0.1x Engineer Interview: Hilarious Coding Fails & Tech Confessions

Software Development Anti-Patterns

This article outlines common pitfalls and questionable practices observed in software development, often stemming from overconfidence, lack of experience, or a disregard for best practices.

Infrastructure and Environment

• The assumption that all users have perfect internet and ample RAM (64GB) is unrealistic.

• Spending days debugging a simple 404 error suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of web server operation.

• Dismissing server-side issues by claiming "we are serverless" demonstrates a lack of understanding of serverless architectures. The server is still there, just managed by someone else.

• Claiming configuration is flexible, but then stating changing hardcoded values ensures backward compatibility reveals a poor understanding of software design principles.

Coding Practices

• Building production systems like Jupyter notebooks is not a scalable or maintainable approach.

• Relying solely on console.log instead of using TypeScript for type safety can lead to runtime errors.

• Ignoring proper monitoring systems and simply checking if the website loads is insufficient for identifying and addressing performance issues.

• Believing that API keys are "securely hidden" in the codebase is a common and dangerous misconception.

• Addressing memory leaks by auto-scaling RAM instead of fixing the underlying problem is a costly and inefficient solution.

Workflow and Collaboration

• Giving vague estimates such as "it will take however long it will take" shows a lack of project planning and communication skills.

• Prioritizing being "on the latest tech conferences" and "mentoring bootcamp disciples" over core development tasks can be detrimental.

• The statement "what is Git without Github, right?" conflates a version control system (Git) with a specific hosting service (Github). Git can be used without Github.

• Using excessively large z-index values like -9,000 suggests a lack of understanding of CSS specificity.

• Setting opacity to 200% indicates a misunderstanding of how opacity works (it ranges from 0 to 1 or 0% to 100%).

• Averaging a negative Lighthouse score (-23) indicates significant performance and accessibility issues.

• Relying on emojis in commit messages to convey emotions instead of clear descriptions is unprofessional.

• Using commands like git pull -do-not-rebase -never-rebase coupled with commit messages like "did stuff lol" demonstrates poor Git practices.

• Storing video files in a GitHub repository is inappropriate and inefficient. GitHub is designed for code, not large media files.

• Staying on the master branch and deleting comments to "save file size" are outdated and counterproductive practices.

Project Management and Design

• Prioritizing framework switching over finishing features can lead to project delays and instability.

• Pushing to production at 4:59 PM is risky and can lead to late-night emergencies.

• Adopting new frameworks found on Reddit without proper evaluation is ill-advised.

• Rewriting existing packages instead of utilizing established libraries (e.g., writing isEven instead of using an existing package) wastes time and resources.

• Localizing to JavaScript implies a misunderstanding of localization principles. Localization should involve providing translations for different languages.

• Not using Docker and asking "what do we need Docker for?" illustrates a failure to understand containerization and its benefits.

Testing and Debugging

• Feeling punished by tests indicates a lack of understanding of their value in preventing bugs.

• Relying solely on AI for sorting algorithms without understanding the underlying principles is dangerous.

• Replacing meaningful variable names with pop culture references hinders maintainability and collaboration.

• Using generic variable names like tempCalculation and tempCalculation1 makes the code harder to understand.

General Attitude

• Claiming to "always work on the state of the art" can lead to chasing trends instead of focusing on delivering value.

• Subscribing to productivity templates without effectively managing tasks (never closing a Trello ticket on time) suggests a focus on tools over actual productivity.

• Dismissing long-lived applications ("there are apps supposed to last more than 1 year?") demonstrates a short-sighted perspective.

• Attributing credit as "props to FFMPEG" shows a lack of understanding proper attribution practices.

• Blaming AI for taking jobs reflects a fear of technological advancement rather than a proactive approach to adapting skills.

• Adopting "DDOS-driven development" and "blockchain" without understanding the implications is a red flag.

• Repeatedly moving the AWS stack to Vercel indicates a lack of planning and stability in infrastructure decisions.

The "Robust" Web App

• The claim that "it took 10 years of hard work...to get this web app to be robust and it takes one guy who doesn't know how memory works...to test our shareholders nerves" highlights the fragility of complex systems and the importance of expertise at all levels.

• Microservices are not always the right choice, and should be chosen thoughtfully.

• Designing a website primarily for mobile Safari is not user-centric.

• Relying solely on customers for testing is a recipe for disaster.