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Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

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Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#511

Post by AlexisOhanian »

What makes me happy depends on what type of work I'm doing.

- Scripts, tools, etc. Here I really enjoy being able to automize tasks. Then being able to combine scripts, tools, etc. into even more useful things makes me even more happy. Some things almost become magical once they have been automized.

- Games. Here I enjoy being able to create something fun out of nothing.

- Debugging. Finally finding a hard to find bug can give a quite unique rush of happiness.

- Research/innovation. Working on something brand new which no one has done before and finally releasing a product which people enjoy is sheer pleasure.

- Web development/user interfaces. Finally finding the right combination of simplicity and usefulness to create a really usable product is also a very pleasurable journey.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#512

Post by junok »

I`m not a programmer, but I want to be a programmer because I might be more happier with programming.

It`s my third year of doing my current job, IT project managing/IT system managing in Teleco company(Not in the U.S.) and I always dream about being a developer which I wanted to be before I got this job, because I like write a code I like learning something new. I don`t like my current job because it is very monotonous, it has very little things to learn as an Engineer(As far as I experienced). It`s just all about risk/cost/quality/deadline management + a lot of paper works. At the same time, however, I also afraid that If I quit my job and be a developer, I might lose everything that my job give me now - high salary, job security, not bad work/life balance(9 to 6~7). Because, in my country, most of developer cannot have those things like good salary as mine, w/l balance(close to 10 to 10 almost everyday) and job security. Yeap. Being a programmer in my country is quite tough choice.

Many of my friend having told that I have to stay in my job and write a code as hobby, and some people says I should do things that makes you happy. Someone says 'Working as a programmer is not as fun as programming for hobby', but the other says that if I 'stuck' in my current job, there will be no 'improving'.

It`s really really hard choice for me.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#513

Post by id »

kendallpark wrote: post #456
id wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There a many countries where you don't have to borrow a single cent to study medicine. Instead, you even get paid a small support every month.

That's true. I have heard that in these countries the docs typically don't get paid as much, though I don't have a source for this.

That's somewhat true, but they are free to go wherever they want to.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#514

Post by unprepare »

marknutter wrote: post #444
cgopalan wrote: post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Do you really need a basic income implementation for this to work? Can't you simply downsize your expenses to x/10 what they are now, work x/10 as much to pay for them, and do whatever you want for the other (10-x)/10 worth of time?" I am genuinely curious to know as to how this equation can be practically implemented. To be really effective in your non-work time, x would have to be at most 5 or less. There are mult…

> To be really effective in your non-work time, x would have to be at most 5 or less That doesn't sound very effective to me > Reducing expenses to half is pretty tough given the biggest expense is rent/mortgage. This is simply a matter of finding a location to live where rent is not a big expense. All you need is an internet connection. You don't have to live in the Bay Area to create software and there are plenty o…

>I also find that the best health insurance policy is to take care of yourself

>minimize your health risks (thankfully programming is not very hazardous

health risks from being seated and sedentary all day are quite extreme.

Unless you meant they should join a gym and increase their expenses, thus increasing the amount of work they need to do to pay their bills.

So we've got:

health insurance,

car insurance,

gym membership,

housing/rent,

food,

gas,

internet connection,

electricity,

any current debt (student loans, car loans, mortgage, personal loans, etc),

any savings contributions for retirement.

So yeah, just cut all those expenses by 10x, have a job that allows you to work less than 20 hours/ week from anywhere, and have a altruistic goal that can also be met remotely without interacting with anyone ever.

Oh and also, be a programmer - remember that an altruistic life is reserved for very specific niches of society, altruism should never be the goal of the huddled masses.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#515

Post by vonmoltke »

logfromblammo wrote: post #434
vonmoltke wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For the most part, the scrutiny of government auditors ensure that you actually can't work more than 40 hours in a single week. Have yet to encounter a contracting environment where is is true. In fact, I was explicitly told that since I was salaried I was expected to put in whatever work it took to make deadlines, despite only putting 40 hours down on my timecard. Considering the facility I worked in had a DCAA of…

Oh, how delightful. Call the government ethics hotline and inform them that your employer is defrauding the government. You might get a nice bonus out of it, in theory. In reality, whistleblowers always get screwed. You would have to extensively cover your own ass, and gather evidence that absolves you, specifically, of wrongdoing first. If you are reporting time worked as anything other than the actual number that y…

I haven't worked there in almost four years, so that would be hard to do at this point. Even if I was, part of what sustained this is that we were a classified program, so only cleared auditors could access the full information.

Furthermore, our government customer didn't care as long as they got their deliveries on time and as cheaply as possible. I know in theory a program office can't lean on DCAA, but in practice (especially considering the clearance situation) I don't know if the PO would obstruct such an investigation. After all, from their POV getting what they want for less is not fraud.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#516

Post by marktangotango »

andy9775 wrote: post #251
rjbwork wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can give you a little advice from seeing some non-degree-having peers make it. Have some idea what you're doing. Talking the talk is great, but you must be able to walk the walk. Apply to everything that sound like you can/want to do it, even if you don't technically meet the requirements. Those are mostly for HR pre-filtering since HR doesn't really know what they're talking about in 99% of cases - they're just lo…

Great thanks. I've built stuff before and have been learning/coding for the past ~4 years so I don't classify myself as a complete beginner. When applying without a CS background how tough are the technical interviews? Do they tend to expect more or are they more lenient and look more at fit and ability to grow?

I interviewed a referral once, this kid had written a couple of trivial android apps in notepad, which was something at least. But when I drilled down he really didn't understand anything he was doing with respect to the build (ie didn't know what the classpath was), didn't know anything about basic collections, didn't know tools like eclipse, version control. He claimed to be eager to learn, but no one has a full time dev to spare teaching anyone intro classes on this stuff.

So, from my perspective, if he would have known the tools, basic concepts, and had taught himself more, he would have been a hire. Otherwise, he just wasn't self starting, and really wasn't eager to learn, or he would have come with more ability.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#517

Post by cgopalan »

marknutter wrote: post #478
cgopalan wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. I am not opposed to the killing of animals, just the torture involved in the killing. If you see videos of how animals are farmed in slaughterhouses and warehouses, you wonder how humans have degenerated into something so vile that they dont even consider the pain and conditions these sentient beings go through.

I'm fairly certain spiders are not concerned about the suffering of the butterflies they consume..

Are you seriously comparing animals killing and eating other animals for food with what we do to animals and birds in slaughterhouses? Have you watched videos of slaughterhouses? Have you seen how fur is plucked off rabbits for angora, and feathers off birds for down jackets? In almost all cases, the skin also comes off and they are not even killed after the act but mercilessly left to die on their own. Almost everyone, even if they choose to ignore it, acknowledges the cruelty in the meat and farming industry.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#518

Post by cgopalan »

therealdrag0 wrote: post #490
cgopalan wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Count me in as someone who, given the support of basic income, can and will live frugally and give my working self 100% towards ethical objectives, as I understand them." Amen, brother/sister, amen. Exactly how I feel. Also I see you are empathetic towards animals. I have adopted animal welfare and animal rights as my single biggest ethical objective. After working for about 20 years on writing software for domains…

Have you already done or have leads on what kind of work specifically you can do in the animal welfare area?

Yes, I have a general idea. I will be polishing and refining it in the 2nd quarter of this year. As of now, it will mostly be a website that provides info about how to inculcate a cruelty-free lifestyle (hopefully without being too preachy). I want it to gather a much larger scope (maybe games or mobile apps to help people understand) but as of now I want to start somewhere, and that will be a simple static website.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#519

Post by rjbwork »

marktangotango wrote: post #516
andy9775 wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great thanks. I've built stuff before and have been learning/coding for the past ~4 years so I don't classify myself as a complete beginner. When applying without a CS background how tough are the technical interviews? Do they tend to expect more or are they more lenient and look more at fit and ability to grow?

I interviewed a referral once, this kid had written a couple of trivial android apps in notepad, which was something at least. But when I drilled down he really didn't understand anything he was doing with respect to the build (ie didn't know what the classpath was), didn't know anything about basic collections, didn't know tools like eclipse, version control. He claimed to be eager to learn, but no one has a full ti…

In that kind of situation you can basically do a contract to perm internship kind of thing, point them at resources, and see if he's fully competent to be junior at the end of the contract. Not everyone can afford this of course, but sometimes people don't even know what they should be learning, but will gobble up knowledge if pointed in the right direction. A weapon waiting to be aimed, if you will.

Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?

#520

Post by marktangotango »

bsenftner wrote: post #246
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember being 16 and forging teacher's noted to get out of study hall to go to the library. Why? Because they had a REAL computer there! A Commodore PET! With 4K of RAM and BASIC! I came in, sat down, and thought "what do I want this machine to do that would be cool?" And so I wrote a game. Other kids loved the game enough to fight over who could play it. That was pretty cool. But I look at programming now? Damn,…

I've been thinking a lot about those days, and how magazines like Creative Computing and the Commodore computer manuals provided all the necessary foundation to make engrossing 1-2 day projects. It is totally possible today, but one needs to realize those magazine articles and project tutorials need to be created that guide new developers. That is us, we're the people that need to create the engaging, he's how its do…

IME the barrier is much higher now; if a kid writes a tetris or space invaders, he would be laughed at by his peers, when in fact either of those are significant accomplishments for a beginner. Expectations are so much higher now, it really changes the dynamic.
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