they definitely won’t give an honest answer and being put in that position will frustrate them even more (even though it’s possibly their own fault).

    I’ve lost count of how many times I thought I was doing the right thing by seeking clarification so I can properly adjust for some bending of the rules (not necessarily opposing anything) but got blowback because I acknowledged the thing everyone else was conveniently ignoring.




  • Honestly, I’ve been around long enough that I associate suits with dishonesty. Car sales, real estate agents, lawyers, finance, politicians,… is there a pattern here, or no?

    I started my professional career suited up, but transitioned away as I realised all our technical people who knew their shit, rolled up their sleeves and got it done didn’t wear them. The suits were managers making unrealistic schedules, and sales teams promising the world just to secure the next bonus.

    Someone like Trump has never experienced real work. So let the con man wear his costume. It suits him.