Ask Slashdot: What Are the Hardest Things Programmers Have To Do? 473
itwbennett writes "Software development isn't a cakewalk of a job, but to hear programmers tell it (or at least those willing to grouse about their jobs on Quora and Ubuntu Forums), what makes programming hard has little to do with writing code. In fact, if the list compiled by ITworld's Phil Johnson has it right, the single hardest thing developers do is name things. Are you a software developer? What's the hardest part of your job?"
Amazing (Score:3, Informative)
following a changing spec list (Score:5, Informative)
The most annoying and maddening thing I've ever had to do was follow a changing spec list from a manager who thought it was some iterative process, instead of giving me an actual complete task description to work on.
Even though it was his nickel, it sucked the enjoyment out of that job.
Re:Estimation (Score:5, Informative)
Why not quadruple and add four instead? Oh, right, you learned this from an assembly programmer.
assembly programmers always shift, they don't multiply by powers of 2.
if memory serves...
Re:Estimation (Score:4, Informative)
shl ax,2
would be slightly faster and use less memory :)
Re:Maths (Score:0, Informative)
So what does commenting code have to do with maths (the comment you replied to)? Oh, I see. There were already a lot of comments when you posted, and you wanted yours toward the top. That's one way to do it I guess.