HACKER Q&A
📣 endofreach

Have you ever encountered Doppelgänger-Code?


I have often wondered about if other devs stumble upon code where they really think they would have written it exactly the same way, almost as if it was their own?

Or do you know of a case where some code of different people were exactly alike? To the point that it would seem like plagiarism.

I haven't encountered that. Not even in simple webdev stuff, where there aren't too many ways to do things (excluding some CSS & HTML).

Interested to hear any stories or anecdotes.


  👤 kmarc Accepted Answer ✓
Not code but I have encountered a doppelgänger software engineer.

He was an external contractor on a (sub-) project I de facto managed. I'd meet him twice a week, checking how the feature implementation is going, and prioritize upcoming work. He delivered exactly what I told him, in a way I would have done it. Even better, whenever he had more time until our next meeting, he would proactively implement some new stuff, which I.would have asked for. Sometimes when I was speaking to him, just because speech is slower than thought, and I haven't expressed my thought yet, he'd "finish my sentence", point out exactly the corner cases I was about to, and also, eerily get stuck at the same problems I would be.

I loved working with him, I kept telling even to my friends outside of work what a great companion I found and how happy I'm at work. The project was "finished" and we don't collaborate anymore. He is a great guy, and definitely there were times I had this doppelgänger-feeling.