My current job sometimes entails reviewing other Java programmers' work and providing solutions for "better" ways to implement something. Sometimes I find outright bugs, but usually my recommendations are for more efficient approaches.
How do we determine one approach is better than another objectively? Profile!
Run the application's functional and/or unit tests through the code path in question with a profiler. Check for object allocations, time spent in methods, lock contention, and the like. Decent profiling tools provide this functionality, but the best ones I've used provide better visibility into these areas and aren't free.
If your approach can't be shown to exceed the original objectively, don't hesitate to throw it away. On the other hand, don't throw away an approach you believe should be better because the first implementation doesn't blow the doors off the original.
When afforded the time, spend some time looking through profiler results searching for the obvious inefficiencies. Balance the desire to wring every last byte, microsecond, bytecode instruction, etc. out of an approach with source code maintainability and the value of your time on other tasks. Spending a week working exclusively on a 5% improvement is the exception, not the rule.
Objectivity has one added benefit during code reviews as well, particularly for "outsiders" looking at a team's code. Objectivity helps defuse the nasty politics and ego bruising that sometimes (usually?) accompany code reviews. Code reviews have always been a learning experience for me and should be for everyone. Taking pride in one's work is one thing, but taking a review of one's work personally is quite another. How many times have we reviewed our own code days, months, years later only to say "What was I thinking?" A review from a colleague should be no different and offers a chance to fix mistakes before they become costly issues.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The Unfortunate Four
Inhabiting the earth are four unfortunate souls whose only requirement for inclusion in this set is having the distinct displeasure of working for me. Each did nothing more than accept a job at one of my former employers to be assigned to my team.
They are "The Unfortunate Four."
I embarked on my foray into management with open eyes. Eight upper-division classes in school was all that separated me from a Management degree. I did reasonably well in the required Principles course and had grown up listening to my dad and grandfather talk about aspects of managing people. To say I knew nothing of management was not true. To say I was ill-prepared to try was also untrue. To say I was any good at it was equally false.
Sure, I fulfilled all the objectives--turned in necessary paperwork, conducted performance reviews, approved vacation requests, met with team members, divided up work, etc.--but that was about all I did. There was no drive to assist team members along their chosen career paths. There was no fostering of team cohesion or unity. There was no management.
Why not? Instead of answering the age-old question of "what makes a good/bad/indifferent manager?", I will simply respond with what I believe got in my way.
In every fiber of my being, I am an individual contributor.
My contribution may be directly applicable to the task at hand or it may be assisting others to their own successes. Either way, managing people isn't where I can make my biggest contribution.
Fortunately, the prevailing corporate approach requiring employees to transition from contributor to manager as a required part of career progression seems to be waning. More experienced contributors who desire to remain contributors can be a huge benefit to a team, division, company. The experience levels contribute directly to the company's bottom line--reduced errors, faster recovery from issues, greater agility in responding to customer requirements. Losing that experience with requiring "up-or-out" and transitioning to management costs companies every day.
Did "The Unfortunate Four" and, as a result, the company benefit from my experience as a contributor with the title of manager? Probably. Am I thankful I found out something about myself through my trip to management? Definitely.
They are "The Unfortunate Four."
I embarked on my foray into management with open eyes. Eight upper-division classes in school was all that separated me from a Management degree. I did reasonably well in the required Principles course and had grown up listening to my dad and grandfather talk about aspects of managing people. To say I knew nothing of management was not true. To say I was ill-prepared to try was also untrue. To say I was any good at it was equally false.
Sure, I fulfilled all the objectives--turned in necessary paperwork, conducted performance reviews, approved vacation requests, met with team members, divided up work, etc.--but that was about all I did. There was no drive to assist team members along their chosen career paths. There was no fostering of team cohesion or unity. There was no management.
Why not? Instead of answering the age-old question of "what makes a good/bad/indifferent manager?", I will simply respond with what I believe got in my way.
In every fiber of my being, I am an individual contributor.
My contribution may be directly applicable to the task at hand or it may be assisting others to their own successes. Either way, managing people isn't where I can make my biggest contribution.
Fortunately, the prevailing corporate approach requiring employees to transition from contributor to manager as a required part of career progression seems to be waning. More experienced contributors who desire to remain contributors can be a huge benefit to a team, division, company. The experience levels contribute directly to the company's bottom line--reduced errors, faster recovery from issues, greater agility in responding to customer requirements. Losing that experience with requiring "up-or-out" and transitioning to management costs companies every day.
Did "The Unfortunate Four" and, as a result, the company benefit from my experience as a contributor with the title of manager? Probably. Am I thankful I found out something about myself through my trip to management? Definitely.
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