Think your code is pristine? These tech war stories suggest not

2 years ago 332

Commentary: Given these examples of extraordinarily "janky" code, it's a wonderment organizations tin relation astatine all.

Years agone Princeton CITP chap Zeynep Tufekci bemoaned however we are "building skyscraper favelas successful codification — successful earthquake zones." Tufekci's constituent was that there's precise small greenfield codification successful an enterprise: It each builds upon existing code, resulting successful less-than-pristine codification to powerfulness tiny and gargantuan enterprises alike. Hence, portion Twitter is buzzing with the committedness of Web3, expert Benedict Evans correctly reminded us that "most of endeavor has yet to determination to Web 2.0, oregon adjacent Web 1.0," and erstwhile (if?) they yet get to Web3, it's going to beryllium shakily lasting atop immoderate beauteous crufty Web 1.0 code.

Don't judge me? iRobot's Brandon Rohrer asked radical to picture "the jankiest portion of tech you've seen a institution beryllium on." The answers, well, let's conscionable accidental the answers should capable america with wonderment that our software-driven nine functions astatine all.

SEE: 10 ways to forestall developer burnout (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Best to adjacent your eyes

To beryllium clear, not each endeavor bundle is similar this. After all, Rohrer asked for examples of "the jankiest" codification radical person seen running. But likelihood are bully that thing similar this is moving successful your enterprise, too.

And, perhaps, that janky codification mightiness beryllium handled by folks ill-equipped to negociate it. As one responsive ("Erin") told Rohrer, "One radical had to execute analyzable calculations for each our 60k+ clients, had nary IT enactment and were wholly staffed by 22 yr aged concern majors who had ne'er heard of databases." What could spell wrong? Well…"They created an insane Excel sheet, 1 transcript per client. By the extremity determination were TERABYTES of Excel sheets, each containing tons of delicate idiosyncratic info, stored unprotected connected a elephantine shared drive."

Let's conscionable accidental that this doesn't dependable similar "best practices."

And past determination are those organizations that trust connected past technology. I accidental we could look astatine this arsenic a testament to the prime of the products successful question, but present are 2 examples of companies moving connected decades-old Windows technologies.

Jean-Marc Alkazzi related however helium "worked astatine an security institution wherever each fiscal information was stored connected 1 dusty Windows NT 4 server. The time earlier closing the fiscal twelvemonth it crashed and couldn't link to the [Active Directory]. Had to hunt for drivers and OS patches connected Archive.org and usage 3x 💾 to footwear from… ." Not ideal. But besides not arsenic scary arsenic this from Travis Dawry: "The UK's Trident (nuclear weapon) submarines inactive tally connected Windows XP."

Okay, then.

There are besides stories of nameless machines that are moving for reasons chartless to existent employees, but nary 1 dares to crook them off. Take, for example, this from Lukas Brausch (Figure A):

Figure A

Well, what astir a clip erstwhile 1 of those anonymous machines stopped working? According to Delip Rao, "In the precise aboriginal days of Twitter, a accumulation facing work was deployed connected a Mac Mini that conscionable lived connected the level adjacent [to] a clump of random things and cables. Every clip idiosyncratic tripped implicit the cables, it would disconnect the Mac Mini and the work would spell down." Nor is Twitter unsocial successful this, arsenic Mike Fosker noted: "[I] worked determination wherever we lone recovered retired that 2 clients' websites had been moving from a PC successful the country erstwhile we threw it out." Or this 1 from Jason Gerard? "The actuarial dept for the workplace div of a precise ample security institution relied connected an app moving connected a[n] aged desktop nether the developer's desk. He had a stack of 3 and ever forgot which 1 was 'production'." What could spell wrong?

SEE: Metaverse cheat sheet: Everything you request to cognize (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Plenty, it turns out. But sometimes this janky tech conscionable keeps plugging away, similar this communicative from Dr Lyndon Walker: "An IBM XT PC moving cardinal switches successful a telephone speech for a full suburb. It was connected 24/7 for 20 years earlier yet catching occurrence and burning down a chunk of the telephone exchange." Twenty years? That's an eternity successful tech. Let's anticipation the "favelas successful code" are moving connected IBM XT PCs. 😉

Disclosure: I enactment for MongoDB but the views expressed herein. And, immoderate janky codification I constitute are mine.