not working
Ugh. I feel like crap.
Note: I don't like talking about my job because it'll all go over people's heads. Even if you know about programming and stuff, it's tough to talk about the specific architecture or requirements I'm dealing with without some long and boring spiel. Let's see if I can make this story at least somewhat understandable..
So yeah. Today at work involved another round of emails between me and The Architect. You see, he has a design in mind for the thing I'm working on. So do I, in fact. Mine's much simpler and based on stuff we already know works. His is based on things we might want to do in the future that I don't really understand.
I found out today that the reason why we weren't seeing eye to eye on things was that his design was based on assumptions about surrounding technologies that weren't, in fact, true. Now, those technologies can be made to fit the assumptions, but, somewhat reassuringly, that's somebody else's problem.
Even though it seems that that might be cleared up, I'm no closer to actually doing anything productive. I spent most of last week just reading and re-reading The Architect's email to see how I could possibly twist it into reality. Now I've got to wait for reality to conform to the email before I can really do anything.
I'm frustrated for a whole bunch of reasons. For one thing, this is theoretically supposed to be my project. I'm just territorial that way. For another, for the life of this project, something like this has happened at least once a week—where I think I finally have something and I can start working, but suddenly everything changes and I have nothing. So yeah. Frustrating.
The project has gone far beyond what it was originally supposed to be and, I think, beyond my current skill set. Now I don't mind challenges, it's easy to get discouraged when things aren't working. It's especially discouraging when I thought I might finally get to actually make something (well, it wouldn't be the first something, but it is the most important something so far), rather than just sit around fixing old things all the time. I like making things.
And that's about it, really. I want to make something, but I can't for one reason or another.
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matt
writes:
Ah, the return of the dreaded Architect, eh?
It's too bad that things aren't coming together nicely.
(I've become somewhat enamored of XP at the moment, or at least the "pragmatic" approach. Agile development speaks volumes... now SQL databases, don't get me started... http://www.dbdebunk.com/)
I'm not sure how things work around the office there, but there must be a way to make headway. Any opportunity to plug away at some core stuff to see if it is beyond your grasp?
Sucks to lose a project, but better to find out early than to wade in neck deep and then find out...
Hope it works out. (Is this based on a spec at all, or is the Architect driving that?)
Hmm... sorry, I teched that up on you.
Grrr! Bad! Hope it gets better.
I'd offer some words of wisdom on combatting the non-productive feeling, but I'm kinda sparse in that department...
(The only thing I've found so far is to find other things to be productive with... in that, I'm inching up...)
Submitted 2003-07-21 16:24:36
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tinkerer
writes:
Poor Squirrel. Welcome to Saturn in Cancer. Go have a nice chocolate malt (I'm sure it's much too hot for cocoa these days), and who knows? Maybe the Architect will accidently get his head slammed in the elevator door tomorrow and suddenly start thinking clearly. :P
Submitted 2003-07-21 19:22:37
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flying squirrel
writes:
I talked to one of the other people on my team today (just back from his honeymoon) and had a bit of a eureka. So I think I have a better idea where The Architect is coming from. Unfortunately, some of the other bits he's forcing on us are still pretty dumb as far as I can tell. I can probably put together a prototype to validate what I'm thinking about, but I kinda hinted that we might be better off getting somebody else to do this whole thing. That process actually got further than I thought it did. Tomorrow's going to be interesting. I'm sure the person flagged to do the work (a) doesn't want anything to do with it and (b) mostly agrees with me anyway.
There are a set of requirements, and yes, those are mostly determined by The Architect. He'll occasionally add new ones, which is where the frustration comes in. Mostly, though, the requirements are pretty vague and we're making stuff up as we go along. A big problem with this whole thing is that some people are insisting that we have to get this thing 100% right the first time around. That ain't gonna happen.
Thanks, tink. We can only hope. ^^
And yes, this is almost enough to drive someone to drink.
Almost...
Submitted 2003-07-22 18:35:31
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matt
writes:
Well, sounds like there might be some resolution there. If the project hits enough developers who take issue with the divine wisdom of the Architect, then perhaps he'll get the point.
As to 100% right the first time around... are these new graduates? Who in the high tech industry hopes to hit 100% the first time around? I can reasonably see 80%, but that presupposes absolutely no iteration leading up to the finished product... With iteration, you might get closer to 100% ... The only problem is it gives the Architect more room to move (but in all fairness, also more time to back up and take a more reasonable approach...).
That's the odd thing about development... You'd think that if you were making it up as you go along that you'd always be right... however, that never seems to be the case. :-)
My profound sympathies.
Hang in there!
Submitted 2003-07-23 11:57:13
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flying squirrel
writes:
Well, sort of. The project, you see, is an API. Since people are going to use it to write stuff, it was decided it had to be reasonably backwards compatible. That means major changes in the future will be an incredible pain in the ass. So 100% first time!
It's still unrealistic. But whatever.
What I'm working on is a lower-level communication piece (which can change quite a bit as needs demand, I figure), but the same kind of thinking prevails. I'd rather get *something* that works. Deal with optimizing the stupid thing later.
We're building a monster here. It's scary.
Submitted 2003-07-24 03:43:45
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matt
writes:
Ah, makes more sense now.
Still, like you say... implementation should be light years away from interface, so there's no reason that you shouldn't be able get it working, then make it snappy (if it needs to be snappier).
I've been doing a lot of reading of late, and premature optimization is one of the cardinal sins... in part, because it's largely guesswork without actually performance metrics, and also because it might not be necessary at all (time spent in vain).
Ah, who're ya gonna convince, eh?
I bet they'd freak if you mentioned refactoring... I thought Java guys were the most attuned to that stuff, but apparently not...
Keep us posted! :-)
Submitted 2003-07-24 10:40:03
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