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Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#351

Post by cyberferret »

endisukaj wrote: post #288
jstimpfle wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did (s)he do there? (Not a native speaker if that matters).

Not a native speaker either so I may be wrong in this assessment, but a physio is someone who also gives therapeutic massages when needed. Hence, rubbing shoulders.

Yes, "rubbing shoulders" is a coloquial term to mean that you are standing next to other/famous people - at a crowded party or lining up next to each other for a photo opportunity etc. Your shoulders tend to bump or rub against each other in those situations. This is my friends case, as his Facebook feed is full of pictures of him standing next to (rubbing shoulders with) famous actors & politicians etc.

@oneeyedpigeon cunningly made the connection between my friend being a physio (physiotherapist) whose main job is providing healing and relief from muscle pain usually by rubbing or applying pressure. (Computer programmers like me who spend a long time at the keyboard often visit a physio to get our shoulders manipulated and rubbed to relieve built up tension).

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#352

Post by raverbashing »

segmondy wrote: post #346

A bit too late, but if I could do it all over again, I would have gone into health care. I have lot's of friend in the industry. Ask them about their day, they just saved lives - heart surgery, brain surgery, trauma stabilization in ER, just saw a toddler through cancer treatment, and so on and so forth. What did I do? Oh, I wrote code.

But could you do a surgery without squirming? I couldn't (though I suspect there's some getting used to needed)

They also saw that patient that barely made it, that kid with inoperable cancer or that person with lots of potential that attempted suicide

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#354

Post by nstr007 »

I love programming, I feel I can express my self threw code. However, I wish my wife and others could appreciate what I do like I do. If I could do it again, I think I'd like to be a carpenter or something that can be appreciated in the physical world.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#355

Post by [deleted] »

JDiculous wrote: post #109
sean_patel wrote: post #83

Programming is a creative art, and when I say that to my non-programmer friends, they laugh it off, but if you think about it, it is true. Just like artists, the programmers, coders, developers all design and create new things that didn't exist before, and no 2 programs or applications or completely functioning code will be identical for anything other than a fizzbuzz type test. So it is natural for the creatives to…

Programming involves very little creativity compared to actual art, so to call it a "creative art" is a gross exaggeration. A programmer is given a very specific set of tasks (eg. send data from A to B, fix bug, implement X), and his problems are mostly technical. This doesn't even compare to the creativity involved in a real artistic endeavor like designing your own videogame, writing your own screenplay, or composi…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#356

Post by rmathew »

Jamie Zawinski[0] gave up professional programming[1] to manage a lounge[2].

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Zawinski

1. www.jwz.org/gruntle/nomo.html

2. www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/1998-1999.html

Edit: jwz hates HN; made the links non-clickable. Thanks @Jtsummers.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#357

Post by JoeAltmaier »

m0nty wrote: post #338
clentaminator wrote: post #256

I think about leaving programming every day. I love programming, but I'm not sure I enjoy software development as a career. I enjoy coding and understanding how computer systems work, but I don't care for the constant changes in tools and techniques in certain domains of development. I'd rather practise with and improve my existing knowledge of a subject, instead of constantly playing catch-up with someone else's too…

> without having to play the development workflow game with the daily standups and so on? It never used to be like this. I think management has reacted to the traits they perceive in programmers - get distracted too easily, work on things that don't need doing, take too long, cannot provide work-time estimates, etc - by putting in place this micro-managing approach: "only do it if it's on the kanban and tell us each…

Yeah Agile is the assembly-line version of software development. You're reduced to optimizing effort for your very local problem space. And its a grind. The 'sprint' is well-named though - you constantly race toward another crappy feature done with minimum effort.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#358

Post by Veen »

JDiculous wrote: post #109
sean_patel wrote: post #83

Programming is a creative art, and when I say that to my non-programmer friends, they laugh it off, but if you think about it, it is true. Just like artists, the programmers, coders, developers all design and create new things that didn't exist before, and no 2 programs or applications or completely functioning code will be identical for anything other than a fizzbuzz type test. So it is natural for the creatives to…

Programming involves very little creativity compared to actual art, so to call it a "creative art" is a gross exaggeration. A programmer is given a very specific set of tasks (eg. send data from A to B, fix bug, implement X), and his problems are mostly technical. This doesn't even compare to the creativity involved in a real artistic endeavor like designing your own videogame, writing your own screenplay, or composi…

I think coding is a craft, and like any craft, it can be used to make art, but it can also be used to less than artful ends.

Same with my profession: writing. I'm a professional writer. I get paid quite a lot for what I write, but what I write isn't art. I've just trained myself to produce a commodity that others find valuable. Obviously the craft of writing can be used to create art, but that's not what I do.

The craft of programming could be used to create great art, but that's not what most programmers do with it.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#359

Post by Jtsummers »

rmathew wrote: post #356

Jamie Zawinski[0] gave up professional programming[1] to manage a lounge[2]. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Zawinski 1. www.jwz.org/gruntle/nomo.html 2. www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/1998-1999.html Edit: jwz hates HN; made the links non-clickable. Thanks @Jtsummers.

Be aware, jwz.org used to (accidentally verified a month ago) have a rather NSFW image that it would redirect you to if you were linked to the site from HN. Copy/paste that link, don't click on it.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#360

Post by dasboth »

gressquel wrote: post #344
dasboth wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the other day I saw a data analyst position at UNICEF. Probably not the job you're after, just wanted to let you know those jobs are out there!

thanks, will try to find it.

I think it was this one: https://jobs.theguardian.com/job/6407065/senior-data-analyst...
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