Comments on: Dear Rookie Web Developer

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:03:43 +0000

Thank you very much. I have just starting out with some web design and developing and I have been asking for advice from every one I can find and all of them just say, “awh, just do it”. Thanks for spelling out some great advice.

By: JayMonster

JayMonster — Thu, 24 May 2007 20:55:14 +0000

OK, you got me.

By: John

John — Wed, 23 May 2007 05:01:19 +0000

I guess it depends on what one considers obvious. Here's a gem I came across recently:

/* Updated by [name removed to protect the guilty] May 14 2007 */ $sql .= " LIMIT 3"; // changed limit to 3

I mean, come on. :-)

By: JayMonster

JayMonster — Wed, 23 May 2007 01:24:48 +0000

I disagree with your complaint about comments. When I write code, I comment the same way I did when I would write an article for a Journal.

Some things may seem obvious to you (and sometimes admittedly it is), but when somebody has to pick it up later, it is better to have a comment there that I don’t really need, than to not have one that I do.

But on the other side, how about adding naming variables something useful. I may just hit somebody the next time I run across a “Dim X” or “i int;”

By: heSaid

heSaid — Tue, 22 May 2007 00:37:23 +0000

I have not yet found a simple way to explain these things to people… I think I will be linking to your blog just to send people to when I am trying to answer the questions that contains…

“The code works here, but not here…”

By: Norby

Norby — Sat, 19 May 2007 06:54:24 +0000

I was just explaining to somebody today that while I learned “how” to program, I do not possess the *discipline* to do actual “real” development (web or otherwise), which is why I only write for myself.

It is, put simply, “not my job”. I hope you never have to look at anything I’ve written. I find it painful enough to do myself :)

-/\/

By: Zonka

Zonka — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:49:14 +0000

Amen.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 18 May 2007 19:01:44 +0000

Nice, and right on the money.

By: DaveTheWave

DaveTheWave — Fri, 18 May 2007 18:03:11 +0000

I feel your pain, been there and done that. I’ve been saddled with a developer that is supposed to be my tech lead on our next project. I’m worried…

In the mean time, he is working on bug fixes for our mature, poorly designed and implemented client/server app. I will have to have a heart to heart with him on Monday for many of the issues you bring up above.