"Hey Jun."

"Hey Mid."

"All's good?"

"Ehm... Yeah, all's fine. I guess. Just working on this code refactoring, you know. Sen told me it's high time we start doing that."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I guess that's good."

"Should be, yeah. I think there's some performance increase already."

"You think?"

"Well... I've run the tests. They show better numbers."

"Nice. Good job."

"Thanks."

"Listen Jun..."

"Yeah?"

"So, I'm afraid I have to ask you to switch to a different task. We've a feature request. And it should be done fast. Well, yesterday, as usual. That kind of fast."

"Oh... But I've been working on this refactoring. Sen told me it's important..."

"Yeah, no. I've talked to Sen already. There is no longer any time for this. We'll have to do it at some point later."

"And the part that is already completed? I mean, maybe I could finish it first?"

"No, sorry. Afraid we have to just... not use it."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, just... I don't know, put it somewhere else. Maybe we'll get back to it one day. I'll send you the details for this new feature request. Just accept the ticket and start working on it. I have to go now, sorry. In a real hurry, as usual. Another meeting, you know. Cheers."

Jun didn't even get the chance to say goodbye/good day to Mid, let alone pour some protests onto him. His colleague disappeared right away, leaving him with several emails describing all the required functionality the new feature needed to have.

Jun sighed, scrolled through the emails back and forth, blankly staring at all the mockups, design documents, and deliverables descriptions.

As always, the phrases like "we need this fast", "just a little update", "would be nice to also add...", and "should be thoroughly tested" were scattered all over the emails.

He wished he had time to read through all the emails, categorize them, create some sort of a future-proved system. The reality was, he had to add a new feature and add it fast. Also, somehow, despite being added fast, the feature needed to be reliable and work flawlessly. That went without saying. The fact that the amount of time given to work on that contradicted the above criteria didn't really bother anyone.

Already knowing that continuous scrolling and reading through the emails would only lead to further procrastination, Jun opened his code editor and rolled back all the changes that he had already made. The ones that were no longer needed. There was no point in saving them, although he did have a backup anyway. But that new functionality that was needed to be added would only lead to a completely new approach to refactoring everything. If such a refactoring would be needed one day.

At last, leaving all his hesitations aside, Jun jumped into coding. He didn't really need to bother about all of the mentioned criteria. He knew Sen and Mid would only check if the feature was working. And if it worked, well, that was all that mattered. Get the ideas fast, put them into development faster, ship instantaneously, iterate later. Or don't iterate at all. Just get the new ideas.

At least the coding part was simple. Well, not like really simple. If fact, that was the hardest part. But it was direct, straightforward. Honest, in a way. You have you task, you have to figure out how to complete it, and you work. Like really work, doing, accomplishing something. It gives you a nice feeling. A feeling of being able to get things done and achieve the desired results.

Who cares what tools you use? Use whatever you want, get results, test, fix things, make them better, switch to the new things. Rince and repeat. Jun knew all that already, had all the necessary tools and snippets at hand. A little adjustment here, some refactoring there. Cut this. Insert here. Copy those ones. Paste there. And voila. Half of the work is done. Now he needed to test it and make sure that it was working properly.

"Hi Jun."

"Oh, hi Mid."

"So, you've been working on that new feature, right?"

"Yes, of course. I'm still working on it. Polishing everything, testing, adjusting, you know."

"Sure, sure. Everything's good?"

"Yeah, I think so. We can take a look, check how it works."

"Emmm... Well, fine. Just show me the thing in general. Stick to the essentials, you know the drill. I don't need all the details."

"You don't?"

"Nah, don't have time. If you say it works, it works."

"Oookay... So, this is how it looks..."

Jun began his explanation of all the new code he added. He was planning to be brief, direct, and to the point. He reviewed the presentation several times already and in theory it should all be very easy.

Problem was, that's as far as any theory and mental preparation goes.

The moment Jun started talking, it all went in all possible directions at once. He mumbled, blubbered, coughed, and produced the rest of the conversation poison that any not experienced public speaker does. Even when performing in front of the audience of a single person.

The explanation took longer than expected. Longer even than the initial version of the presentation took. The one that was planned. So, as it usually happened, in the middle of his stammering speech Jun realized that Mid was no longer following him.

Truth be told, that was normal. Any code review typically ends with the phrase like "Ok, it's working, right?", followed by "Great, and you've tested it?", and inevitably ends with "Ok, I see, but we don't have time, so we'll push it anyway. I'll approve. Let's just hope it doesn't crash right away."

But what was worse this time was that, somewhere along his code explanation, Jun figured out that all of his changes were actually doing... nothing. He literally added several blocks of code and a few new files to achieve the same result as before but by following a different approach.

Sweating profusely, Jun stared at Mid with fear glowing in his panicking eyes.

Mid didn't need to understand the codebase to know what had happened. He saw that expression many times, and, not so long ago, had the same one on regular basis.

"So... It does the same thing, right?"

"Well... I mean... I think it's now a few milliseconds faster. In theory... There's less code. Actually, no, it's more, I'm afraid. I... I'm really sorry, Mid. I've no idea how's that happened..."

"I see... Listen, it's fine. Don't stress about it. It's not a big deal. Let's see what can be done."

"You... You want to help me?"

"Yeah, I do. We need the new feature after all. And, given the time constraints, two heads are better than one."

"Oh... Thank you, Mid. I really appreciate it. And I'm very sorry again."

"Don't be. It's all good. Let's see what we could do..."

Mid wasn't really angry at Jun. Quite the opposite in fact. He was somewhat grateful. Grateful for the possibility to do some coding. Lately all he was doing was filling in countless forms, replying to emails, and attending meetings.

Putting his hands on the keyboard now felt like something from another life. It was refreshing though. At first he felt that he forgot it all, but quickly realized that it was all like a mechanical memory. He didn't need to know all the ins and outs. He saw the path to achieving the end result. Everything on that path was just the means to it. There was no need to remember every detail. Quick search would provide all the necessary bits. You just need to know what and where to search.

In a few minutes of collective work the feature was completed.

"Sooo... That's it?"

"Yep. Simple enough. Looks quite elegant, in a way."

"But it's like... I mean, we've spent less than fifteen minutes overall. I thought it should be more than just that."

"Don't overthink it, Jun. No need to fix what's working. Their wanted this feature, now it's implemented."

"Alright... I guess, it does the trick. I just, dunno. Thought I could improve the whole code structure, lay the groundwork for the revamped version that would be faster and more accessible."

"Sure, I understand. But that would also took at least a few months to implement. And we..."

"Don't have time?"

"Exactly. See? You are getting better at it already!"

"I am?"

"Of course you are! Listen, I have to run now. Sen's waiting for our next meeting. Good job, Jun. Solid performance. I'll tell Sen you're a natural."

"Oh... Thanks. And thanks again for helping me with this."

"No probs, bud. Glad to help. Cheers."

"So, how did it go, Mid?"

"Ah, you know..."

"The usual?"

"Yeah, guess you can call it that. The usual."

"But the feature is there, right?"

"Yep, the feature is done, Sen."

"And you've tested it, right? Why are you laughing? Actually, don't answer that. I know why. Just push it to production already. If there are bugs, we'll deal with them on the go."

"Already deployed. Took the liberty to approve on my own. No bugs so far."

"Speaking like a true ten X dev. How's Jun?"

"He's alright. Honestly, he's quite good at this. The way he started doing the refactoring would've helped us improve performance and got rid of several glitches we still have at the moment. If only we had the time... Yes, yes, Sen, no need to give me that look. I know what you're about to say. Don't rub your eyes and sigh so tiredly. The feature is done and the day is saved. Stakeholders should be happy."

"Great. I mean it, Mid. Great work, all things considered. Listen, we have to discuss your job tasks and responsibilities at some point."

"We have?"

"Yeah... Looks like they're promoting me to a manager."

"Oh, wow... Congrats, Sen."

"Thanks, although dunno if I should be too happy about it."

"More meetings?"

"Yeah, plus the rest of the managers duties that I'm already on... Can't even remember the last time I actually built something."

"I see. That means that Jun is going to take my place?"

"Obviously. Someone has to take care of all the code reviews. That AI assistance is getting out of hand."

"Should I bring him the 'good' news?"

"If you want to... I mean, technically it's good. But also we probably won't hire anyone to replace him. That part is all for AI now... Don't need to tell you that."

"Yeah, I could figure that much. Some interns at least maybe?"

"Honestly? Not sure. If the budget allows. Have to talk to CTO, pass it to CFO, discuss with CEO, and get the board approval..."

"Well, hope you'll 'manage'. See what I did there?"

"Ha-ha, very funny. One day, you'll be a manager too, Mid. Then we'll see who has the final laugh."

"Sorry, boss..."

" Forget it, it's nothing really. Listen..."

"Have to go?"

"Yep."

"Another meeting?"

"Several in a row. With two presentations."

"Good luck, have fun then."

"Sure, fun is my middle name. See you, Mid. Maybe one day we could even code a little."

"A dev can dream. Bye, Sen, take care."