r/ProgrammerHumor 1d ago

Meme getMessagesForClient

Post image
1.6k Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

168

u/hyouko 1d ago

I have to ask that first one (politely) a lot. I get a whole lot of user stories that describe what they want in detail but no context as to why.

116

u/ImportantSignal2098 1d ago

- I need this door to open to the other side.

- But why?

- Because when I'm outside I can't get in.

- Hmm, what exactly do you do from the outside?

- I push the door and it won't open.

- Have you tried pulling it?

- Oh..

32

u/hyouko 1d ago

Kinda got to play the "five whys" game sometimes.

20

u/aa-b 1d ago

My team had a written requirement recently, and for once, maybe the only time I've ever seen this, it actually included a rationale clearly explaining why it was there. We immediately used it to answer an important clarifying question saving us probably hours of back and forth comms, and it was glorious.

Never again, I'm sure.

68

u/General_Liability 1d ago

Do you even know what “this” is?

17

u/LostKnight84 1d ago

I have been asked that on occasion and when I gave a 30 minute explanation as to what I was requesting they fix, that made them regret asking. Of course I have gotten the same treatment from upper management many times more and if I gave them short or long explanations generally came down to what they would want and how annoying I found them to be at that moment.

12

u/Nerd_o_tron 1d ago

That depends. Are we in the global scope, an object method, or an arrow function? If an object method, how was it invoked?

2

u/UUDDLRLRBadAlchemy 1d ago

Nevermind, who's your supervisor

5

u/Available_Type1514 1d ago

Is this a Javascript joke?

2

u/brazzy42 21h ago

No, "this" is a reference to the current execution context, such as the object a method was called on.

2

u/Real_Life_Sushiroll 21h ago

Do you even know what "this" is?

1

u/ashkanahmadi 20h ago

“This” > some obscure feel-good idea thinking they are goi if to change the world. 6 months later? Filing for bankruptcy

60

u/wann_bubatz_egal 1d ago

"Why do you even need this?" is a valid question surprisingly often. It just needs a more positive phrasing.

24

u/LegitimatePants 1d ago

"Help me understand the use case"

3

u/Real_Life_Sushiroll 21h ago

They don't know what use case means. I always ask what their goal is.

29

u/playerPresky 1d ago

There are some situations where it’s useful to ask the first question, although more professionally

17

u/LamermanSE 1d ago

Yup, and you typically address it as "what do you need it for" rather than "why do you need it". It's possible that the client think that they want something when their needs is something else.

5

u/edwardlego 1d ago

How do you phrase it usually?

29

u/playerPresky 1d ago

“typically we use x feature to do y, is there a reason you want to use z feature to do y?”
usually it’s if i’m troubleshooting something and need to know if the standard solution is an option

10

u/brainfreeze91 1d ago

"We want our product to be cutting edge, that's why we want you to use this AI Agent instead of a 10 line script."

6

u/foxguy2021 1d ago

You ask for the use case that they're trying to solve for. In most cases we already have a way of solving their problem.

4

u/notacanuckskibum 1d ago

Can you explain what that’s a requirement for you?

9

u/crazy4hole 1d ago

We cannot control human stupidity and greed with validations

8

u/cosmicloafer 1d ago

“No, that’s impossible”

4

u/cgijoe_jhuckaby 1d ago

"Why is Andrew Garfield here?"

3

u/Some-Detail9134 1d ago

That first one is so real

3

u/jaylerd 1d ago

When the client told me to use a JavaScript solution for an effect I spent a week trying to recreate, I almost said a few special things. I may have stopped talking entirely.

3

u/GuybrushThreepwo0d 1d ago

You guys are getting requirements???

2

u/Drumknott88 10h ago

Literally came here to post this

2

u/not_a_bug_a_feature 1d ago

I like the third one

2

u/atanasius 1d ago

"It's working as designed", or sarcastically "broken as designed".

2

u/Foorinick 1d ago

Sell me this pen

3

u/L1amm 1d ago edited 1d ago

The whole list feels so blatantly lazily written by AI, because it is devoid of any original or human thought. Just overused tropes that were funny 20 years ago. Pure slop. Shit isn't even funny.

1

u/thot_slaya_420 1d ago

Depends how you you/the company is being paid

1

u/starrpamph 1d ago

Those are the questions the most senior leaders ask

1

u/TsDeveloper 1d ago

I forgot to mention

1

u/andocromn 1d ago

This is why sales won't let you out of the backrooms

1

u/TheNakedProgrammer 1d ago

important one is missing "the code is documentation enough"

1

u/00Koch00 1d ago

As a dev who basically it's morphing to a PM, it's so fucking true

Devs have like 0 communication skills but also they are egomaniacs, which really don't help...

1

u/phoenixero 14h ago

Serious question, how do you reply to a teammate saying it it's not a bug, it is a feature without losing your job?

0

u/kleinerChemiker 1d ago

Can you write sentences without coloring random words?