[zmeiaspas]

Just happened with me.

I'm still pretty new to my job in a small 4-people company where the other guys all know what's going on since they are the ones who have written a huge code base that incorporates a lot of different technologies in it. Given the size of the company there is no documentation whatsoever so I either have to bug someone with questions or I have to spend days trying to figure out how to complete a 1 hour task.

So I was working on something the past 5 days or so and after starting from scratch once and changing my approach several times as new things I didn't know keep on popping up all the time, I finally asked my co-worker for some help as the logic seemed fine but the damn thing just wouldn't work.

He found a ton of mistakes and is now spending a couple of hours fixing my mess.

Jesus do I feel like the little retarded kid in the family ... :bitchslap

 

[big_slacker]

Docs are essential regardless of the company size.

Being in a little over your head lets you know you're in the right place and your career is progressing. Gotta learn to enjoy that feeling.

 

[Pure Adrenaline]

Making mistakes is fine at your age and experience level.

The guy who is sorting out your mess made the same mistakes when he was at your level. That's how he knows how to fix it. One day, you will be fixing a rookie's mistake just like he is now.

The important thing is not to make the same mistake twice. Or make mistakes often.

 

[PETSHOPBOY]

Sometimes people ask for extra cheese, and im just like WTF is extra cheese? Is that like a swiss cheese??

 

[libertypilot]

Promise little, deliver big brother...

 

[jerome_oneil]

Docs are essential regardless of the company size.

Yep. When one of your clown co-workers says something stupid like "We don't have time to document," remind him of the five days you just spent wading through his crappy ass code.

1st rule of software engineering management. "Everyone's code sucks. So document it instead."

Can I place a small casino cash wager on whether or not you guys are "Agile?"

 

[RuggedRadios]

It's all a part of learning. I felt the same way at my job working around radio components and what not. Just try and watch the others when they do something big or important so you can learn. They will also notice your trying to learn without asking for their help too!

 

[zmeiaspas]

Docs are essential regardless of the company size.

Tell me about it. I may not be great of a programmer but I put comments everywhere so that you can read the code in plain English without looking at a singe line of code.

My co-workers are the exact opposite - they are really great at what they do but leave no comments whatsoever ... it all works great for them as they are the only one who have ever touched our code base but it's a living hell for a beginner like me. Especially when all the different paradigms begin to overlap with some funky algorithms and at the same time I have no idea what the hell is even supposed to happen ...

Promise little, deliver big brother...

That's what I've been doing but it doesn't work if you're not the one who makes the choice

Can I place a small casino cash wager on whether or not you guys are "Agile?"

Is it bad that I lol'ed at that?

Sometimes people ask for extra cheese, and im just like WTF is extra cheese? Is that like a swiss cheese??

nfloor

 

[FZSilver]

Every day. :lao I went to school for two years, have been to manufactures training seminars, been in the field for a couple years and I'm still retarded

 

[Turbo_Lag]

I work for a hospital in the IT field. When I was hired, right out of college. I had to learn 67 new applications. Welcome to the club. Now I am the lead tech after 2 years, and I know every system, in and out.

It takes time, you'll get there, and in the blink of an eye, you will be sorting through the "New guy's" code just like your co-worker sorted through yours.

 

[ty454]

Yeah run 'n gun cowboy coders suck but it's a fact of life. In an ideal world we'd all have perfectly commented code...but if it's a four-person company I'm guessing half the time is spent trying to get shit to work last minute to make deliveries and commenting is dropped low on the priority list. Especially if you're in an R&D field.

You may feel as if you've been dealt a bad hand, but you have to take some responsibility about it as well. If your bullshit detector starts to spark then instead of just trying to wade through it on your own you ought to confirm with one of them immediately. Don't haphazardly write code for 5 days, the best thing you could have done (as soon as you realized your first approach was doomed) would have been to go over your general strategy with one of the experts. That way you would at least have some confidence in your approach, and at the same time you aren't wasting his time by making him rewrite your code after the fact.

But I feel pretty retarded on a weekly basis at work. I'm on a large reciprocating pipeline compressor project and am doing all the control systems for it. Before the project I didn't even know what a pipeline compressor was. Luckily for books and the internet...a year later I'm the local expert on them. Soon it'll be over with and my next responsibility starts - plant load flow and power study. I currently have no clue on how to even start one of those. The retardism level will be picking up pretty drastically by the end of the year.