Re:9.5% of software engineers are ghosts
by cebert on Wednesday November 20, 2024 @10:23PM
(#42200794)
It is difficult to accurately evaluate software engineer productivity. I don’t question there are developers who get by doing absolutely nothing. However, only analyzing git commits doesn’t consider other aspects of software engineering such as producing design docs, code reviews, planning, support, etc. If you try to evaluate the performance of individuals just based on git commits alone, you risk making terrible decisions.
Re:9.5% of software engineers are ghosts
by blackeyeblitzar on Wednesday November 20, 2024 @10:29PM
(#42200816)
Yes but it’s not like those producing code don’t do those other things. You would expect typical commits to reflect the time lost to other typical activities right?
Re:9.5% of software engineers are ghosts
by cebert on Wednesday November 20, 2024 @10:32PM
(#42200838)
Maybe you’ve worked on better teams than I have. There are some folks who only care about their feature and getting their JIRA item across the board vs the quality of the product they are building and the overall health of the team. Some of these types may have more commits, but they’re not always great team players or great people to work with.
Metrics might suggest these engineers are the most valuable and productive, but in reality, they can be a significant drain on teams and projects. They don’t actively participate in code reviews, show little concern for performance and code quality, and rarely contribute to support efforts or keeping dependencies current. Their lack of collaboration and accountability makes them challenging teammates and ultimately hinders the team’s success. There’s more to being a good software engineer and teammate than the number of and size of commits.
Re:9.5% of software engineers are ghosts
by bearjaws on Wednesday November 20, 2024 @10:33PM
(#42200843)
This is inevitable when senior leadership has lost all touch with reality and no longer knows what reasonable expectations are or "what good looks like".
Re:9.5% of software engineers are ghosts
by blackeyeblitzar on Wednesday November 20, 2024 @10:24PM
(#42200801)
This doesn’t surprise me. The worse scores for remote work highlight the importance of good management and mindful measurement of productivity. Especially with some suspected of working multiple jobs as mentioned in here.
Re:9.5% of software engineers are ghosts
by sabelo on Thursday November 21, 2024 @01:00AM
(#42201539)
So many billions of dollars will be lost because of this, like scrum before it! Commits, without context, don't say much. Eager companies will try to follow this and just create a cobra effect.
Metrics might suggest these engineers are the most valuable and productive, but in reality, they can be a significant drain on teams and projects. They don’t actively participate in code reviews, show little concern for performance and code quality, and rarely contribute to support efforts or keeping dependencies current. Their lack of collaboration and accountability makes them challenging teammates and ultimately hinders the team’s success. There’s more to being a good software engineer and teammate than the number of and size of commits.
Sure commits are not a perfect metric but let's not pretend that it's completely opaque.