Percentage Probability of writing code from scratch as compared to refactoring allready written code as new comer in Software Industry ?

Question

Hi,

This question is to discuss about what is the percentage probability as a new comer in software industry to write code from scratch as compared to refactoring allready written code ?

Please share your thoughts and opinions.

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you are new at a company and don't have previous experience writing code, the chances you will be asked to write something from scratch is low.

You will likely be given a bugfix or small enhancement to work on in an existing project.

Sometimes you will get a small project to build from scratch and provided a mentor to help you build this.

Ideally you will get a combination of both of these. That should get you up to speed quickly on how things are done at your new job.

Answer 2

This is a good question. This is my 2 cents based on the experience of the new candidates in my organization.

1) Candidates which are skillful and know a niche technology usually are introduced into teams which write new modules. This is because they are normally hired for their skill.

2) Candidates which are hired as general developers generally join an existing team, so they have to first start with bug fixing existing code, before moving on to new code. This also gives them some experience and knowledge on how the application works.

3) Weak candidates almost never write new code unless they are supervised and micro managed.

4) Interns always write new code because they are not allowed to learn company secrets by reading our code. However, we dont have many interns a year.

Answer 3

I dont think that refactoring is a job that would be given to new comers, as it takes experience to know how to organize code. A freshman in the software industry might spend all his/her effort just understanding what the code is meant to do.

Writing new code from scratch is also a tough task for a newbie, as, depending on the size of the project, there can be a lot of factors that one needs to be aware of in order to maintain a schedule in a software project. This, too, is a skill that is earned through experience.

This really depends on the company, as some managers may like the 'throw them into the deep-end' approach, while others might adopt a more protective, hand holding ramp-up. I would think that the latter would be more prevalent. In most cases, a new comer to the industry will be attached to a mentor and given small tasks, often producing add-ons and minor enhancements to existing projects.