I realize that in my world, there is working or broken, completed or incomplete, one or zero. A delivery is not complete until it is delivered and proven working, until then, it’s incomplete.
I don’t like making promises until I’m relatively certain that it can be delivered, and this certainty can only be obtained through testing. Just like a test, either the assertion is met, or the assertion failed.
I don’t like building systems that are prone to breakage, and not doing a thing about attempting to avoid them. It makes me feel negligent. Fixing a bug that I incidentally introduce doesn’t feel like an accomplishment, it feels like a failure.
Every single system I touch, every single line of code I contribute, I have a sense of fondness for it. To me, computer systems are like children. You groom and shape them into exactly what they’ll be. Sometimes, they’ll take on a life much bigger than the life you anticipated, and when they’re able to withstand the battery that’s the real-world, you feel a sense of pride that it was YOU who brought it into this world.
I ponder if I’m being harsh, or am I just following best-practices.
If I’m the person in charge of handling a project, or a delivery, and it doesn’t meet my criteria of code and system integrity, then it’s like asking me to violate my own principles. Not only am I violating my principles, it’s likely that the violations will result in much more headaches and time expenditures than originally allocated. Such requests are inconsiderate and insulting, especially if you acknowledge that you know the consequences of such violations. Perhaps the reason why I find it so irritating is that I expect them to understand the principles I live by, and for the most part, everyone should. You’re either alive or your dead (medical), you’re either in the black or the red (finance), you either got paid or you didn’t (human resources), your system entire works entirely or it doesn’t (code); It’s not so abstract of a concept really.
So am I being harsh on myself and others, or am I just being normal, and others are being extra lax? It’s something to think about, but I say I’m being normal.