Last Friday, @david_j_eddy dropped a fun discussion topic here on DEV:
Lots of folks piled on the comments, shortening their jobs to just the essentials. In case you missed it, here are a handful of descriptions that I found particularly on point...
For those that code with an eye on requirements.
Looking at the requirements of a project, then looking at the code, then... (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
In all seriousness though its taking requirements and implementing them. Sometimes its in very old bad code, some ok code, and sometimes some really good code. The hard part is understanding the big picture when there are thousands of tables, separate systems that need to talk to each other and with almost none of it documented.
For those that refactor old code.
Honestly 90 % of my job is refactoring legacy code to the point in which it is usable & wondering if my client will pay me for it.
... in other words:
"fixing the prev. persons leftovers"
Haha! Well, at least there's work to be done! 😅
For those that manage and code.
Knowing and telling everyone what everyone else is doing.
Okay, I do a lot of translating between coder-speak and human too, and help everyone with everything, both coding-related and other stuff. Keeps everyone happy if they only have to concentrate on their own job. And happy means efficient.
Making things work, be it code, managing people, new hires, hardware issues and so on. There's no dull day from that point of view, there's always a 'fire' to extinguish somewhere.
For those that avoid meetings.
Avoiding meetings.
For those that fiddle.
Fiddling...
I’m always fiddling with something. Code, design, copy, whatever. I’m a fiddler.
For the many sad folks that double as their org's IT Department.
"How do I print?"
uuuhhhggggg, not again!?
I get called about the copier pretty frequently too, though mostly by the same person -- and usually when convenience is low.
I know that feel bro 👊
Sorry peeps! 😔
For those lucky enough to write mostly just code.
Luckily: Writing
Mostly code.
Well, looks like there's quite a bit of overlap in our jobs... just know, you're not alone.
So, I pose a new slant on this same question: What's the other 10% of your job? What are some of the oddball things you do throughout the day? And how does that 10% stack up against the 90% part... more fun, less fun? Well, hopefully it's more fun than helping somebody print something! 😄
p.s. @vaidehijoshi is the bomb. (this is a test)
Top comments (13)
Being the owner's go-to "Computer Guy", because the other "tech-inclined" person in the office is on the other side of the warehouse from him.
Latest request was "The printer's printing two sided" so I went in and unchecked "Print 2 Sided" in the print dialog.
I'm part-time DJ for my office folks 😎
In the meantime:- office folk 😼
Haha, I feel that.
Now that I'm WFH, I'm full-time DJ for my cats at home. 😸
Lol funny that my comment was highlighted. Thankfully, dealing with that copier is probably less than 10% of my day now (finally).
Honestly though, I was ecstatic when we got it. I hate network printers, but this one was both easy to set up and use, and it prints so much faster than anything else we've had in the office. Even I actually liked printing with it.
Now the frequently-printing coworkers just need to learn to open the printer status view and clear their own paper jams.
Haha phew! Well that's a relief. 😅
I just inherited an old printer from a relative for my house (WFH now) and I'm so not looking forward to replacing ink. But, for the time being, it's full up and printing wonders... just please don't break on me. 🤞🤞
I say this coming from having to help with the various desk printers around the office -- ink, slow response times, lost connections (on the computer's end, not the printer's) etc.
In short, trying to make things better. Whether it is code, learning, or a new process flow. For instance one of the big things earlier this year was integrating Symfony into our stack. We really needed some structure to our code base and Symfony was the perfect choice for our use case.
Wow yeah, definitely important to save time for reflecting on things & looking for improvements. Just making it through the day isn't enough... taking the time to review your tools and processes is super important for improving efficiency and thinking about product direction/big picture. 😃
I said fiddling for the 90%...
Which takes up a lot of my time.
The other part of my time, and perhaps much more than 10% is reading. Not the code itself, but ideas. Reading articles, comments, etc.
I actually feel like the immersion learning that is being part of the global dev community (and DEV Community, big dev 😄) is really pretty core to my day-to-day.
The other 10% of my job is writing code.
The other is a mix of office politics, dealing with people, meetings, reading code, and googling.
The other 10% is the useful part, i.e. real development :)