One time at work I was tasked with writing a python script to compare two data sources. Like, you give it two CSVs and a primary key, and it tells you what data is in one but not the other, or mismatched, and so on. This worked fine and was in git, so anyone can use it.
My boss then asks if I can “put it on a website so anyone can use it”.
This team has never done web development. Nothing for that is set up. Like, I could spin up a quick Django app or similar, but there’s a lot of stuff to do and potentially fuck up.
I said “that sounds like a lot of research and ongoing maintenance costs. I think it’d be better to just check out and run the script”
I had a boss who read an article about APIs and then came to me and ordered me to start using them. I said I would research it and he went away and never mentioned it again. This was in 2010.
No, he actually showed me the article later. It was remarkable because it never said what an API actually was, or even stated what the initials stood for. In my memory it seems like it was obviously written by AI, but it couldn’t have been 16 years ago (as far as I know).
One time at work I was tasked with writing a python script to compare two data sources. Like, you give it two CSVs and a primary key, and it tells you what data is in one but not the other, or mismatched, and so on. This worked fine and was in git, so anyone can use it.
My boss then asks if I can “put it on a website so anyone can use it”.
This team has never done web development. Nothing for that is set up. Like, I could spin up a quick Django app or similar, but there’s a lot of stuff to do and potentially fuck up.
I said “that sounds like a lot of research and ongoing maintenance costs. I think it’d be better to just check out and run the script”
Luckily for me he said “oh, okay”
Funnily enough this comic hasn’t been true for a long time because of ML.
Well it’s been a research team and a five years…
not hot dog
Good guy manager trusts the person he pays to know this stuff to know this stuff.
This is a good point. He’s not a bad guy. He’s just not very technical, and sometimes that’s frustrating.
I had a boss who read an article about APIs and then came to me and ordered me to start using them. I said I would research it and he went away and never mentioned it again. This was in 2010.
Pretty sure he read the famous Bezos email ordering everyone to implement and use APIs in Amazon
No, he actually showed me the article later. It was remarkable because it never said what an API actually was, or even stated what the initials stood for. In my memory it seems like it was obviously written by AI, but it couldn’t have been 16 years ago (as far as I know).
My past managers would have said “I don’t understand why it is so difficult, and I’m not open to learn”