Comment by alphazard
1 year ago
If someone says "just", it means they believe the presented solution is less complicated than some existing proposal.
That conversation should be a significant part of software development, and usually the answer is "no we can't just do that, because it wouldn't do what we are trying to do", or "yes, but it's not actually as simple as you seem to believe". Sometimes the answer is "yes, we can just do that" and everyone should be glad when that is the case.
If you can't handle normal engineering criticism, then you are an imposter. Real engineers generate alternatives, and evaluate alternatives proposed to them.
I really think you should consider what is implied by the word "just". When you say "no we can't just do that" it implies that you think someone will have missed the obvious. This may fall under "normal engineering criticism" to you, but I can assure you that some people will not see it as such and they won't like it. Which makes it a poor fit for good team communication. It will probably also make you disliked. It's obviously not always an negative word on its own. In your "yes, we can just do that" example it's fine. It's, however, also unnecessary as you could say: "yes, we can do that" and retain the full meaning.
> If you can't handle normal engineering criticism, then you are an imposter.
It's not normal engineering criticism though. "Just" is (in)famously known as a term that you use when you're overconfident while missing the whole picture. In many universities around here they will teach you about the dangers of it. Because it's really not good engineering to not do your analytics before suggesting solutions. I think most of us are guilty of using it. In my current team we laugh about it. We have a sort of swear jaw mentality when someone uses the term unironically, usually called out by the person who did it themselves. It's now a term we mostly use it as an internal joke, however, and people are never going to miss an opportunity to call the most complex challenges "just" in the most hilarious way they can.
An engineering degree does not render Humans to be perfectly rational, though it can make it seem that way.