Music. Maybe it's a burnout, but I find it difficult to use my creativity in programming.
Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
101–110 of 570 posts
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can I ask how you got started in the field? I actually began my career in Accounting (my undergrad is in it), and still find the world of finance pretty interesting. Somewhere along the line I ended up in Engineering and have been a Software Dev ever since. But I do still think about getting into trading at some point, but not sure how to transition.
How does an accountant end up in "engineering" without going back to Uni and doing an engineering degree?
Let me guess, you're Canadian and your next post is going to be how without that ring or whatever you're not real engineer rollseyes.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#103Programming is a creative art, and when I say that to my non-programmer friends, they laugh it off, but if you think about it, it is true. Just like artists, the programmers, coders, developers all design and create new things that didn't exist before, and no 2 programs or applications or completely functioning code will be identical for anything other than a fizzbuzz type test. So it is natural for the creatives to…
Why not explore other creative mediums like music, painting, writing or whatever? Better yet why not work in the intersection of two or more mediums?
Yes, that is also an option. In fact intersection of two or more mediums is incredibly satisfying, if you can actually achieve it and be "successful" at it (whatever metrics you measure success in).
Elon Musk's wife calls this "Idea Sex".
> Choose one thing and become a master of it. Choose a second thing and become a master of that. When you become a master of two worlds (say, engineering and business), you can bring them together in a way that will a) introduce hot ideas to each other, so they can have idea sex and make idea babies that no one has seen before and b) create a competitive advantage because you can move between worlds, speak both languages, connect the tribes, mash the elements to spark fresh creative insight until you wake up with the epiphany that changes your life.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-first-wife-explain...
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#104Music. Maybe it's a burnout, but I find it difficult to use my creativity in programming.
Same here. There is room for creativity in programming, but it's very constrained and there are always a lot of hurdles you have to jump over before you can express your creativity. With music, you have a lot more freedom and can dive right into it.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#105Farming and/or studying philosophy.
I always figure that programming is the only thing that allows me to farm.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Condescending? Please explain why you see it like that. When you go to a doctor, you expect that they completed training and are certified to practice medicine. It is the same for the engineering profession. Would you want to work in a high rise building that was designed and built some self-titled engineers who have never been appropriately trained?
> It is the same for the engineering profession. In some countries it is that way. I know Canada is very strict about who can be called an engineer. In the US, it is not that way. AFAIK, there's no legal definition of an engineer, and anybody can call themselves an engineer.
Well there are certifications and licenses for civil engineers. But not other forms of engineering, and 'engineer', unqualified, is not a protected word. In fact for the most part we don't really have protected words (1st amendment and all that).
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#107In general, when those thoughts crossed my mind it was when I was working a job I should have left already. There are good companies that value developers and/or give them a reasonably good balanced work environment. Generally the two go hand in hand. For places that don't, frustrations and poor practices tend to push us into less fulfilling lifestyles. But if pressed... Corporate pilot comes to mind. I've spend I do…
oh wow! I have been on a Boeing 737 simulator once and it was a unforgettable experience. Hoping to earn enough money to fly real aircraft atleast once. Life experiences is what matters.
You could also enlist in the air force and get paid to do it.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#108After years of software, I discovered that my favorite part of the job was teaching stuff to my peers. I started by dabbling in teaching: - Mentored some high school robotics teams in the evenings - Taught night school / weekend classes as adjunct faculty at local universities - Shifted my day job from developer to developer advocate And then a few months ago I took the plunge... sort of. I went on sabbatical for a s…
For contrast, I went the other direction. I taught middle and high school math, then got an MS in math (really enjoyed TAing) and started programming. I really appreciate the intellectual stimulation; I love the fast pace with which ideas evolve in the community. But I miss being that teacher who helped someone "get" math.
One of the coolest experiences I've had: one of my students managed to end up in my class for 6th, 7th and 8th grade math... Then 7 years later I hired her as an intern! She totally crushed the internship. Meaningful relationships with students like that, where they still check in occasionally and give me updates on how they are doing and tell me how I changed the way they see things... that is something I miss a lot.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#109Programming is a creative art, and when I say that to my non-programmer friends, they laugh it off, but if you think about it, it is true. Just like artists, the programmers, coders, developers all design and create new things that didn't exist before, and no 2 programs or applications or completely functioning code will be identical for anything other than a fizzbuzz type test. So it is natural for the creatives to…
Programming involves very little creativity compared to actual art, so to call it a "creative art" is a gross exaggeration.
A programmer is given a very specific set of tasks (eg. send data from A to B, fix bug, implement X), and his problems are mostly technical. This doesn't even compare to the creativity involved in a real artistic endeavor like designing your own videogame, writing your own screenplay, or composing a song. The latter is totally open-ended, and chances are that whatever you create will be way more unique than the 10,000th CRUD app written in the hottest web stack (React/Redux/Sass, or whatever the cool kids are into these days).
Lack of creativity is actually one of my biggest complaints with this field.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?
#110Like some dozen others here, if it weren't for the money.. sure, I'd run a bike shop, with a frame building shop in the back room. As careers go though, what we do is interesting, ever changing, and an exercise in learning almost every day. Oh, and the pay kicks ass. So, yeah, I've thought it. Lots of us think it all the time, but really, we've got a great job, so while the grass may be greener over there, it's prett…
I agree. The grass is pretty damn green here. I think programming has taught us to think and solve problems. I cant wait to see a world where programmers apply their problem solving skills in other domains and make great leaps.