Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

bipolarco.de

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 124 posts

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#61

Post by danso »

mabbo wrote: post #50
danso wrote: post #30

Hey, kudos for thinking this: > And then I want to get away from coding for you and code for me. I don't like coding for you. I don't think any of us do. Too many people think of coding as only a career...thus, we shouldn't teach coding to non-comsci-majors because not everyone should be a programmer as a job. Programming is an intellectual and productive pursuit in it of itself, and there is a huge difference betwee…

That said, I've met a few developers where it's just their job. They aren't passionate about code they way I am- their passions lie elsewhere, and that's fine. Being passionate about software development can help you be a better developer- but it's not a prerequisite by any means.

Definitely...actually I found after college that I didn't really like programming and didn't feel very good at it, at least not compared to my classmates who hacked all the time in school. But when I started programming for myself, and various side projects, it made me a much better and happier programmer. I'm happy to have become better, because it's helped me expand the scope of things that I want to accomplish...but time is ultimately a limited resource, so I'm mindful of what I've sacrificed by spending late nights tinkering with code.

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#62

Post by jacalata »

moron4hire wrote: post #48
solipsism wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to reply to the parent saying, "He's not saying he's entitled to anything! He just doesn't like his situation and wants to change it!".. and then I realized the author replied first, and indeed is asserting he's entitled to happiness? What was the point of any of that hard work? Maybe there was no point, maybe he/you made a mistake. From where do you derive entitlement? If you live in the United States yo…

Alright, fine, we don't deserve anything. We don't deserve to be treated like children. We don't deserve to have the majority of our productivity either stymied or taken from us and bastardized. We don't deserve to be told "do this for us and we'll take care of you" and that turns out to be nothing. Yeah, there's a lot we don't deserve. I'm owed what I was promised. I was promised "pass these tests, you can get into…

So what are you going to do then?

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#63

Post by pcurve »

williamle8300 wrote: post #41

He's essentially admitting two things: 1) I hate my job... but! 2) I do it because I need it Ok. That's fine. Just shut-up if you need the job. No one needs to hear about your woes and whinings if you're conscionable about the contract you're entering in to. It's downright childish if you don't reject/quit a job if you don't want it.

3) make up your own interesting side projects that will benefit your manager, company,and customers, short term and long term. If you don't, you risk remaining as a permanent cog. You want to transform from a cog into planetary gear set.

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#64

Post by greggman »

staunch wrote: post #38

If programmers made twice as much money, it would be such a great job. And yet salaries have been relatively flat for over a decade (adjusted for inflation). Something is wrong that salaries never seem to rise with demand in Silicon Valley. We know there was a secret deal to help suppress wages at one point, but it's not obvious why it's been so successful. Is it new graduates, immigration abuse, internationalization…

Money does not make the job and more fun or less boring. I'm not sayin it don't want money I just don't agree that more money would make programming a great job. It might help them tolerate a boring job longer

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#65

Post by meric »

nstart wrote: post #60

I almost cried while reading this. During that job, I made and shared two side projects for the first time in my life. But the 9 to 5 hell was impossible to deal with. Fast forward to now, I'm remotely working with a company that pays me a great salary. I live in South East Asia and that means my savings are fantastic. Bonus is that the company is amazing. Dreamt of joining it since 2012. But I digress. Here's where…

Which company is this?! I'd love to talk to you about it!

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#66

Post by NhanH »

jmspring wrote: post #40
NhanH wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not giving the writer enough charity with your interpretation. Almost every single programmers I personally know around his age shares the sentiment. Ranging from SV startup jobs to the FB/Google/Microsoft/AMZN, even some doing programming in countries half way across the world.

So, a generation of entitled? Me - I stay with a job (or side project or consulting) if it is fun and I am learning something. Pick and choose accordingly. From the article -- "I write test automation to test the front-end" -- there were potentially interesting things here maybe some years ago, but he put himself into a position that frequently gets off shored and doesn't have a lot of room for growth/creativity. Rea…

If you believe that there are a world-wide generation of entitled human, there is not much substance to be discussed.

I read the post as simple as the field where he grew up with turned out to be a much different thing in a (industrialized?) setting.

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#67

Post by scrabble »

I actually quite enjoy my job. I still have side projects that I also enjoy, but my job is wonderful along with the company I work for.

Also, this stuff: "I didn't care how my code read, or if it was maintainable, or if it was DRY, or if it was tested, or how long it'd take me to write, or if features were separated into logical chunks"

Right at the beginning is where you lost me, because even when I was in grade school, I still made my code maintainable and separated into logical chunks because I had to read and maintain it whenever I got a chance to get back to it. My side projects are all built with these things in mind.

It is good that you have decided that coding isn't the right career for you, but I wonder what is? I would also be careful of making harsh public criticisms of your employer. It's easy to figure out where you work, and these are the types of concerns that your employer should be able to work with you to address.

Best of luck.

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#68

Post by FLUX-YOU »

staunch wrote: post #38

If programmers made twice as much money, it would be such a great job. And yet salaries have been relatively flat for over a decade (adjusted for inflation). Something is wrong that salaries never seem to rise with demand in Silicon Valley. We know there was a secret deal to help suppress wages at one point, but it's not obvious why it's been so successful. Is it new graduates, immigration abuse, internationalization…

Lower end pay can stay right where it is. Upper end pay could probably go up to better reflect actual skill and specialty knowledge.

I really doubt a union would succeed unless you suddenly get a lot of programmers on board very quickly. Tech giants are big and if they chose to fight, they have a ton of cash to do it with.

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#69

Post by solipsism »

moron4hire wrote: post #48
solipsism wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to reply to the parent saying, "He's not saying he's entitled to anything! He just doesn't like his situation and wants to change it!".. and then I realized the author replied first, and indeed is asserting he's entitled to happiness? What was the point of any of that hard work? Maybe there was no point, maybe he/you made a mistake. From where do you derive entitlement? If you live in the United States yo…

Alright, fine, we don't deserve anything. We don't deserve to be treated like children. We don't deserve to have the majority of our productivity either stymied or taken from us and bastardized. We don't deserve to be told "do this for us and we'll take care of you" and that turns out to be nothing. Yeah, there's a lot we don't deserve. I'm owed what I was promised. I was promised "pass these tests, you can get into…

Keep on insisting you're owed what you were promised, and keep on saying "Eff. That. Noise." See how far it gets you. My rules may suck, but they have the advantage of being reality.

But you probably have your own reality? Great, just don't be surprised if you're the only one living in it.

Re: Coding as a Career Isn't Right for Me

#70

Post by optimusclimb »

Mithaldu wrote: post #23
tomreece wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Third. I've only been at it for 6 years now. I'm 27. I'll correct the title for you to be "Older, Tired, and Bitter"

I've been at it for 11 years now, and i wouldn't consider myself experienced enough to make the kind of judgement calls you make in your post.

I don't get why people have this mentality. While it's true that there is always more to learn, and there are always those that are better than us - people don't get to be successful, rich, and/or have a high title in their late 20s and early 30s by waiting around to hit certain experience milestones.

If Zuckerberg can be a billionaire CEO running a huge company at 30, you can make some judgement calls about your job in your mid 20s.

Post reply on HN