6

I feel like some developers focus too much on concepts like clean code, software craftsmanship, TDD and so forth, to a point where they almost forget end user needs (ease of use, intuitive experiences, general UX principles).
Don’t get me wrong. I do my best to stick to a decent standard of quality and maintainability. However my solutions are adapted to the specific needs that are being addressed rather than the other way around.
I’ve heard some devs say things to the effect of ”well I know that’s not most intuitive behavior for the user but it’s the cleaner way to do it, so the user will just have to figure it out“. So in essence they’re just coding for their own pleasure rather than addressing user needs

Comments
  • 2
    This rant applies more to frontend development where the code can get somewhat messy depending on the complexity of scenarios and also edge cases that have to be handled (I’m thinking complex forms in particular, or highly interactive user interfaces with a lot of event handling)
  • 2
    But tdd, clean code etc. are for maintainers of the codebase not end user affecting stuff?
  • 1
    @neriald The structure of the back end does affect the user experience though? At the most basic level, if there is no back end there is no service at all. If there is less back end than there would otherwise be, the front end will be different. Inefficient back ends can make for unusable slow front ends.
  • 0
    @neriald in theory yes I suppose. But code is constantly having to be rewritten and re adapted to evolving needs. This can often be to the detriment of the original "beauty" of the code. I’ve seen devs not wanting to spoil their original code and therefore not make the full adaptations needed for the new requirement
Add Comment