We’ve all been there, trying to just get our project done. The last thing you want to do is add something to the process. So…naturally we do the bare minimum just to get our product out the door. Thus leading to things that pain me so often like a lack of documentation, unit testing, even as far as the project not being under version control.
This isn’t about trashing on developers whose projects I’ve inherited, though, this is about why getting things done now is the only way things will get done. We constantly tell ourselves that such and such can wait for another day but we never consider how much pain it’s going to save us in the long run. Say documentation for instance.
When I first started working at Plus11, I worked right next to Josh and easily asked 20 questions a day just about the code base. I’ve stated documenting any new endpoint I create because when someone new comes on to work with us, I can either say I don’t have time but still take the time to explain it to them, or just take the same amount of time to document the code and free my time up for other stuff because I’m no longer inundated with questions.
The point is: if it will save you time in the long run, get on it! I’m not saying you need to drop whatever you’re doing.
Chip away at it until it’s done. I’ve never looked back and said “I wish I didn’t take the time to set up automation” or “What a waste of time writing unit tests were” because once it’s done, maintenance is a piece of cake!
