• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

10 types of programmers you?ll encounter in the field

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Originally posted by: HammerCurl
Anyone else willing to admit to being Mediocre Man 😕
Click to expand...

When forced to stay on one project for an extended length of time (usually 12+ months) or when off a project and working on more "administrative" tasks such as documenting functionality and preparing an environment for testing the paratrooper will often temporarily take on characteristics of Mediocre Man. The same is true, though to a lesser extent, of the Ninja (who may instead simply pitch in on projects to which he is not assigned while completing the trivial tasks as well) and the Cowboy (who is more likely to go rogue, ignore the boring tasks, and actively seek chaos).

ZV
 
Originally posted by: Deeko
Won't lie...minus the spaghetti code part, I'm pretty much a code cowboy.
Click to expand...

That's really the defining characteristic of such a person. Code written in such a manner is always of a low quality, or else the person isn't a code cowboy. Other similar terms might be, "he's a hacker" (not in the l33t sense either; more like, "he's a hack") or "keyboard cowboy." The code of a cowboy is very obvious to others, but it's troubling because most cowboys don't actually know (or care) they're creating a mess.

At any rate, if you're a professional and someone calls you a cowboy it's not a compliment.
 
Yea, I only just started working 5 months ago, and in school, I definitely went for speed over quality. Not so much poorly written, garbled code, as code that isn't really thoroughly error-checked. In most classes, if you got it done and it was generally working, that was good enough...in fact I had a course where a 50% was good for an A. So it really can't be compared to the real world (especially my current job, where an unknown bug can lead to..oh I dunno, deah)
 
Originally posted by: Descartes
Originally posted by: Deeko
Won't lie...minus the spaghetti code part, I'm pretty much a code cowboy.
Click to expand...

That's really the defining characteristic of such a person. Code written in such a manner is always of a low quality, or else the person isn't a code cowboy. Other similar terms might be, "he's a hacker" (not in the l33t sense either; more like, "he's a hack") or "keyboard cowboy." The code of a cowboy is very obvious to others, but it's troubling because most cowboys don't actually know (or care) they're creating a mess.

At any rate, if you're a professional and someone calls you a cowboy it's not a compliment.
Click to expand...

True. Though, with the right management, it's possible to develop a cowboy into a useful paratrooper. I have a hypothesis that a decent percentage of cowboys are actually paratrooper types who have been frustrated by a lack of variety and stopped caring. The paratrooper can be an unstable type when confronted with monotony in my experience.

ZV
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top