Nine things developer wants more than money

Prashant forwarded me this link that discusses some of the things a developer looks forward for. Pretty much realistic and direct to heart conversation. Some of the points are quite well mentioned and explained. However not all points are agreeable, especially point #9 ( Having few legacy constraints). What I infer from that point is nobody likes working in a system which is poorly designed and buggy. And while implementing something one needs to follow lot of constraints which takes out the gist or joy of writing a software. To approve your fix or new enhancement in a "working" system, you gotta go through series of reviews / meetings (if needed). According to the author, this is what a developer hates. I believe some part of this argument is true ( sometimes we see a strong reluctance from the approver) but certainly there are few things I disagree.

I don't think you always get "bored" while maintaining some legacy software, provided it's not exceptionally stable. One thing is true that some day or the other we have to maintain a software if we want to make money out of it. If you have got customers who pay for your product, you can't just go on pouring your ideas in a working code, you gotta look at the issues of a current system, issues that a customer face while using it. Howsoever brilliant and well tested your software is, it gets a real taste when some potential user uses it. And I believe, fixing those issues do need a lot of creativity. Such fixes might sometime increase your knowledge, who knows, you might come up with a great patch which fixes a nasty bug nobody have ever thought of. On a positive note, you get a great code repository to walk through. We always read and analyze algorithms but in a system like this, you see their real life implementation which is never seen in any book. It's always good to design and code something "from scratch" but to do that I think, one needs to have a great expertise. It's a thing which comes to oneself when one writes and "reads" good code. And such systems actually give us the opportunity to do so.

However, not everything is as rosy as it seems. Sometimes I get stuck at some point and can't do anything. A complete code doesn't help me reproduce a bug. That's because I don't understand why that code is written and don't find a document / note which explains me its purpose. I really get frustrated / bored and all I need is a guy who knows how this works. And once the problem is understood, half of the job is done. To me, reproducing and fixing a challenging bug in a complex system is as fascinating as developing an equally good code.

Out of their minds & Programmer's at work

I started with a book called Out Of Their Minds : The Lives And Discoveries of 15 Great Computer Scientists few months ago but because of lots of disturbances in between, could not finish it completely. And when my librarian called me asking for that book, I had to return it. I fairly read that one but completing it would have been more fun. So, that books tells a story about 15 greatest computer scientists who, with their fundamental research gave a new dimension to the world of computers. Everyone of the mentioned scientist holds a Turing Award for their great contribution in the field of computer science. The book is exhilarating and engrosses a reader with small anecdotes of the life of these scientists. I was surprised to know that many of them earlier had a lot of different interests other than computers. Many of them came across computers at the time when they had done nothing promising in their lives, someone learned computers to earn money some of them just wanted to try out few things. Out of the one's that I read, Donald Knuth and Edsger Dijkstra were the most appealing chaps.

While returning this book, I took another one called Programmer's at Work which is a collection of interviews of some great programmer's of all times. The most common thread which they share is that all of them loved mathematics and had a great ability to simplify things at the deepest possible level. These guys tell us some of the TODO's which they followed before writing any program. I am currently reading this book and enjoying it very much. Seems like there are a lot of things that I don't do which these great people were practicing since the start of their career !!!

Concepts-2008

Yesterday I went to PICT ( Pune Institute of Computer Technology ) to see their national level technical event called Concepts-2008. I have always loved such events, the reason is I really enjoy watching people materializing some really cool ideas into reality. More importantly it gives a well set platform to students who wish to contribute to the diverse and dynamic world of technical advancements. Unfortunately our educational system differentiates students depending on their grades / marks in a particular examination and not on their understanding. I am not against it, in fact I agree that this is the fairest way to measure one's academical abilities. But, we must think that there lies a huge real world which needs problem solvers and not bookworms who are practically of no use. Such event are the places where we can find these independent thinker and problem solvers.

Concepts has always been a great place to present your project in front of large cognizant audience. The people who have expertise in a particular area come to judge your projects, sometimes you are praised sometimes completely trashed. But that's not important. What is important is you get a place where you can show that look, this is what I can do. I may not have good marks, but hey, I am good at this. I may not be amongst the smartest in the class, but I have proved myself that I am amongst the best in certain domain. Some startups deliberately sponsor and judge such events in order to find the hidden potential amongst the students and call them for interviews if they feel the candidate is apt for it. I believe, it's the best way to catch the young talent.

PICT has got a good tradition of taking initiative in such events, they deserve all praise. They also have got a good alumni network which really cares for their juniors and nourish the talent. Unfortunately this does not happen in all colleges, some of them are still stuck in the old theories emphasizing more on attendance and jeopardizing one's career for the sake of it. I pray, one day these colleges will understand what's really important and learn from their mistakes.

I should have attended Concepts for all three days but could not do so. Last day is so short to see all good projects. Good job PICT, keep it up !!!

Murud-Anjarle-PratapGad Trip

So, looks like I am traveling a lot these days. After Pabe's nice trip, I went to Konkan with my project mates. It was supposed to be a small trip sponsored by our client, but my team size is so big that we decided to share the expenses together and add few people from different groups of our project. We planned to have a one night stay in Murud and were back to Pune on Sunday evening. Since there was no girl in our group, staying was not a problem. We moved early in the morning at around 6 o'clock. It happened that at one place we stopped by to wait for some time, and a van passed by. I didn't notice it as I was busy taking snaps but other guys said that there were pretty girls sitting in that van and they too were heading towards Konkan!

Hooha !!!! Suddenly some of our project mates got a mission to accomplish. We started chasing the van with all our strengths and fuels, but we couldn't since some of our gentlemen were busy vomiting.... :-( I hate this but one can't stop the nature's call and after all they were my project partners and so I stood by them. After a long relentless pursuit, we managed to find that van but unfortunately learned that those girls were going towards other place... There came a glitch in everyone's plan... alas.


But everyone forgot whatever happened as we moved into the coastal areas of Konkan. It's an amazing place. One can never find the serenity that lies in listening to the sea and wind if one lives in a crowded city. We stayed in a local house in Murud and had lunch in a beach resort. There is this place called as "Kadyawarcha Ganapati" in Anjarle, a small beach in Konkan. The way to Anjarle is full of turns and twists and there are some great spots to stop by. We visited an old but nicely maintained Ganapati Mandir and while our way back, stopped near a Sunset point. That point was far above from the sea shore and we could see small houses of a village called Harne. We didn't mean to see the sunset, but what we saw that day was simply wonderful. I have never seen the GREATNESS of sea before. That was hot and scorching sun but we were truly mesmerized by the beauty. There was this blue sea all over and some of its portion was literally illuminated by the sun rays.


We had a lot of fun on the beach that evening, swam near the shore till we get really tired, enjoyed a lovely sunset and came back to where we stayed.

Next day, we headed towards Pratap Gad, I haven't seen it before. Pratap Gad is situated in one of the highest ranges of Sahyadri. These days we have vehicles and roads but in early times one has to cross the deadly Javaliche Khore to reach Pratap Gad, some of the trekkers still prefer that way though. We visited the fort itself and Bhawani Mata Mandir where Shivaji Maharaj was bestowed by the Bhawani Mata with a sword. The Gad was quite well managed and they have preserved lots of things which still today showcase the legacy of The Hindavi Swarajya and its Shiledar. After remembering the great Shivaji Maharaj near his statue we went to have lunch and then on a way back to Pune.

One the way back home, all of us have shared a common bond. One of our team mates, Harish, doesn't understand Marathi but Vivek was prompt enough to translate every detail that the guide told us about Pratap Gad. We had a nice chat that was far better and real than the one which we do everyday. We definitely shared a great moment.

Aniket, Kedar, Harish, Vivek, Mayuresh, Samir, Nikhil, Urjit,Tushar, Milind thanks a lot for spending your time with me. Let's hope for yet another trip in future...