When doctors show up to work, they take time to wash hands thoroughly even if there are queued-up patients in critical status.

Meanwhile, us programmers deal with production bugs in the most expedient way possible. And usually that involves some janky fix and a comment like this:

# TODO: this won't work forever

and then we’re on to the next crisis.

We have to get better about this. Its fun to play the hero, and say we can fix everything right away, but in the end, we are digging our own graves.

This post is fueled by me cleaning up a mess caused by too many janky fixes all imploding simultaneously.

Last point: don’t blame your bosses and their unreasonable demands. Don’t expect them to understand the PROs and CONs. Simply do not offer any solution that makes the problem worse. We are the experts!

Going back to the doctor example, I’m sure the desperate patient would love to rush the doctor, because sure, 9 out of 10 times, their hands are probably clean enough, and if an infection does start, well, that’s what antibiotics are for.

But part of the reason why doctors are so revered and so well compensated is because they insist on being treated a certain way.

Ask a doctor for a “good enough” solution, or maybe ask how much would it cost if they don’t do it “the absolutely perfect” way, or any of the other lines your middle managers and sales people hit you with when trying whittle down your estimate.

Doctors will just stare at you like you’re an idiot. That’s what we need to start doing.