Why are coders so damn lazy?
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Maybe you're not being strict enough, set deadlines and let him know you expect them to be met or you'll find someone else for the job.
Most likely your problem is so mundane, that he feels you have no idea what goes into it, so he'll take his sweet time and milk the situation.
Simple solution: learn the basics of coding, or even learn to code. At least enough to know what goes into what you're asking of people. Barring that, hire someone you trust who knows how to code to oversee your hired coders. If he fucks around, get rid of him and find someone who can do things quickly. I assume by the fact that you haven't dumped him yet, means you don't actually know what goes into what you asked of him, and therefore, you're fucked, heh.
Coders usually follow the same triangle as most things. Fast, Good, Cheap - pick two.
Simple solution: learn the basics of coding, or even learn to code. At least enough to know what goes into what you're asking of people. Barring that, hire someone you trust who knows how to code to oversee your hired coders. If he fucks around, get rid of him and find someone who can do things quickly. I assume by the fact that you haven't dumped him yet, means you don't actually know what goes into what you asked of him, and therefore, you're fucked, heh.
Coders usually follow the same triangle as most things. Fast, Good, Cheap - pick two.
Set deadline + complete spec will do. Everything, even common sense features like "forgot password" should be in the spec detailed as much as possible. If it is not in the spec, he doesn't have to do it.
Every little feature is time. Time = money. Most of the time its not dev laziness, its depression. Depression to work for people who milk one little feature after another from you when it is common sense for them but was not in a spec, making a project infinite.
Nobody is going to build you a facebook for the price of dolphin customization. Good project requires planning on your behalf, good documentation and exact expectations.
Alpha - these and these features by this date, beta - these features working completely by this date, etc, final - by this date, everything finished as spec said to finish, everything exactly how described. Pay enough for them to be motivated to do the job, pay in 3 steps - 25% alpha, 25% beta, 50% final after complete testing.
Nothing is more frustrating than to do a job without knowing exactly what you are being asked for. If you don't have exact plan in the head, developer will build something... A mistery box perhaps if you like those... You ask for a boat, you get a boat. Ask for a mistery box, you may get lucky and get a boat.
If you want crappy code, don't write about the details of how things need to be implemented, most likely you will get one. If you plan and write down that you want thought out classes, functions, you will get those if developer wants to get paid. Need a UI separate, write down that you need either smarty or whatever template system you need, better description - better the code. Developer doesn't write you project, he follows your instructions to implement what you have in mind. If you don't have a good plan in mind, how would he?
[/midnight nonsense]
Every little feature is time. Time = money. Most of the time its not dev laziness, its depression. Depression to work for people who milk one little feature after another from you when it is common sense for them but was not in a spec, making a project infinite.
Nobody is going to build you a facebook for the price of dolphin customization. Good project requires planning on your behalf, good documentation and exact expectations.
Alpha - these and these features by this date, beta - these features working completely by this date, etc, final - by this date, everything finished as spec said to finish, everything exactly how described. Pay enough for them to be motivated to do the job, pay in 3 steps - 25% alpha, 25% beta, 50% final after complete testing.
Nothing is more frustrating than to do a job without knowing exactly what you are being asked for. If you don't have exact plan in the head, developer will build something... A mistery box perhaps if you like those... You ask for a boat, you get a boat. Ask for a mistery box, you may get lucky and get a boat.
If you want crappy code, don't write about the details of how things need to be implemented, most likely you will get one. If you plan and write down that you want thought out classes, functions, you will get those if developer wants to get paid. Need a UI separate, write down that you need either smarty or whatever template system you need, better description - better the code. Developer doesn't write you project, he follows your instructions to implement what you have in mind. If you don't have a good plan in mind, how would he?
[/midnight nonsense]
Not enough obviously.
Here is why:
1.) It's not his vision. You aren't paying him enough to think for you.
2.) It's probably boring. Boring sucks.
3.) He doesn't need the money yet. Beer and Food = No urgency for programming.
We make you wait for the same reason doctors make people wait in waiting rooms, cause you don't know how to do it yourself. Sorry if that makes
+Rep.
Fuck assholes like OP who commoditize code. It's not just something we do for you for money. Treat every little shitty project like you're commissioning a painting -- If you want a fucking finger painting with macaroni decorations, then tell your coder "Make me something sweet" and give him a week, but your project will be shitty (due to lack of direction) and he'll still charges you for a full week.
But if you want a Matisse, go to a professional, give him a reason to care about it, and define what "done" will be -- Specific docs, UI mockups, deliver him the design before he starts work. Can you imagine Leonardo saying "Sure, it's already finished but I'll re-paint over half the Sistine ceiling with an Epic Direct logo, because you thought this idea up drunk last night" to the pope? Doesn't matter what the client pays, we are artists*, and very few [of the good ones] are strictly-in-it-for-the-money to the point where we'd re-build half the project from the ground up, even if you pay us for the time. We want to feel accomplished and empowered and we need to feel that there's progress on the project. Languishing in "polish" and "bug fix" stages for too long is poisonous to developer productivity, and there's simply nothing you can do about it but hire more developers and get through these phases faster, so that everyone feels productive.
Finally, if you expect a coder to "think" for you -- that is, *guessing* that you'll want a "Forgot Password" feature or various speedups or a 3am emergency server reboot, and doing smart things for you *without* you asking, you give him a sizable % of the project. Why on god's green earth should I make my own job harder, adding more features and doing extra work and pushing back our launch date, trying to read your mind and maximize your bottom line, without significant incentive to do so?
* I might have my pompous head up my ass, but I define "art" as anything where my personal style is the single greatest factor in the quality of the final product.
I think you guys are missing a big point... Most of us "coder" talk a big game but just cant deliver. Just look at people's resumes these days. If they have ever seen a SQL statement, they will list that they are experts in 4th normal form optimization or some BS like that. When they have know idea how to write an insert statement, much less optimize to some level.
I think part of the problem is a lot of coders (myself included at times) think we are really smart and can do whatever you ask (assuming we will figure out how to do it when the time come). The problem is that most coders suck at time estimation. My father has worked at IBM for 36 years now and has a rule of thumb about project management...
"Estimate the time it will take an average guy to write it and then multiply the estimate by Pi."
He tells me over and over, more often than not, someone argues with him, they do the project and he ends up right on the nose with his Pi based estimate.
Just my 2 cents...
I think part of the problem is a lot of coders (myself included at times) think we are really smart and can do whatever you ask (assuming we will figure out how to do it when the time come). The problem is that most coders suck at time estimation. My father has worked at IBM for 36 years now and has a rule of thumb about project management...
"Estimate the time it will take an average guy to write it and then multiply the estimate by Pi."
He tells me over and over, more often than not, someone argues with him, they do the project and he ends up right on the nose with his Pi based estimate.
Just my 2 cents...
I'll give you that. I've never worked on anything that gone done faster than I thought it would.
