Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
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Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
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Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#2Hm. The author works for a web/mobile development agency and uses React Native and GWT as examples of the new and the old, respectively. I hope it isn't news to anybody here that this sort of work is a race to the bottom and has such turnover precisely because it's mostly being done by junior developers. Linux systems programming arcana, for instance, doesn't disintegrate so quickly as the ten years the author cites. That's why, after getting into the industry as a frontend web dev, I will only do that sort of work now as a last resort to pay the bills (the other reason is because it's easy/boring as hell, apart from the greater opportunity for mentoring). Doing that sort of work now feels like I am sabotaging my career.
Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#3The fundamentals of computers have not changed all that much. Every assembly language i've learned is still valid, and their respective architectures are still widely deployed.
I'd suggest not building a house on sand, and learn the fundamentals of how computers and programming language works. Don't learn anything closed-source. It isn't worth the brainspace.
Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#4You know, if truth be told, we really haven't come very far. You'd probably be surprised at just how well a modern COBOL system can operate. (http://blog.hackerrank.com/the-inevitable-return-of-cobol/)
In fact, in many ways we've made things worse because not only does the sand keep shifting, there is now way too much sand. Young people come into the field and they want to make their mark. So we are constantly going through "next big thing" phases, some big like OOP, some smaller like React, only later to realize that what seemed so very interesting was really a lot of navel gazing and didn't really mater that much. It was just a choice, among many.
I can only hope one day some breakthrough in C.S. will get us past this "Cambrian Explosion" period and things will finally start to settle down. But I am not holding my breath. Instead I am learning Forth ;)
Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#5Hm. The author works for a web/mobile development agency and uses React Native and GWT as examples of the new and the old, respectively. I hope it isn't news to anybody here that this sort of work is a race to the bottom and has such turnover precisely because it's mostly being done by junior developers. Linux systems programming arcana, for instance, doesn't disintegrate so quickly as the ten years the author cites.…
What do you duo instead? I want to get into embeded/systems development or marine (ship systems) development -- but the vast majority of that work seems to be DoD and/or require more than Public Trust clearance which I refuse to get.
Web Dev is just so easy to get, and pays well, at the moment the temptation is hard to ignore.
Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#6Hm. The author works for a web/mobile development agency and uses React Native and GWT as examples of the new and the old, respectively. I hope it isn't news to anybody here that this sort of work is a race to the bottom and has such turnover precisely because it's mostly being done by junior developers. Linux systems programming arcana, for instance, doesn't disintegrate so quickly as the ten years the author cites.…
Ill add people doing COBOL, C, and C++ to that list. Rate of change is slower. People are more conservative about what they're doing. Reuse of proven components prefered. Knowledge doesnt have to get worthless so fast if it was worth something in the first place.
Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#7This statement is false
> Half of what a programmer knows will be useless in 10 years.
and the rest of the article seems to be based on it so it negates much of what is said.
Foundational knowledge does not decay. Knowing how to estimate the scalability of a given design never gets old. Knowing fundamental concurrency concepts never gets old. Knowing the fundamentals of logic programming and how backtracking works never gets old. Knowing how to set up an allocation problem as a mixed-integer program never gets old.
In short, there are many things that never get old. What does get old is the latest fad and trend. So ignore the fads and trends and learn the fundamentals.
Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#8Hm. The author works for a web/mobile development agency and uses React Native and GWT as examples of the new and the old, respectively. I hope it isn't news to anybody here that this sort of work is a race to the bottom and has such turnover precisely because it's mostly being done by junior developers. Linux systems programming arcana, for instance, doesn't disintegrate so quickly as the ten years the author cites.…
What do you duo instead? I want to get into embeded/systems development or marine (ship systems) development -- but the vast majority of that work seems to be DoD and/or require more than Public Trust clearance which I refuse to get. Web Dev is just so easy to get, and pays well, at the moment the temptation is hard to ignore.
Nothing as cool as embedded development, database development or anything like that. Just general backend positions, working on the guts of something that may have a web layer, mobile layer, etc. Web jobs are plentiful and paid fairly well early in my career, but pay on the upper end has a pretty hard cap, so it's been a worthwhile move as there's more opportunity for career growth. It also better lends itself to specialization (ML, natural language processing, etc.) so that is another opportunity.
Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#9[deleted]
Re: Reflections of an “Old” Programmer
#10Hm. The author works for a web/mobile development agency and uses React Native and GWT as examples of the new and the old, respectively. I hope it isn't news to anybody here that this sort of work is a race to the bottom and has such turnover precisely because it's mostly being done by junior developers. Linux systems programming arcana, for instance, doesn't disintegrate so quickly as the ten years the author cites.…
Twentysomething year old here, so you know, not like you don't have a point but:
>the other reason is because it's easy/boring as hell
I legitimately think front end development is not only very fun, it can have some really challenging aspects. I wouldn't think there's any programming challenge that is inherently easier because it's on web as opposed to something else.
Of course I bet there are domain-specific tasks (Distributed Programming, Embedded hardware to list some) that are likely harder than web development. But I guess what I'm trying to say is: I don't appreciate you calling what I make a living off, and spend quite a few hours studying weekly 'easy/boring as hell'.