Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

You can find these places everywhere. Look for jobs where the software department isn't the core business and you'll find small groups of devs bogged down trying to implement another customization among code that looks like

   switch(clientId){
    case 42: //todo: Make sure database agrees
    ...
   }
before each calling what are essentially copies of otherwise identical thousand line functions.

Because the "risk" of actually changing code for any client where things already "just work" is a testing risk, and testing is nearly always the bottleneck at these places in my experience, if they've even managed to hire a dedicated tester yet.

Of course if you apply the Joel Test you're likely avoiding these places. But they can be rewarding places to work.



Rewarding in which way? Getting to really improve the codebase? Compensation?


I work at exactly one of those places right now, and "rewarding" is absolutely the last word I would use.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: