Leaving LinkedIn (corecursive.com)

Article summary

Chris Krycho, a senior staff engineer, shared his experience working at LinkedIn, where he faced challenges in maintaining and improving the company's massive front-end codebase. He worked on various projects, including introducing JavaScript classes and reducing errors, but ultimately left the company due to frustration with the pace of change and prioritization of speed over sustainability. Krycho's story highlights the tension between innovation and project health in large organizations. He chose to leave the company to pursue work that aligns with his principles.

Main themes

• Software engineering at scale
• Code maintenance and refactoring
• Organizational change and culture
• Technical debt and sustainability
• Career development and values

What commenters say

• The size of a codebase is not necessarily a measure of its complexity or quality, and large codebases can be a result of many features and requirements.
• Changing an organization's culture and practices from the bottom up is extremely difficult, if not impossible, and often requires top-down support and leadership.
• The use of certain programming languages or technologies can contribute to code bloat and technical debt, but it is not the primary cause of these issues.
• Some commenters believe that large organizations are inherently prone to producing complex and unmaintainable codebases due to Conway's law, while others argue that this can be mitigated with good design and leadership.
• The role of AI and technology in improving communication and cooperation within large organizations is seen as a potential solution to some of the problems faced by these organizations.
• Some argue that the pursuit of speed and innovation in software development often comes at the expense of sustainability and maintainability, leading to technical debt and burnout among engineers.
• Others believe that it is possible to balance speed and sustainability with careful planning, automation, and a focus on engineering excellence.
• The decision to leave a company due to differences in values and priorities is a personal one, and some commenters appreciate Krycho's honesty and transparency about his experiences.