TL;DR
A developer with strong technical contributions is producing frequent typos that escape linters and tests, causing late-stage failures and some production outages. The poster suspects undiagnosed dyslexia, feels the colleague is defensive, and is weighing solutions like tooling changes, AI-assisted review, and reallocating test writing.
What happened
A team member is described as hardworking, fast-learning and generally net-positive, but they consistently introduce typographical errors in areas not covered by linters or simple spell-checks — especially in configuration files and shell scripts. These mistakes are often discovered late in staging and have contributed to a few production outages. Although the team already uses code reviews and maintains a test suite, typos keep slipping through; when the same person writes tests, errors can propagate into test code as well. The situation has strained team dynamics: some colleagues have blamed the author for sloppiness, and the author appears both aware and defensive about the issue. The poster suspects a possible undiagnosed learning difference but does not want to raise a medical diagnosis. Proposed remedies under consideration include reducing brittle config and scripting patterns, asking the colleague to use AI to flag likely typos, and having other engineers write tests.
Why it matters
- Typos in configs and scripts can bypass linters and cause late-stage failures or production outages.
- When one person both writes code and the tests, mistakes can propagate and reduce test effectiveness.
- Blame and defensiveness within a team harm morale and make constructive remediation harder.
- Tooling and process choices can either amplify human error or mitigate it, so engineering decisions affect reliability.
Key facts
- The colleague has a strong work ethic and takes on tasks like increasing test coverage.
- High typo rate affects configs, shell scripts and other code not caught by linters or spell-checkers.
- The poster suspects undiagnosed dyslexia but is not asserting a medical diagnosis.
- Typos are frequently detected late, typically in staging, and have led to some production outages.
- The team already uses code reviews and maintains a test suite, yet typos still slip through.
- When the colleague writes tests, the problem can shift to incorrect tests rather than production code.
- Team reactions have included a blame dynamic, with some colleagues questioning perceived sloppiness.
- The colleague appears defensive and possibly in denial about the scope of the issue.
- Possible mitigation ideas mentioned include reducing stringly-typed config, AI review, and having others write tests.
What to watch next
- Whether engineering changes to reduce stringy configs and dynamic scripting actually lower error rates (not confirmed in the source).
- Whether AI-assisted code review helps catch the kinds of typos causing outages in this codebase (not confirmed in the source).
- Whether shifting test-writing to other team members reduces slipped errors and late-stage failures (not confirmed in the source).
Quick glossary
- Dyslexia: A learning difference that can affect reading and writing; a medical diagnosis should be made by a qualified professional.
- Linter: A tool that analyzes source code for programmatic and stylistic errors before execution.
- Test coverage: A measure of how much of a codebase is exercised by automated tests; higher coverage can reduce regressions but does not guarantee absence of bugs.
- Staging environment: A pre-production environment that mirrors production for final testing before deployment.
- Shell scripting: Writing scripts for a command-line shell to automate tasks; errors can affect deployment and system behavior.
Reader FAQ
Is the colleague diagnosed with dyslexia?
Not confirmed in the source.
Have typos caused production issues?
Yes — the post says typos led to a few production outages.
Has the team already tried code reviews and tests?
Yes — the team uses code reviews and maintains a test suite, but typos still slip through.
Should you tell the colleague you suspect dyslexia?
The poster is not considering telling them because they are not a doctor; they explicitly avoided making a medical claim.
Happy new year! Weird question but here goes. My colleague has a strong work ethic, works hard, learns fast, goes out of his way to increase test coverage etc. I…
Sources
- Ask HN: How do I help a colleague who introduces a lot of typos?
- Effective Ways to Address Team Mistakes
- what to do when an employee keeps making mistakes
- How to deal with a colleague who keeps making careless …
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