8 little things developers hate!

Many of us have bad experiences that we're sure we'll face again and again. Some of these challenges give us a feeling of immense joy once the frustration is over, and even a certain nostalgia with time... then, one day, unexpectedly, there it is again...! So we've listed a selection of the worst things that can ruin a developer's day.

1. Deploying on Fridays

Every developer knows that Friday releases are the worst thing you can do. Only those who have experienced it know how troublesome it is. And yet, we still find ourselves saying "It's just a small change...". The rest is history, it doesn't always go as planned.

• Neglected tests: a release with constrained deadlines often means sloppy tests or no tests at all. The risks of bugs or regressions are therefore high.
• Poorly planned production: when acting under pressure, no one is at full capacity. Even though we are alert, our brain will contort itself to reach its goal: avoid exceeding the planned time, even if it means forgetting a few steps along the way.
• Unavailability: by taking the risk of going into production on a Friday, or the day before a holiday, the team will be unavailable the following days to intervene in case of problems. However, we all know that there is no such thing as zero risk during a release.

2. LinkedIn recruiters

The good ones understand what you do, the exceptional ones are the ones who have taken the time to look at your profile. It's nice to feel wanted, but most IT recruiters are in a "speed and quantity" mindset. Effective recruiting requires real knowledge of the field and the position in question, which can be complex and therefore goes against the "speed & quantity" mindset.

It's like offering a plumber an electrician position because he works in construction.

3. Impostor Syndrome

Approximately 60% of developers surveyed by TeamBlind say they suffer from Imposter Syndrome. What is impostor syndrome in a nutshell? A feeling of illegitimacy with a hint of fear of disappointment. The IT world is immeasurable, it is strictly impossible to know everything. Faced with this immensity and with the fear of the unknown, the feeling of not being up to the task sets in. However, we must not forget that all the knowledge we have acquired over time until today are those that certainly seemed unattainable yesterday.

4. "It doesn't work on Internet Explorer"

If it were up to us, we'd lock IE in a double-turned coffin, headed for the Marianas Trench.

According to Chris Jackson, head of cybersecurity at Microsoft, IE is no longer a browser, but a transitional solution, which no longer supports the new Web standards, despite the fact that many websites work correctly on this browser.

To think that at the dawn of the Internet it was by far the most used browser: 90% of default browsers in 2000, against 5% in 2020 (added to the use of Microsoft Edge).

Update on 07/15/2022: IE is officially dead.

5. The sudden crash of the machine

It is obviously during the development of a big feature, which has not yet been pushed, that the crash occurs. After having tested all the key combinations of the keyboard, followed by long minutes hoping for a resurrection, the beast, in agony, asks to be restarted brutally and forcibly (if it hasn't already done so itself). The wait is unbearable until you realize that no, your work has not been swallowed up by this surprise breakdown.

The 42 school, in order to teach its students the importance of regular backups, has set up a process linked to a countdown timer, which once the time is up, crashes the machine of a random student. A very compelling solution through experiential learning.

6. The legacy code

Topception, here is the worst of the legacy code:

• if(true),
• the indentation less,
• html in the db,
• the console that swells with every click,
• no comments,
• @functionName() ( ... in legacy code!).

7. The missing character

SyntaxError: missing ; before statement".

A brace ? A bracket ? A parenthesis? It's like looking for a comma in a haystack. In this case, it is better to choose the theme and extensions of your IDE carefully.

8. The mistake too small to be seen

After far too much time searching in vain, using the tools the internet has to offer, scouring all the topics of Stackoverflow; after sacrificing a keyboard on a pentacle, praying to the Gods of code, signing a pact with Linus Torvalds, you still haven't found the error. Yet, you even visited the second page of Google results, to say what little hope remains, when suddenly you realize the shameful obvious:

• "AH! There was just one 'S' missing from a variable"
• "AH! I was out of Docker"
• "AH! I didn't run the build"
• "AH! I didn't clear my cache"

Three types of errors exist: syntax error, execution error, and logic error. The reality is that no error is intelligent, everyone makes the same stupid mistakes.

These are the 8 that we have listed, but the list could be much longer! Every developer will have to face these inconveniences at one time or another. Fortunately, on the other hand, the advantages of being a developer are countless!