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Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

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Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#441

Post by atemerev »

i336_ wrote: post #145
Tinned_Tuna wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Make your _business_ case, not a technical case. This applies to software engineering, security engineering, etc. The above comment does not absolve you from doing cool things, it's just that the cool things should align with business interests. No yak shaving. Sometimes writing a one-off script will take 30 minutes, and doing it by hand will take 10. Do it by hand.

Here's my problem. I'm not particularly prolific, so the number of ideas I have far outweighs my execution so far. This is mostly due to ADHD and other issues which I'm working on fixing, and while contextually relevant is not my point. This lack of prolific-ness means that I have a literal tower (it's rather intimidating) of wanting to build cute but objectively not so useful routines simply for the sake of building…

ADHD sucks. I have it, too, and I somewhat solved this problem by moving into R&D, where they pay you for ideas directly. But these fields are rare (quant finance is one of them).

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#443

Post by runT1ME »

bitL wrote: post #406
runT1ME wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you've never worked at those companies, and you are assuming what it's like to work there? And are you claiming you make 500% more than say a senior engineer at G/FB?Am?

I actually worked for better companies (with emotional attachment from developers), one top-end pioneering company that invited all developers at least once a year to Silicon Valley regardless of rank, and one in particular that refused G's acquisition multiple times and G was forced to make an alliance with it, and this company is loved by many at HN these days. Ranked higher on Glassdoor than G/FB, and more than 50…

Hah, so will you tell us the company? Sounds like some of us should be applying there... (though it did seem to make you not want to stay and be a developer there?)

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#444

Post by silverpikezero »

deedubaya wrote: post #252
scarface74 wrote: post #68

I have been developing professionally for 20 years and I'm in my early 40s. What I've learned: * Salary compression is real: most companies are not going to keep giving you raises to match what the market would give you for your skills. They would rather you leave and take all of the institutional knowledge with you than pay you the amount you could get elsewhere. Even if that means hiring someone else at market valu…

This is the best advice here. Mostly around >They don't have any loyalty to you. Companies preach "family" and "loyalty". DO NOT BUY INTO THIS MENTALITY. They're not going to hesitate to fire you if it means they can maintain their bottom line. and >Even if you don't want to become a manager, when the time is right and you have the right skill set, demand a title with "architect" or equivalent in it. Titles are B.S.…

> Title's probably aren't going to be given without some other political reasoning. They have to be claimed. Same goes for "Director", "Head of", and "VP" titles. Titles are rarely assigned based on merit, so stop trying to earn them.

My god, that's a spot-on piece of wisdom if I've ever heard it. Some titles like Principal and Architect can be earned through hard work and exemplary performance. C-level titles and Director/VP almost never operate on merit.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#445

Post by b0rsuk »

dgregd wrote: post #440

Take care of your health. Sitting long hours damages your spine. I learned this too late.

As someone after a spine surgery, I can't agree more. I have a tendency for discs to slip. The only way I can treat it is core exercises, 4+ times a week for up to 1 hour. While I now look impressive with shirt off, the sheer monotony of these exercises stinks, and it doesn't remove the problem completely. I'm like a cockroach now - I can only rely on my exoskeleton.

If I knew these exercises before the operation, I could have prevented it. Leading a healthy life, proper posture when sitting, physical exercise (for spine - especially swimming) are extremely important in the long run. Your spine degrades with time, load and improper posture. Sitting in general is unhealthy. Humans didn't evolve for sitting. I'm more comfortable lying or walking. People ask me to sit trying to be polite, but it really makes me less comfortable.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#446

Post by praneshp »

1. Learn gdb/pdb/whatever. With IDEs, it's even easier to set breakpoints, etc.

2. Try to setup a nice workflow in the early stages. To me, this includes setting up the code in git, and a minimal test/deploy system. This encourages me to commit often, make incremental changes, and rollback/switch branches frequently.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#447

Post by throwaway_4564 »

bitL wrote: post #331
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

False so far, and I'm 55. I kick the rear end of fresh graduates. They can type a lot faster, turn out more lines of code per day. Great. I don't write the bugs that they write, so I don't have to take the time to find and fix them. I don't make the design mistakes that they make, so I don't have to fight the design flaws to get things done. They work harder; I get more done, and I get paid accordingly. And if you th…

You are probably in 1% of lucky ones. Imagine you have a bad year (sickness, family issues etc.) and you don't have management that is used to you around (e.g. there is a reshuffling). How long would you manage to stay? You should put this into your equation. I also dislike being a manager but I am more capable manager than all managers I've been under (maybe I am just unlucky but I don't think so). We all know the b…

Software companies are about power structures more than they are about software.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#448

Post by bitL »

runT1ME wrote: post #443
bitL wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually worked for better companies (with emotional attachment from developers), one top-end pioneering company that invited all developers at least once a year to Silicon Valley regardless of rank, and one in particular that refused G's acquisition multiple times and G was forced to make an alliance with it, and this company is loved by many at HN these days. Ranked higher on Glassdoor than G/FB, and more than 50…

Hah, so will you tell us the company? Sounds like some of us should be applying there... (though it did seem to make you not want to stay and be a developer there?)

You all should ;-) But I believe in independence and my inner motivation is that no company utilized my potential to more than 10% even if I was working on their most difficult problems and created things that got to #1 spot on HN no one has created before (and boredom sets in). Even G tried to motivate me by telling me they are now having "the most complex piece of software ever built" and I have a chance to work on it. Will talk to FB again shortly, will see what they want this time, but as I said, I don't really care.

Re: Ask HN: For those programming 10+ years, what do you wish you knew 4 years in?

#449

Post by flavio81 »

nullspace wrote: post #22
caleblloyd wrote: post #11

Use strongly typed languages for large projects

Adding my corollary, if you must use dynamically typed languages - ensure at any cost that you split it up into multiple small independent codebases.

Note that a language can be dynamically typed and strongly typed at the same time. An example of this is Python.

Another example is the latest release of C++, which is strongly typed but now allows for dynamic typing with the 'auto' keyword.

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