Ask HN: Senior SWE, what would you say to today's jr SWE?

#1

Post by lnalx » Sun, May 14, 2023, 9:09 AM UTC

The world is moving fast and being a SWE has always been a challenge. With new frameworks, language, AI... we tend to simplify our job and forget about the history or the basics.

As a Senior software engineer, what advice or wise words would you say to a junior?

Re: Ask HN: Senior SWE, what would you say to today's jr SWE?

#2

Post by iefbr14 » Sun, May 14, 2023, 9:42 AM UTC

I started in 1975. If I had to live my life again I would chose a profession like carpenter or blacksmith. A profession in which you produce something tactile and durable. It gives more satisfaction and it has a lower chanche of being spoiled by 'progress'

Re: Ask HN: Senior SWE, what would you say to today's jr SWE?

#3

Post by bdangubic » Sun, May 14, 2023, 1:02 PM UTC

iefbr14 wrote: post #2

I started in 1975. If I had to live my life again I would chose a profession like carpenter or blacksmith. A profession in which you produce something tactile and durable. It gives more satisfaction and it has a lower chanche of being spoiled by 'progress'

I started in 1999 and I co-sign this. Get a job where you have to shower when you come back from work, not a job you have to shower in the morning before you go to work

Re: Ask HN: Senior SWE, what would you say to today's jr SWE?

#4

Post by cameron_b » Sun, May 14, 2023, 5:18 PM UTC

bdangubic wrote: post #3

iefbr14 wrote: post #2

I started in 1975. If I had to live my life again I would chose a profession like carpenter or blacksmith. A profession in which you produce something tactile and durable. It gives more satisfaction and it has a lower chanche of being spoiled by 'progress'

I started in 1999 and I co-sign this. Get a job where you have to shower when you come back from work, not a job you have to shower in the morning before you go to work

I resonate with this. I’m not a SWE, but still run the risk of spending too much time in theory and not vetting my work in the real world.

There is totally room for software in the real world, even in the sort of job where you take a shower at the end of the day. Perhaps an “applied sciences” approach is best. It isn’t that we don’t do the “computery stuff” (as my wife would say) but rather it is always best to focus on how that impacts the real world. Are we optimizing fertilizer and irrigation application to boost real crops for less input cost? Are we maximizing the customer experience for a painful process to make it “spooky easy” compared to the other ways of buying things we need.

Gum shoe software still has a chance to have a huge impact. There’s a chance that your skills or your field are not broken but perhaps the company is.