Ask HN: How often do you code the expected way instead of a better one?
4 points
6 hours ago
| 4 comments
| HN
Since the post title length is limited on Hacker News, I had to make it less specific. So the real question is this:

I am talking about situations where you just joined a company and treated as the lowest person in the food chain. Old devs act like they can do whatever they want, even when they committed the exact same thing or much worse just a month ago, but suddenly you are told not to do it this because "we dont do things like that here.” Finding common patterns in code doesnt help because actual standards live in their heads.

It feels like a clear double standard culture, where the rules depend more on time you spend in company or seniority, and internal politics than on actual engineering principles or consistency. As a newbie, you are expected to follow unwritten rules that nobody clearly explains, while old time devs are allowed to ignore them.

How do you handle this kind of environment without constantly getting frustrated?

Also I dont understand why some devs when just being slightly higher in hierarchy treat other people that bad when actually we all rot in office till end of our life from 9 to 5. Give some respect to your fellow!

There are almost never congrats when you did extra effort and spend some time do something exceptionaly good.

I do understand this is not how it works in all companies but anyway.

crionuke
3 hours ago
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At my company, Teams doesn't show job levels. Everyone just shows up as "Software Engineer". You only find out someone's real level if you work with them a lot.

I'm not sure if they did this on purpose, but I like it. People act less based on who is "above" or "below" them. They judge each other by their work, not by a title.

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loveparade
4 hours ago
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Senior people get away with it because they understand the impact of their changes since they are intimately familiar with all the systems. So they know that their crappy shortcut doesn't break anything.

A junior employee doesn't have that knowledge, so they are expected the follow rules to ensure that they don't inadvertently break something.

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maryamshafaqat
3 hours ago
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I think the key is to stay respectful but also ask for clarity. A lot of conflict comes from undocumented rules not bad intent even is it feels that way.
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pestatije
4 hours ago
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be grateful they give u a chance...on the flip side, younger generations just wont hire more experienced devs...thats ur double standards right there
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