[ale] New website for H1B [Slightly OT]

[ChangingLINKS.com]

On Tuesday 27 May 2003 23:27, John Marasco wrote:
> Do you track the cost of doing business with inefficient code from "cheap
> programmers" while you identify those portions of the code you want
> "corrected" by the guru?
No. It has not been a problem.

>  Who identifies which portions of the code need
> "correcting"? 
I decide if the program works or does not work. To me, "correct" code is just 
code that works efficiently under stress. Great code: Less lines is better.
An example: ChangingLINKS.com was not coded well because I designed it wrong. 
We used to check the http status AND record it *each* time a user wanted to 
see a new link. One day, ChangingLINKS was featured on fark.com. It went down 
under the pressure of 2-5,000 simultaneous connections. I re-designed the 
site so that all of the "demanding" code was contained in a robot (Changebot) 
that I can turn off under pressure by commenting one line. (Further, I can 
code the robot to pace itself and not allow multiple instances of itself but 
it has not been necessary). Changebot works so well, I feel good just 
thinking about her. Extremely accurate. She even has a personality profile 
and has the graphic likeness of the human she replaced (as a tribute). Using 
a few rules, I was even able to make Changebot act somewhat "human" in her 
correspondence.
Now that ChangingLINKS is ultra light, and has the demanding code centralized, 
making it run better is a matter of upgrading the servers that run it.

> What is the cost of that process?  
Time.

>Does the "corrections"
> made by the guru change the training you've instituted for the users of
> your code, what is that cost?  
(N/A) Most of my code has a HTML front-end (even the client side stuff). I try 
to follow strict usability rules, and I ask users to execute a task while 
looking over their shoulder to see what mistakes they may make. I usually do 
all of the HTML - because I am extremely picky about it.

> How about repeat of QA, what is that costs? 
Has always been free. The offshore programmers work until the code works, and 
QA usually comes in the form of added features. My newest programmer bid $210 
on a project and offered 3 months QA free.

> Do you document the new business process, what is that cost?  
No.

>How about management of this process, what is that cost? 
N/A

> How informative are
> comments made by "cheap programmers", is there a cost associated with
> decoding comments by individuals that can't even get the code straight?

Comments are VERY clear and usually sit on one line. The code I get is usually 
"almost working." (Mistakes include not commenting programmer database 
connections and uncommenting users connection, variable names that I don't 
like -what is with the underscores people?- or other minor mistakes. I am not 
a real programmer (or very patient) and I am able to fix it quickly. "Cheap" 
programmers cost less time, money and emotional support - it does not mean 
that the quality of the code is cheap.

(One project was not commented, but the code was completely free - with the 
understanding that I would give a percentage of any money that came as a 
result of the use of the code - I long for that code to be commented because 
it is over my head and I want to make changes. My options are to actually 
read the code (instead of glancing) and comment it myself or pay someone $20 
to comment it by tacking it into another project).

> What is the cost of having a cheap programmer (who would reasonably be
> expected to work slower) do more work by "mandating comments" in the code?
Cheap programmers work faster (in my experience) because the expensive 
programmers "overthink" the coding process before starting. The comments are 
mandated after bid, so they end up being free - contrarily I usually "tip" or 
offer more pay for speed.

> What is the maintenance and feature addition cost of this patchwork code?
It has varied. Sometimes it is done as a "favor" if it is small. Other times 
features are grouped together and priced as a project.

> I'm [not?] certain you can run a business the way you've outlined.  It would 
> be
> interesting (at least to me) to see if the costs of running business like
> this really outweigh the benefits.  On it's face, it seems redundant,
> poorly planned and piecemeal but I'd like more information to consider the
> idea if you are finding success with it.
My comments were HYPOTHETICAL. I have never had to find a Guru programmer to 
fix code created by a battlion of cheap programmers. The redundancy does not 
exist. The real question is: "Can you run an organization using freelance 
programmers?" I believe the answer is "yes."
Support for that position can be found throughout the Linux 'culture. '

> Wouldn't distributed processing systems constitute "tough code"?  
Not sure, but _I_ have recently designed a program that is similar to 
distributed processing. Assuming I can write to files using php on most 
servers, the code will be easy.

> Where you
> have to design a system to utilize the processing power of multiple
> machines through multiple code layers (user, business, data, etc...) to
> achieve a scaleable, flexible and least cost solution?

I have found this to be the most painful part (and if done right, the most 
expensive). It seems that when users are involved, the code must evolve.

> Where the hardware
> costs are actually a significant portion of the budget and require careful
> management.

My program is going to work kindof like "peer to peer" on various computer 
systems. I welcome the challenge of getting code that will work well across 
many platforms. When the project is "online" I can point you to it so that 
you can follow it's growth progress.

> Isn't this type of coding ubiquitous to many industries in our
> increasingly information services oriented marketplace?
> -John

I think so. I also believe that many companies "get it wrong" I have seen 
systems that are not scalable and as a result crash. I can provide an example 
(off line) of a company that is making the same mistakes now. (I have decided 
that they are competition - and I am going to offer all of their services, 
with added features - free - to save them from the strain of having to 
support their service at volume :) ).

Drew

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