54

My code review nightmare part 3

Performed a review on/against a workplace 'nemesis'. I didn't follow the department standards document (cause I could care less about spacing, sorted usings, etc) and identified over 80 bugs, logic errors, n+1 patterns, memory leaks (yes, even in .net devs can cause em'), and general bad behavior (ex.'eating' exceptions that should be handled or at least logged)

Because 'Jeff' was considered a golden child (that's another long TL;DR), his boss and others took a major offense and demanded I justify my review, item by item.

About 2 hours into the meeting, our department mgr realized embarrassing Jeff any further wasn't doing anyone any good and decided to take matters into his own hands. Thinking 'well, its about time he did his job', I go back to my desk. About an hour later..
Mgr: "I need you in the conference room, RIGHT NOW!"
<oh crap>
Mgr: "I spoke to Jeff and I think I know what the problem is. Did you ever train him on any of the problems you identified in the review?"
Me: "Um, no. Why would I?"
Mgr: "Ha!..I was right. So lets agree the problems are partially your fault, OK?"
Me: "Finding the bugs in his code is somehow my fault?"
Mgr: "Yes! For example, the n+1 problem in using the WCF service, you never trained him on how to use the service. You wrote the service, correct?"
Me: "Yes, but it's not my job to teach him how to write C#. I documented the process and have examples in the document to avoid n+1. All he had to do was copy/paste."
Mgr: "But you never sat with Jeff and talked to him like a human being? You sit over there in your silo and are oblivious to the problems you cause. This ends today!"
Me: "What the...I have no idea what you are talking about. What in the world did Jeff tell you?"
Mgr: "He told me enough and I'm putting an end to it. I want a compressive training class developed on how to use your service. I'll give you a month to get your act together and properly train these developers."

3 days later, I submit the power-point presentation and accompanying docs. It was only one WCF with a handful of methods. Mgr approved the training, etc..etc. execute the 'training', and Jeff submits a code review a couple of weeks later. From over 80 issues to around 50. The poop hits the fan again.

Mgr: "What's your problem? When are you going to take your responsibility seriously?"
Me: "Its pretty clear I don't have the problem. All the review items were also verified by other devs. Its not me trying to be an asshole."
Mgr: "Enough with the excuses. If you think you can do a better job *you* make the code changes and submit them for Jeff for review. No More Excuses!"

Couple of days later, I make the changes, submit them for review, and Jeff really couldn't say too much other than "I don't see this as an improvement"

TL;DR, I had been tracking the errors generated by the site due to the bugs prior to my changes. After deployment, # of errors went from thousands per hour to maybe hundreds per day (that's another story) and the site saw significant performance increases, fewer customer complaints, etc..etc.

At a company event, the department VP hands out special recognition awards:

VP: "This award is especially well earned. Not only does this individual exemplify the company's focus on teamwork, he also went above and beyond the call of duty to serve our customers. Jeff, come on up and get this well deserved award."

Comments
  • 13
    Ugh.

    You have an amazing patience to have survived Jeff. Oo
  • 11
    Is this fucktard related to some other fucktard in the company?
  • 6
    I suppose my breaking point (i.e. spending the rest of the day/week/month looking for a new manager) would be at the second meeting. The third one would be the cherry on top and then I'd want to see them crash and burn.
  • 7
    Congrats to Jeff for all his contributions! He’s an amazing dev who’s able to get shit done without relying on anyone else!
  • 3
    Please search for "The legend of Jeff". Guy just wanted his coke.
  • 3
    That hurts!

    Go up to the VP and say that you're rewarding the wrong person. If he doesn't take it seriously, search for another job.
  • 2
    Don't blame Jeff or your manager. It's you being stupid. Put as little effort in your job as possible if it doesn't yield any benefits for you. It's not your company, don't give a shit about it. Cover you tracks so that it doesn't get back to you and keep going. There always will be a Jeff and an asshole manager.
  • 0
    @invisible ...where there will be another Jeff. From personal experience here is my advice: just start not giving a shit and put as little effort in your job as possible if you don't benefit from that effort. Unless it's your own company there is not reason to go above and beyond, and especially no reason to fix other people's shit.
  • 7
    I think I know why Jeff is so loved 🧐
  • 2
    @HitWRight thank you for posting this I had no idea
  • 0
    @Maer haha thank you for showing me this!!
  • 2
    Please tell me that you're leaving that shithole
  • 3
    @HitWRight When 'Jeff' "quit" (he knew his days were numbered), he moved on to Fossil watch with a fancy/long job title. Don't know if he's still there, but I can say with a fair about of certainty he lied his ass off to get in the door. Jeff was the kind of person that bragged about other individual's accomplishments as if they were his own. It was like a super power.
  • 1
    @Xamenyap > "Please tell me that you're leaving that shithole"

    Those occurrences were several years ago under a previous administration. Environment is much, much better now.
  • 0
    @PaperTrail that pisses me off. Hopefully he’s at Burger King where he belongs, skill wise
  • 1
    I don’t know how you didn’t have a breakdown.
  • 3
    @TrevorTheRat > "I don’t know how you didn’t have a breakdown."

    I did, in a way with the administration (top mgr, middle-mgrs, their minions, etc). My pastor recognized something was off with me and he and I worked it out. Came down to "Don't let the devil win." If I quit, he wins. If I walk in with a flame thrower, he wins.

    Have faith that God will either change hearts or move them along. The toxicity was with a small few, not the entire company, so I had faith the culture would self-correct. It did, and I won.
  • 0
    @PaperTrail well however you did it, I’m glad you found the strength. I think I would’ve ended up leaving.

    Now you’ve been through it you could start a YouTube channel of your experience and dealing with difficult things like that
  • 1
    @TrevorTheRat > "You could start a YouTube channel of your experience and dealing with difficult things like that"

    I did.

    https://youtube.com/channel/...
Add Comment