Big refactoring

I started to refactor a file of a few hundred lines of code. I had a vision how clean it will look. It took more days until I realized it takes more time to refactor the whole file. My tech-lead suggested to cut the task which I did and refactored only one class. It became really cleaner. It could've been used as a base class but people didn't use it but continued to use the quick and uglier way of the other classes.

I started to refactor a file of similar size now because it always takes some mental effort for me and for me coworkers to understand the structure of the file. It was written by one of the coding heroes of the company, it's dense and tangled and still verbose at the same time. It takes a few minutes to run all the tests for it so I made a relatively big change that didn't look harmful, I was just factoring out some helper functions. When I finished, I ran the tests and they failed. I got frustrated. It took me quite some time to find out that I had forgot to set an environment variable before running the tests. There was even a warning printed that could've suggested that but it was lost in the many lines of other logging output.

Programmers as seen by an HR manager

I know these are generalizations, but...

• Good programmers tend to be good musicians
• They give straightforward answers, sometimes at the cost of hurting other people's feelings without intending to
• They grasp the general structure and the gist of complex issues
• They want to find a solution right away
• It's difficult to find out what they're feeling in a situation. It can be pretty difficult for their managers.
• They avoid conflicts and other emotionally loaded situations
• They don't want to be (perceived as) nosy
• They are afraid of being seen assholes or using their power. That's why they lean on having a laissez-faire attitude.

If I attended a conference on programmers' psychology, I'd expect to hear some stories. For example how a newly appointed manager overcame a difficult situation. Or how an introvert junior developer can share his or her ideas with the team.

Important things I don't do

I'm going home now because a guy is coming to fix the heating system. I'll work from home for a few hours. I'll take some notes for my research which I don't do at the office. It would be quite appropriate to take notes about my life as a software engineer while being in the office but I still don't do that. Just like going out to the gym to work out which I also don't do. I am considered to be a mature adult who can use his time, I'm free to come and go to the office any time. There are even some guys who have a special schedule like coming to the office only in the afternoon and work until late night. Another guy goes to late night parties one day, then takes a day off, then works two days without a stop. And I know of others who have similar issues as mine, they don't do things they find important.

I also notice while eating that I had enough but I carry on eating.