Jimmy Miller

We took the backlog from like 60 items in the queue that had been there and I was able to get like 40 of them solved pretty quickly. I mean, it's why I got hired in six weeks from intern to junior developer. Turns out like all the stuff I had been doing in my spare time was actually real software. I just didn't realize it.

We took the backlog from like 60 items in the queue that had been there and I was able to get like 40 of them solved pretty quickly. I mean, it's why I got hired in six weeks from intern to junior developer. Turns out like all the stuff I had been doing in my spare time was actually real software. I just didn't realize it.

that's cool yeah he's the kind of kid who has got a backpack full of hard drives of course he was good at what he did you don't just accidentally end up with a backpack full of hard drives I really didn't and I think I'm sure like part of the reason I want to share this is not like to brag about myself it's like I because I grew up you know like none of my family had gone to college it was a very you know working class family like I had no concept

that's cool yeah he's the kind of kid who has got a backpack full of hard drives of course he was good at what he did you don't just accidentally end up with a backpack full of hard drives I really didn't and I think I'm sure like part of the reason I want to share this is not like to brag about myself it's like I because I grew up you know like none of my family had gone to college it was a very you know working class family like I had no concept

that this was something. I read a bunch of tech articles. I'd seen all of this stuff. And I knew some people out in California did this. But as a kid growing up in a small town in Indiana, I just thought what I was doing couldn't possibly be the real thing. And so I was two years out of school. I'd never once considered programming as a job, because I just didn't think I was good enough to do it.

that this was something. I read a bunch of tech articles. I'd seen all of this stuff. And I knew some people out in California did this. But as a kid growing up in a small town in Indiana, I just thought what I was doing couldn't possibly be the real thing. And so I was two years out of school. I'd never once considered programming as a job, because I just didn't think I was good enough to do it.

Exactly. Right. And I've realized like, ah, you know, my worst code is, you know, I write bad code. I wrote tons of bad code at that company. Zero question. I mean, they had to scrap a whole project that I did. Like I made all sorts of mistakes, but like you can not be perfect. And yet. contribute quite a bit.

Exactly. Right. And I've realized like, ah, you know, my worst code is, you know, I write bad code. I wrote tons of bad code at that company. Zero question. I mean, they had to scrap a whole project that I did. Like I made all sorts of mistakes, but like you can not be perfect. And yet. contribute quite a bit.

And these people, yeah, they created value for the company despite this code being awful.

And these people, yeah, they created value for the company despite this code being awful.

No. Yeah. So this is there was a calendar table, which was literally a hand filled in calendar that my understanding at best was that when contractors logged in versus when employees logged in, there were certain days that employees were allowed to log in. But contractors like on weekends and holidays could not log in. It was supposed to be completely forbidden.

No. Yeah. So this is there was a calendar table, which was literally a hand filled in calendar that my understanding at best was that when contractors logged in versus when employees logged in, there were certain days that employees were allowed to log in. But contractors like on weekends and holidays could not log in. It was supposed to be completely forbidden.

And this was the system that was doing it. And so one time, like they filled it in for a few years and it actually ran out. And they had to scramble to figure out how to log in and then just had an intern fill in another five years. Had no idea which, there were so many services, so many programs running in the background, so many cron jobs. They had no idea which one had been locking people out.

And this was the system that was doing it. And so one time, like they filled it in for a few years and it actually ran out. And they had to scramble to figure out how to log in and then just had an intern fill in another five years. Had no idea which, there were so many services, so many programs running in the background, so many cron jobs. They had no idea which one had been locking people out.

I love it.

I love it.

Exactly. I also had a task that I don't mention in the article where there was this like 5,000 line Pascal program. that had been apparently like very mission critical for the last eight years. And all of a sudden had started failing and they had no idea why. And I was told to rewrite it in C sharp because they didn't want to support Pascal anymore. I looked at this thing.

Exactly. I also had a task that I don't mention in the article where there was this like 5,000 line Pascal program. that had been apparently like very mission critical for the last eight years. And all of a sudden had started failing and they had no idea why. And I was told to rewrite it in C sharp because they didn't want to support Pascal anymore. I looked at this thing.

It was just, it was only 5,000 lines because it was copied and pasted. Like they unrolled a loop by just like copying and pasting code over and over again. So my end code was like 200 lines and I get it. I make sure that like everything I'm seeing is like identical. I was like really thorough to make sure I got the program right because apparently it was really critical.

It was just, it was only 5,000 lines because it was copied and pasted. Like they unrolled a loop by just like copying and pasting code over and over again. So my end code was like 200 lines and I get it. I make sure that like everything I'm seeing is like identical. I was like really thorough to make sure I got the program right because apparently it was really critical.