Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!ut-sally!utah-cs!defun.utah.edu!shebs
From: shebs%defun.utah.edu.uucp@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley T. Shebs)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: American Programmer
Message-ID: <5359@utah-cs.UUCP>
Date: 21 Mar 88 22:45:34 GMT
References: <555@psu-cs.UUCP> <1434@ur-tut.UUCP> <3415@bunker.UUCP>
Sender: news@utah-cs.UUCP
Reply-To: shebs%defun.utah.edu.UUCP@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley T. Shebs)
Organization: PASS Research Group
Lines: 39

In article <3415@bunker.UUCP> shap@clunker.UUCP (Joseph D. Shapiro) writes:

>If management says "I need this in X weeks", but you know it can only
>be done in 3*X weeks, or maybe you can glue something together in X
>weeks if you work nights and weekends, what can you do?
>
>a) work nights and weekends. [...]
>
>b) be willing to take a little heat and explain to management exactly
>how long it will take to do the job right and WHY.
>
>c) work extra hours but make damned sure that management understands
>how much work is being done [...]
>
>It seems that too many programmers are more willing to do (A) than (B).

One reason I've observed is hubris - programmers have heard all about "Real
Programmers" and imagine themselves either to be such, or they aspire to the
position.  Given such feelings, it's very easy for managers to manipulate the
programmers - "What, you can't do all that on time?  Old Joe Fortran would
write the whole thing in two days!".  Of course, the programmers get indignant
and insist they're just as good as Joe Fortran, but without stopping to
consider that Joe Fortran (now departed for greener pastures) was also the
person who wrote such disastrous code that millions are now being spent to
keep up with the continual stream of bugs.  The managers' comments also
have a vague air of threat - "If you can't do the job, we'll replace you
with somebody who can," in case any of the programmers have resisted the
appeal to their egos.

Schools are part of the problem, since it has become habitual to assign
students to write massive amounts of code as weekly exercises. Of course,
(ahem) I've never made up such an assignment. :-)  Needless to say, the
best grades go to the students who hack the fastest, and I get howls of
complaint (not just from students!) for counting off on "minor" bugs or
(heaven forfend!) style.  Trying to teach better programming practices is
definitely an uphill battle...

							stan shebs
							shebs@cs.utah.edu