Being a developer/programmer is not an easy task. Frustrations are bound to happen in this course of work. A certain degree of frustration is inevitable, and you will have to deal with it. Developing software is generally a challenging, time-consuming, and complex journey. Let’s look at some of the most frustrating issues that developers encounter.
1. The Change in Requirements
You are not the first one to be in this situation. Inevitably, you will be halfway through implementing a new feature when you receive an update from the customer that the requirements have changed. As a result, you may need to rewrite or redo parts of your code.
Requirements can change unexpectedly for many reasons, such as miscommunication, external pressure, organizational changes, and legal and regulatory changes.
Whatever the reason for these changes, it remains one of the most frustrating issues for developers.
2. Debugging
Every developer knows that no matter how well a piece of code is written, it will almost certainly contain bugs. Trying to find critical bugs is a time-consuming process that requires immense patience.
Take a break if you are getting frustrated! Honestly, you might find the solution if you stop trying to fix it.
3. Pointless Meetings
Everybody knows the types of meetings that could have been handled via email. Generally, meetings are one of the primary causes of productivity loss. It’s common for developers to attend a lot of meetings.
The thing with meetings is that most meetings are scheduled for an hour by default, even if the agenda could be handled in less than half an hour. Furthermore, we can decline many meetings. It might be a good idea to say no to meetings before noon so that you can work productively in the morning. Even if you have to attend a meeting, try to avoid long ones.
4. None of the Solutions Working
Working on a complex problem and trying to find the best solution can be challenging. Most inexperienced developers will relate to this.
You have a few ideas to fix the problem in your head. Your fingers start tapping the keys as you implement your solution. The first solution doesn’t work.
Now let’s look at the second solution. Eventually, you modify some lines of code to get it to work. It didn’t work either.
Since you have no other options to solve this problem, you become frustrated. Developers have all reached this point at some point. Initially, you stare at the screen, hoping that a solution will pop up quickly.
Additionally, a tight deadline can make this even more frustrating.
5. Cross-Browser Issues
Any front-end developer can relate to this frustration. You completed a feature you were developing. After testing the user story, the tester concludes that the feature does not work on their browser.
Unfortunately, it appears that your solution only works in some of the browsers that you are supposed to support. When it comes to supporting Internet Explorer, this is particularly frustrating. In other words, it is the browser whose only purpose is to download a real browser.
Some of the newer features may not work in all browsers. Therefore, you must rewrite the solution to ensure that all browsers are supported.
6. Rabbit Hole
How does it feel? When you try to solve a problem by writing a lot of code and encounter this error. So, you start searching for information on how to solve the problem. You found one solution, but it is not promising enough. Hence, you search for other answers until you find one that is optimal for your problem.
Suddenly, you are left wondering what the problem was you were initially trying to solve or why you went down this road in the first place.
In the blink of an eye, you fall into a rabbit hole.
7. Explaining Technical Terms to Non-Technical People
It is the most familiar frustration developers face in their daily life. Almost everyone knows that developers often speak a language the rest of the world cannot understand. Honestly, most of the time, you can’t even see what they’re saying.
Most of the time, explaining tech terms to non-tech people is like telling your grandparents about the latest tech developments.
8. Missing Documentation
Every new developer who is new to a team or project probably hates the word missing documentation. It’s hard to work on a project without prior knowledge. Even running the project on your local computer may be difficult.
At the very least, you ought to have some documentation explaining how to get a project running on your local machine and explaining some of its key features. The best way to get a good perspective on a project is to have extensive documentation.
Keep your project documentation up-to-date. Because outdated and inaccurate documentation is more harmful than missing documentation.
9. Unclear Requirements
Another frustrating point for most developers is when they hit a wall with unclear requirements. For instance, following a sprint planning meeting, every user story appears crystal clear to you and your teammates. Misinterpretation was impossible.
You begin by choosing the most important user story and reading the description. After that, you reread it. One of the acceptance criteria is vague. There are several ways to interpret it. As soon as you see this, you ask yourself: how did we not notice this during refinement and sprint planning?
It’s no longer productive to work on a user story — you have to speak with the product owner every time to make sure you’re building something that matches the customer’s expectations — which is a difficult and time-consuming process.
10. Most People Do Not Understand What We Do
I believe we can all agree this is the most frustrating one! As a developer, our job is the most understood in the world. Even though we can develop websites and mobile apps, people will still come up to us and ask us to hack into Facebook to spy on their girlfriends. No, Kevin, we don’t do that here. Also, I can’t fix your WiFi problems too.
Thanks for reading this article. If you relate to the frustrations mentioned on this list, feel free to let me know in the comments.
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