Profile Of a Typical Yahoo! Engineer (2005)

The Typical Yahoo!  Engineer from this point known as Y!E. (this is all my personal ramblings, if it doesn’t fit you, sorry.. it fits me)

Y!E is someone who drools when his needs to design his software to work for 30 millions users.   Potentially growing at 40% every year.
Y!E designs software with no upper limit.  200 millions users? no problem.  600 million, no problem.
Y!E is always connected to the net, via cell phone, laptop, Wi-Fi at Starbucks.
Y!E really likes unix and would rather have a Powerbook if he can get his hands on one.
Y!E likes to automate mundane jobs.
Y!E doesn’t ever like to buy big expensive machines, he likes to buy lots and lots of cheap machine and name them p1,p2,p3..p100.  Every machine is disposable, because that is the only way to build scalable software.
Y!E loves CVS
Y!E loves Y! 360
Y!E loves gadgets
Y!E might not like Perl, but he is good at it.
Y!E usually likes PHP
Y!E usually like MYSQL
Y!E might like Apache, but he is good at it.
Y!E likes to read Jeremy’s blog Y!E usually doesn’t know style sheets, but he will learn it *only* if no webdevs wants to help him
Y!E is used to trying to squeeze every ounce of power from his machines
Y!E likes to get free stuff from forsale.
Y!E likes free stuff from the book exchange, media exchange
Y!E doesn’t like disk I/O bound problems, he is happy with CPU bound problems

• Yahoo! User
  commented

  06/29/2005 06:07 am

  I should have made it clear (sorry) that I was talking about Perl vs. PHP as programming languages.
  As a simple, fluffy markup for web pages that my grandma might be able to use, PHP is, of course, much more appropriate. In this light, indeed, the power of a real programming language is overkill and gets in the way.
  My problem with PHP is that some consider it to be a real programming language, and it was just not designed to be used that way (again, using “PHP” and “designed” in the same sentence is sort of sillly)
• Yahoo! User
  commented

  06/28/2005 07:40 am

  PHP is Perl without the hideous syntax and needlessly ambiguous crap.
• Yahoo! User
  commented

  06/28/2005 05:37 am

  ähm make that like and not disle. 🙂
• Yahoo! User
  commented

  06/28/2005 05:37 am

  awk is also close to perl. but while i disle awk and php, i dislike perl. 😉
• Yahoo! User 
  commented

  06/27/2005 08:05 pm

  PHP is closly related to Perl. When Rasmus was designing his language, he looked closely at Perl and identifed
  all that was wrong with it. He then took all that was wrong with Perl, disgarded all that was good, and voila: PHP!
  (“PHP” comes from the French that translates as “Parts-Horrible Perl”) 

  (Seriously, though, I don’t think anyone, including Rasmus, would say that PHP was “designed”)

• Yahoo! User 
  commented

  06/27/2005 06:41 pm

  I see it is not just myself in serious need of quality time AFK!
• Yahoo! User 
  commented

  06/27/2005 05:52 pm

  php is the devil! perl is delicious!
  and vi rules. mmm… flame war.
• Yahoo! User 
  commented

  06/27/2005 05:04 pm

  Word, except I have to disagree with these: 

  * Powerbook? No thanks. Linux laptop, yo!
  * I love CSS – LOVE IT TOO!
  * Perl is the devil. PHP is delicious
  * All my machines are named after Ninja Scroll characters 🙂
  * I don’t read Jeremy Z’s blog.. Only people I know.

• Yahoo! User 
  commented

  06/27/2005 03:04 pm

  likes free food
• Yahoo! User 
  commented

  06/27/2005 02:47 pm

  Did you really just use “love” and “CVS” in the same sentance?