Elysian Shadows

Me, the lead programmer of our robotics club and the one with the most programming experience, gets tied to the most basic and boring jobs like testing sensors and graphing them in excel... I literally spent 2 hours getting 20,000 data points from the robot, filtering them out and graphing them today. Now this other programmer refuses to address my title as lead programmer... He says "there is no lead programmer." I had been specifically given the position as the lead programmer from our programming mentors. He is now programming the arm and accuses me of being arrogant. He does not want me to touch his code at all either. What kind of team work is this?

But honestly though, how do you guys work as a team? I mean he does not see me as a superior (I had to go back and fix his code several times). Sure academically, he is doing better than me, but I still have years of programming experience over him. Hell, I even took the initiative to program in Java to fit his requirements because he does not know C++. Now he criticizes my programming "style"... Lo siento. I taught myself... 5 years of the same style really sticks on.


edit: oh and about that fully autonomous robot: trashed due to the lack of funding

Sounds like a really bad type of a guy
The only way I've ever worked in a team was with only one guy who's been my best friend for several years. That's the way programming is fun. (And actually, I wouldn't dare to do it in another way)
Yeah, that's my opinion; a small team where everyone knows the other and has the same vision is better than a relatively big team of people who do not share a vision at all (unless they get paid^^) and eventually spread hatred against other members and stuff...
Hope you get along with him or solve that in another way.

btw - Java's execution timespan is a pain for every normal C++ developer, isn't it?

What a douche

Just don't fix his code and wait until he comes crawling back asking for help

Tell him if he refuses to address you by your actual title, given to you by your superiors that he can 1. Learn to not make shitty java code or 2. Buy a c++ book and have you help with the robot using the originally intended language

If he has any sort of interest in programming, you should program something incredibly cool and show it to him.
He will realize he does not know how to do this, learn from it, and solve both his and your problem.

If he has no interest, you can make him leave the team, but you must realize that this will still end up with you having to test sensors, as you'll have nobody else to do it.

I have a feeling no matter what he does he'll be testing sensors xD But honestly that does sound like a good idea. You'll either have to earn his respect or force him into authority. Choose whatever style fits you best. Me... I'd go for the respect on first, if that was taking too long I'd do the latter

I cant imagine why he thinks you're arrogant. (There's always some element of truth to even the most misguided)

Listen, respect is not something that is ascribed to you. (Not even by your project mentors). Every time, without fail, you will have to earn it. It sounds like you want him to just bend over and take it so to speak, which...yes...is a rather arrogant and puerile.

The best lead programmers that I've ever worked with realize that its not really a "job" but a "task". None of these tasks usually involve touching other people's code. Try not to view it as a job, be constructive, turn the table around and consider not bitching about his unwillingness to worship your ascribed status.

Fixing other people's code is not a recipe for being a project lead, nor does it imply you as a superior. As a lead programmer I've had others fix bits of my code. If he's doing better academically then you have to come to question why. There's only two factors to academic performance and the first is that you don't fully grasp the material. The second is that your work ethic lacks. A lack of either speaks volumes. This obviously bugs you, so ask yourself why.

Lastly, try to ask yourself hypothetically what would make you a good lead programmer. Pitch your credentials to yourself and see what ya come up with. (No, having 5 years of experience is not acceptable). Wear the shoe on the other foot and many times this will put you on the path towards seeing the rest of the team's motivations, issues, and becoming an EFFECTIVE team leader.

So just pretend that you don't have a title and see how you can proceed from there. Perhaps doing the mundane is a fine prescription for humility.