Quote:
Originally Posted by Masterchief
As a fellow independent programmer here's a few tips:
- Us programmers think we're much better than we really are, so when a programmer gives you a time frame double it and you'll have an semi accurate figure.
- While we may be the fucking baddest ass programmers to exist, we often lack basic business and social skills. So a week into the project we might decide that we gave a price to low or are not capable of completing the project so we'll just go poof, vanish and disappear! So be sure to always maintain communication and pay after work is completed or use an escrow service.
- We really don't care about your deadlines.
- A few of our family members may get sick and die - multiple times. Being a programmer is an EXTREMELY dangerous job for everyone involved so keep that in mind.
- We're big procrastinators, going back to number 1 we think we're king shit and the fucking best, so for a 8 week project we may think we can get by and bullshit the first 6 weeks and get everything done in the last 2, at which point family members begin getting sick and suddenly dying ;). So be sure to keep an constant eye on progress and demand daily/bidaily updates.
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I know that some are like this, sometimes i've gotten designers to design me stuff and they are exactly what you've described. But I (as a php programmer/freelancer) never missed deadlines without good reason (which is in 99% of the time because the client wants a new feature and they understand this will add a couple of days to it). Never had a client who wasn't happy
. And never disapeared. I always give my personal MSN and email, so I can't really disapear (well, I could block you. But I don't).
When i get designers to do stuff I expect them to work to deadlines like I do, and get annoyed when they "have to go out", or the last excuse was "I got bored so went out" from this guy. He won't be getting any more work from me...
Ps - You forgot about after sales support - most just do a runner basically. Once you've got your product, if you find a bug its your problem, for most programmers (Not for me. Always fix a bug within 48 hours - often a lot less).