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Discussion on: Good Programmer vs Average Programmer - and, Why Asking questions and Paying attention to Details matters.

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owneriekno1 profile image
Nick Tzavidas • Edited

Hello, I would like to add some thoughts to the CRON question.
First and foremost, I would try to make sure that we are talking about files on the filesystem (because for instance, they could refer to a database related file indexing or something like that).
As soon as I got the answer, I would try to clarify what "to archive" means. Does it mean moving the files to a separate directory? Maybe it means to change the file's name?
As soon as I am confident that I have all the details, I would outline how I would implement this script (ie. I would say that we need to split this task into 2 smaller subtasks, one for creating the archiving script and one for creating the CRON script and for running it). As soon as the interviewer (or the person I report to) agreed about it, I would go ahead and build it.

Actually, I believe that if after this process the person in charge is not satisfied with my work, the issue actually is on their part, as we are software developers and not mind readers. We can not read the minds of other people to figure out what they want. Actually, it's their responsibility to convey to us all the requirements and the scope of the deliverables (ie. they could just outline the main task, which in our case is, at the start of the next month, to archive all the documents of the previous one. What do you think?

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javinpaul profile image
javinpaul

Hello Nick,
You have started well, that should be the process, and it's not about mind-reading, its about experience. Doctors are not minded readers but their job is to treat the patient and for that, they need to ask the right questions and validate them. Ultimately, we all are trying to create a positive experience here and giving what the client wants is the best for all. Another thing is a quick demo for clients.