Jeff Atwood Quotes & Sayings

Obviously we want to succeed. But on some level, success is irrelevant, because the process is inherently satisfying. Waking — Jeff Atwood

In software, we rarely have meaningful requirements. Even if we do, the only measure of success that matters is whether our solution solves the customer's shifting idea of what their problem is. — Jeff Atwood

Success is rarely determined by the quality of your ideas. But it is frequently determined by the quality of your execution. — Jeff Atwood

You can achieve a shallow local maximum with A/B testing - but you'll never win hearts and minds. — Jeff Atwood

We have to stop optimizing for programmers and start optimizing for users. — Jeff Atwood

But everyone should try writing a little code, because it somehow sharpens the mind, right? — Jeff Atwood

When given a choice, choose the thing that scares you a little. If it's 100% safe, it is holding you back. — Jeff Atwood

If you don't have people that care about usability on your project, your project is doomed. — Jeff Atwood

Being an expert isn't telling other people what you know. It's understanding what questions to ask, and flexibly applying your knowledge to the specific situation at hand. Being an expert means providing sensible, highly contextual direction. — Jeff Atwood

That's not to say that all software project management books are crap. Just most of them. One of the few that I've found compelling enough to finish is Johanna Rothman's "Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management." She co-wrote it with Esther Derby. — Jeff Atwood

7. Beware of comparison shopping — Jeff Atwood

Writing code? That's the easy part. Getting your application in the hands of users, and creating applications that people actually want to use - now that's the hard stuff. — Jeff Atwood

5. Pay now and consume later — Jeff Atwood

even Mozart, who was a musical prodigy at age four, took 13 more years before he began to produce world-class music. The — Jeff Atwood

Teaching peers is one of the best ways to develop mastery. — Jeff Atwood

If you do not trust your people, you will not get their whole-hearted effort and you will not capitalize on the enormous creative potential of cohesive and motivated teamwork. It — Jeff Atwood

6. Think about what you're not thinking about — Jeff Atwood

I always suspected that programmers became programmers because they got to play God with the little universe boxes on their desks. — Jeff Atwood

I'm constantly running across comments from developers who don't seem to understand that the code already tells us how it works; we need the comments to tell us why it works. Code comments — Jeff Atwood

Oftentimes, the whole reason we became programmers in the first place is because we wanted to move beyond being a mere player and change the game, control it, modify its parameters, maybe even create our own games. — Jeff Atwood