Ask HN: Do you hate software engineering but love programming?

What exactly is your definition and/or interpretation of software engineering? And how exactly, in your eyes, is it different from programming?

Sounds like most of us you like developing but dont like working in other people's code and design.

Corporate work has a bad reputation but lots of upsides. I work in a small team of 5 people on a system that has about 40 users. Its amazingly better when you can talk to everyone, know what all the users want, dont have to worry about constant uptime or scalability. Flexibility and budget to pay for good platforms. Just dont talk about the refactoring - rewrite from scratch!

Reply: Yes it is expensive, the users are all paid more than us though which means we're helping them be productive. I have to add we also own a second application that has about 100 users that we spend some time on maintenance and support.

> I have come to a realization that I don't really enjoy Software Engineering(& the processes that it comes with) but I do love programming & solving problems.

I can almost guarantee that you’re just at the wrong company.

Some software companies can turn even the simplest tasks into a grueling series of processes, endless meetings, and joint work across a big number of “stakeholders”. These companies will take the joy and productivity out of programming and replace it with a series of rituals and set of language that people use to go through the motions every week so they can collect paychecks.

Start interviewing around. Talk to your network. Find a company that values programming and real productivity but discourages unnecessary meetings and process. You will be much happier. There is no escaping the fact that you’ll have to work on legacy code, document your work, and meet with people some times. However, it doesn’t have to be a miserable process-filled slog.

RE: Finding and fixing bugs is a lot of fun

In that case I suggest finding a commercially-backed, open source project which you are passionate about. You can have best of both worlds - plenty of bugs and community interaction, all while also making a living out of it.

I think I'm the opposite. I like solving problems as part of a team, evaluating different tradeoffs and approaches, figuring out what people need from the software and how to get it there as simply and cheaply as possible. It's very engaging with no easily identifiable "best" or "optimal" in most cases.

Actually dealing with code is a pain in the ass. It's better than digging a ditch for ten hours a day but not really enjoyable for its own sake either.