Comments on: Code maintainability, and the joy of outsourcing http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/ building machine learning and natural language processing tools Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:05:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: KPO http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-1049 KPO Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:26:00 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-1049 I believe outsourcing is necessary in today’s business environment to save on cost. It has become necessary to cut the corner every where to remain competitive. Outsourcing can also help decimate the costs, which are incurred, making the process cost effective It also allows for your company to focus on your core competencies and develop your in-house processes, which in turn reduces lead-time and brings about celerity in the market. Ray I believe outsourcing is necessary in today’s business environment to save on cost. It has become necessary to cut the corner every where to remain competitive. Outsourcing can also help decimate the costs, which are incurred, making the process cost effective It also allows for your company to focus on your core competencies and develop your in-house processes, which in turn reduces lead-time and brings about celerity in the market.

Ray

]]> By: Mike A. http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-711 Mike A. Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:56:55 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-711 Yes, it is an option worth considering... if you don't give a damn about the creativity and innovation that can be generated when your developers actually talk with each other, bounce ideas off of each other, and collaborate in the creative process of software development.<br><br>As for cutting costs by going with lower-income coders, here's an idea I think you'll love: adopt children from other countries, lock them away in your attic, train them to be programmers, then pay them in bread and water. Think of the profits!<br><br>If you're worried about your code base being properly documented, then give its developers a mandate to do so, and make that documentation a part of their expected duties. If you want loosely coupled components, then have the project manager set that expectation, and confirm that need has been met.<br><br>Your solution... cheap labor done by people who don't talk to each other... is the sort of solution that might appeal to an accountant, but not to someone who actually knows something about writing good code... and I've been writing code for 32 years and counting, so I think I know something about the subject. Yes, it is an option worth considering… if you don’t give a damn about the creativity and innovation that can be generated when your developers actually talk with each other, bounce ideas off of each other, and collaborate in the creative process of software development.

As for cutting costs by going with lower-income coders, here’s an idea I think you’ll love: adopt children from other countries, lock them away in your attic, train them to be programmers, then pay them in bread and water. Think of the profits!

If you’re worried about your code base being properly documented, then give its developers a mandate to do so, and make that documentation a part of their expected duties. If you want loosely coupled components, then have the project manager set that expectation, and confirm that need has been met.

Your solution… cheap labor done by people who don’t talk to each other… is the sort of solution that might appeal to an accountant, but not to someone who actually knows something about writing good code… and I’ve been writing code for 32 years and counting, so I think I know something about the subject.

]]> By: Joseph Turian http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-709 Joseph Turian Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:11:58 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-709 The one in the suffix of yr email address. I'm on Firefox 3.6.6 now.<br><br>I looked at this site under <a href="http://browsershots.org" rel="nofollow">browsershots.org</a>, but I don't see an issue under Opera 10. Feel free to send me a screenshot of the error on your end.<br><br>BTW, I don't have much experience coding on big teams. My coding experience is mainly solo. So you might be right that outsourcing is ineffective for big-team style coding, which I can't really comment on. The one in the suffix of yr email address. I’m on Firefox 3.6.6 now.

I looked at this site under browsershots.org, but I don’t see an issue under Opera 10. Feel free to send me a screenshot of the error on your end.

BTW, I don’t have much experience coding on big teams. My coding experience is mainly solo. So you might be right that outsourcing is ineffective for big-team style coding, which I can’t really comment on.

]]> By: jld http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-708 jld Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:08:41 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-708 Huh?<br>Which website?<br>I didn't left any though I have several, one of which is <b>purposefully</b> Firefox only (no time to waste with MicroShit). Huh?
Which website?
I didn’t left any though I have several, one of which is purposefully Firefox only (no time to waste with MicroShit).

]]> By: Joseph Turian http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-707 Joseph Turian Sat, 03 Jul 2010 08:56:55 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-707 <a href="http://github.com/turian" rel="nofollow">http://github.com/turian</a><br><br>And your website doesn't work on my browser either. http://github.com/turian

And your website doesn’t work on my browser either.

]]> By: jld http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-706 jld Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:04:11 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-706 Bollocks!<br>Yes, loosely coupled code <i>should</i> be easier to maintain and then you could "fire unruly developers" at will.<br>Never seen this work (63 years old retired software engineer speaking).<br>You are only <i>indirectly</i> involved in software development, aren't you?<br>BTW, this whole website <b>doesn't work</b> in an Opera browser 10.10 (pages appear blank though their content is actually loaded) .<br>A little "software problem" may be? Bollocks!
Yes, loosely coupled code should be easier to maintain and then you could “fire unruly developers” at will.
Never seen this work (63 years old retired software engineer speaking).
You are only indirectly involved in software development, aren’t you?
BTW, this whole website doesn’t work in an Opera browser 10.10 (pages appear blank though their content is actually loaded) .
A little “software problem” may be?

]]> By: outsourcing tech support http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-704 outsourcing tech support Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:50:32 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-704 I think that any industry can benefit from outsourcing. Like any business strategies, there are downsides as well, but I think that making wise choices can help you have a positive experience with outsourcing. I think that any industry can benefit from outsourcing. Like any business strategies, there are downsides as well, but I think that making wise choices can help you have a positive experience with outsourcing.

]]> By: MetaOptimize » Perhaps job hopping is a good thing? http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-674 MetaOptimize » Perhaps job hopping is a good thing? Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:39:35 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-674 [...] The real problem with job hopping is the initial expensive startup cost to integrating a new employee into your organization. Job hopping would not really be so problematic if businesses (and new employees) were set up for people to contribute value immediately. Perhaps employers and employees alike would benefit from businesses restructuring their processes to be more modular and self-contained. This is similar to how it seems initially expensive to design your code so that components are loosely coupled, but ultimately this discipline leads to greater flexibility and easier maintainability. Similarly, structuring your organization and processes in such a way that you can easily add (or remove!) talent can ultimately lead to efficiency. (I make similar comments about outsourcing your code.) [...] […] The real problem with job hopping is the initial expensive startup cost to integrating a new employee into your organization. Job hopping would not really be so problematic if businesses (and new employees) were set up for people to contribute value immediately. Perhaps employers and employees alike would benefit from businesses restructuring their processes to be more modular and self-contained. This is similar to how it seems initially expensive to design your code so that components are loosely coupled, but ultimately this discipline leads to greater flexibility and easier maintainability. Similarly, structuring your organization and processes in such a way that you can easily add (or remove!) talent can ultimately lead to efficiency. (I make similar comments about outsourcing your code.) […]

]]> By: Eric Larson http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-451 Eric Larson Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:30:19 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-451 In theory this seems like a great idea. I'm not opposed to outsource either except in terms of general contractors returning black boxes instead of code. My problem is that the idea a project manager could simply read the code and start breaking it up for refactoring seems exceptionally naive. If they could do that then I suspect that code would already be reasonably easy to maintain already. Getting a high level overview of the entire code base is never easy. There are always small pieces hiding in the cracks that seemingly are not important, yet every character ends up being important when we're talking about code. If you have a project manager that can do this sort of thing please ask him to blog about how he approaches reading a large code base (100k+ lines) and understanding it in such a way as to send off bits overseas or to a contractor for updates. In theory this seems like a great idea. I’m not opposed to outsource either except in terms of general contractors returning black boxes instead of code. My problem is that the idea a project manager could simply read the code and start breaking it up for refactoring seems exceptionally naive. If they could do that then I suspect that code would already be reasonably easy to maintain already. Getting a high level overview of the entire code base is never easy. There are always small pieces hiding in the cracks that seemingly are not important, yet every character ends up being important when we’re talking about code. If you have a project manager that can do this sort of thing please ask him to blog about how he approaches reading a large code base (100k+ lines) and understanding it in such a way as to send off bits overseas or to a contractor for updates.

]]> By: khing http://metaoptimize.com/blog/2010/03/11/code-maintainability-and-the-joy-of-outsourcing/comment-page-1/#comment-428 khing Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:47:50 +0000 http://blog.metaoptimize.com/?p=106#comment-428 congrats for you with your outsourcing partners. I don't see any relationship between outsourcing and code maintainability . It is really depend on who write the code and what is the domain.My outsourcing parter is one of the biggest outsourcing comp from India, CMMI level 5. And the code is worst code that i ever seen, all copy paste. And it slow like shit. 3 times crash a day :). I don't think you can draw a conclusion by using your one time experience congrats for you with your outsourcing partners.

I don’t see any relationship between outsourcing and code maintainability . It is really depend on who write the code and what is the domain.My outsourcing parter is one of the biggest outsourcing comp from India, CMMI level 5.
And the code is worst code that i ever seen, all copy paste. And it slow like shit. 3 times crash a day :) .

I don’t think you can draw a conclusion by using your one time experience

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