Overcoming Bad Tools and Frustrating Processes

How do I get my work done if my company uses bad processes that are frustrating? What do I do if I'm forced to use tools that aren't good? These are the questions we will answer in today's episode of Dev Questions.
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[@kewqie]

Been forced to do my work via a remote VM with an old 2core server CPU and 8GB DDR3 RAM, took 10s to open a browser, that if the whole system didn't just freeze. Can imagine how VS performed and speed of development in general. This is one of the top 10 banks in the world, no amount of pressure and whining convinced them to change.

[@lilcaesarman]

With your environment being that slow, it's inadvertently teaching how to milk the clock :/

[@IAmTimCorey]

Yep, sometimes companies are like that and the biggest ones are often the worst.

[@MateuszSalach]

This was really insightful; I hadn’t considered it from this perspective before. To be honest, it reminds me of the Software Craftsmanship approach to coding, where you, as a specialist in the field, can guide clients toward better choices. I truly appreciate this episode!

[@IAmTimCorey]

I'm glad you found it valuable.

[@bogella2225]

The most frustrating thing is being promised new tooling/ processes by a date and those never coming.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Yeah, that is frustrating.

[@shinyshark2247]

With the right mindset, management can turn any good tool or process into a bad one!

[@IAmTimCorey]

😂

[@GabeHandle]

There are times when I get grouchy about my company's software, processes and/or decisions and I start wondering how green the grass is on the other side. But at the end of the day it's a great company outside of the software aspect of it and the perks outweigh negatives. Not worth crying over the things you can't control.

[@IAmTimCorey]

That’s a good way to look at it. Another company might have better tools but a worse culture.

[@khanfaizan05]

In my current company.. i am super frustrated with the bad process, bad decision and bad tooling.. it affects me and made me feel like i am lost and demovitavated.. But finally i resigned and quit the organisation. Got new offer now. Finally free and feeling already relaxed... I totally agree with you.. can you add some tips or suggestions for my new role as senior net developer to stay motivated

[@IAmTimCorey]

Here's a video on maintaining your motivation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnbZoq2MnZWEpq8si=SIORbHBKfuU_dtAq

[@andywalter7426]

The strange experience I had was before I got into programming, I always assumed the tools I was given was always the best. After getting into programming and building my tools, I now realize most tools I was given was really poor and now I am even unable to use the really bad tools. For the notepad example, if i was in that situation, I would probably get fired because if I make too many mistakes because of the tools, unfortunately I still get fired. My past jobs was in data entry. Programming allows to automate most of the data entry stuff.

[@IAmTimCorey]

A developer needs to be able to work with what they have. For instance, I spent six years working as a consultant during my early career. In that time, I stopped counting at 24 different languages that I developed in for companies. I almost never had the "ideal" tools. I worked with what I had. If you can only work with the "best" tools, you are at a sever disadvantage as a developer. Yes, you should absolutely try to use the tools that will make you the most efficient, but if you are so dependent on the tools that you fall apart without them, you are going to have problems.

[@jonathansaindon788]

Visual Studio has many great qualities. Speed is not one of them.

[@IAmTimCorey]

lol true. But it makes you faster.

[@pedrobettt]

Are proofs of concept worth doing for this kind of improvement, in your opinion? Should I put in the work to show something works empirically, or is it better to just try to convince people by being persuasive?

[@IAmTimCorey]

A proof of concept can be helpful in some situations, yes. If you can show that doing it another way will be faster or better, that visual can help you convince your boss. Just be careful that your proof of concept is realistic. Otherwise, you might set expectations too high and burn yourself.

[@christopherhuff6862]

Success despite negative circumstances! Amen to that!!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

👍🏻

[@timyoung6495]

This is gold! Thank you!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You're very welcome!

[@vincentotieno9197]

Cool stuff...

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks!

[@golosbezdoka]

This is a great content (as usual). But the music is too loud compared to Tim's voice. You adjust the loudness for the voice and boom, the intro music kicks in! 😂

[@daniveus.]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll work on fine-tuning that! :)

[@mistercoder1583]

i work with JS, so yes, im forced daily to work with a bad tool :)

[@IAmTimCorey]

😂

[@istalexnik]

Not sure who deleted my question in the previous video but I will qsk again. Tim, do you recommend to learn identity and entity frameworks or going by plain ado net and custom authorization. I am very good at sql

[@IAmTimCorey]

I don’t recommend building your own authentication. It is easy enough to get working but incredibly difficult to get fully correct and safe.

[@istalexnik]

@@IAmTimCorey Thank you