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My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

thecodist.com

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Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#161

Post by 59nadir »

HemanHeartYou wrote: post #146
Zelmor wrote: post #24

He would have been unhappy with the other choice as well, because then it is the programming side he would be missing out on. I would advise everyone to read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536 You chose one option out of many, and the others may no longer be a possibility. However, the writer's unhappiness does not spawn from his inability to be successful at what he does,…

I agree this guy is way too whiny and jealous of materials. However, you're still the asshole here.

Why does anyone need to be "the asshole"? Neither of them seem like assholes. No one is doing anything wrong... One guy is saying "What if?" and the other is saying "Perhaps that wouldn't happen like you imagine it?".

These are both perfectly valid ideas and thoughts and I don't see why anyone has to be wrong.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#162

Post by mason240 »

jareds wrote: post #2

If you can't retire comfortably as a programmer where was all your salary going? I enjoy programming, but also realize I'm limited in how much I will make. I'm ok with knowing I won't own a 5000 square foot house or buy the newest laptop every two years because I'm putting money away for retirement.

Plus, with 3-9 month contracting gigs, part time freelancing, and remote work, we have more semi-retirement options than any other career field I can think of.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#163

Post by bucma »

dcw303 wrote: post #38
Zelmor wrote: post #24

He would have been unhappy with the other choice as well, because then it is the programming side he would be missing out on. I would advise everyone to read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536 You chose one option out of many, and the others may no longer be a possibility. However, the writer's unhappiness does not spawn from his inability to be successful at what he does,…

I'm still coding after almost 20 years in the job, and have no intention of stopping. I tried some other options - teacher, artist, entrepreneur. None of them give me the thrill that I get from programming. I still get locked into a flow where time shifts, and before I know it hours have passed. The only other activity that does that is Civ, and no-one is going to pay me to play that ;) If 10x assets is what drives y…

I think people who are picking up on the 10x assets thing are missing the point... Money can help you feel better about things when things in general aren't going well.

What he says about missed opportunities, and working for idiotic management, that's the big thing here. You work your ass off, the management does dumb things, so the thing you're working on never really pays off, in money or fun.

The fact that his sister has 10x the assets is kind of an insult after injury kind of thing.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#164

Post by jt2190 »

thegayngler wrote: post #157

Im of the belief that technical people and managers should really be at the same level financially and otherwise quite honestly. That's really the only way I can see the whole manager/programmer thing can work out for the benefit of everyone. When you have non-technical managers or technical-managers who's skills are out of date making decisions on behalf of the programmers you end up with a mess. That is often the c…

Ironically, the only way to fix this is for conscientious programmers to go into management, where they will have the power to actually change things.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#165

Post by g8oz »

Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose is what we all want. Bad leaders are getting in the way of his Autonomy so he feels like he lost his Purpose. Hence the longing for an objective metric like money. It's a poor substitute.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#166

Post by dcw303 »

Chris2048 wrote: post #117
henrik_w wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It didn't take me 30 years, only 15, but I did develop problems - RSI in my arms. Luckily, it recovered, but it took a lot of effort: http://henrikwarne.com/2012/02/18/how-i-beat-rsi/

As a 30yo dev, I started getting pains in my wrist, and numbness on one side of my hands (the pinky and finger-next-to-it). I switched to a ball-mouse at work, and no longer get this. I believe the large amount of time using a mouse had compressed and damaged my nerves somehow. I'd recommend the switch for anyone spending hours with a mouse.

Do you mind me asking, at what times did you feel the pain?

I've been having something similar but always during the night, so I had not made an association with RSI.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#167

Post by stkni »

Zelmor wrote: post #24

He would have been unhappy with the other choice as well, because then it is the programming side he would be missing out on. I would advise everyone to read The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536 You chose one option out of many, and the others may no longer be a possibility. However, the writer's unhappiness does not spawn from his inability to be successful at what he does,…

Yep, I made the same realization as the OP in that changing things to any large extent required being part of the management. I got my break 10 years ago then 6 months after that I quit to go and work overseas to be with my wife & family.

Turns out being a programmer is a very portable skill, and good ones get paid well. Life isn't so bad.

I imagine if I'd spent the last 10 years in management I probably wouldn't have changed jobs and be just as frustrated, just in a different way.

But let's not get carried away here, the OP (and I) might have been pretty poor management material after all.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#168

Post by AlexC04 »

Ohhh... man. This is a bit tough to read.

After 20 years in programming I've recently started looking into going back for a CS degree (masters or undergrad). But this guy makes me wonder if I should reconsider the MBA option.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#170

Post by Aleman360 »

thegayngler wrote: post #157

Im of the belief that technical people and managers should really be at the same level financially and otherwise quite honestly. That's really the only way I can see the whole manager/programmer thing can work out for the benefit of everyone. When you have non-technical managers or technical-managers who's skills are out of date making decisions on behalf of the programmers you end up with a mess. That is often the c…

Eh, dealing with people is harder than dealing with code. Code does what it's told, has no emotions, is debuggable, doesn't need motivation, etc.
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