Trying Out That ‘Francis Menuge’ Thing
So, I kept hearing whispers about this ‘francis menuge’ approach. Sounded fancy, maybe a bit French? Honestly, I thought it was probably just another buzzword someone cooked up.
But then, I got stuck on this old project. Documentation was a mess, code was spaghetti. Deep in some forgotten config file comments, I saw it mentioned: ‘Implemented using francis menuge principles for X module’. Okay, fine. Curiosity got the better of me. I decided to actually figure out what it was and try replicating it for a new feature.
Here’s what I did, step-by-step:
- First, I dug around to even understand what ‘francis menuge’ meant in this context. Took ages. Found some cryptic notes, nothing solid online. Seemed like some internal pattern someone named after… who knows? Maybe the coffee machine guy.
- I tried setting up my workspace the way the old notes hinted. Lots of manual file linking, really specific directory structures. Felt like coding in the dark ages.
- Then I started coding the actual logic following the ‘principles’. It involved a weird way of passing data around, lots of intermediate steps that seemed pointless. Like taking the scenic route on a highway.
- I ran the initial tests. It sort of worked? But it was slow. And debugging it was a nightmare. Every change broke something else in an unexpected way.
Honestly, it felt like more trouble than it was worth. It reminded me of so many projects I’ve seen. You get these pockets of ‘clever’ solutions invented by someone who left ages ago. Nobody understands them, nobody can maintain them, but they’re too embedded to rip out easily. It’s like finding weird plumbing in an old house – you just learn to live with the low water pressure.
Why did I even bother digging so deep into this francis menuge thing?
Well, it goes back to my first real tech job. We had this senior guy, absolute wizard, but documented nothing. He built this core system, then left for a ‘spiritual journey’ in Nepal or something. Left us completely stranded.
My manager, bless his heart, was convinced the key to understanding the system was deciphering this guy’s ‘unique methods’. He literally had us printing out code, sticking it on walls, trying to find patterns, like detectives in a cheap movie. We spent weeks on that nonsense instead of just refactoring the damn thing.
That whole experience made me super wary of these ‘magic bullet’ techniques or personal coding styles that aren’t standard. When I saw ‘francis menuge’ in those comments, it triggered that old PTSD. I just had to see if it was another one of those dead ends. Turns out, yeah, pretty much. Stick to the basics, folks. It usually works better.
