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Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#221

Post by thecatspaw »

gandolfinmyhead wrote: post #143

Sadly yes. It's been very frustrating at times. I thought of becoming an environment artist for videogames instead. Though OP hasn't asked for the following here goes, I feel the IT field has a lot of people wanting to change career paths, more than any other field because of the following: 1. Programming is an art, if not done right and assuming the product is in continuous development, will come back to bite you in…

> 3. The IT field has no concept of overtime pay

this very much depends on the location. The US seems to be lax on overtime laws, whereas in europe its more strictly defined, and I have not worked for any company in europe where we didnt get overtime pay/compensation

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#222

Post by croon »

JDiculous wrote: post #132
ygra wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CRUD apps are probably not the most creative things, indeed. But I've had a fair bit of problems where I'd say solving them was a creative endeavour. Especially on the UX end there are lots of such problems in my experience.

I guess to more simply articulate it, there are levels of creativity. Being tasked with making something function correctly or making a UI look like a psd is more of a technical problem and involves way less creativity than creating something more open-ended like an original work of art. It's like designing a board game vs. being handed the designs and building it.

So it's exactly like art. Idea + implementation.

Disclaimer: Have been writing music for almost 20 years, programming about the same.

"I want a picture"

"I want a picture of a bridge"

"I want a picture of this bridge that I built"

"I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors"

"I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors, from this angle"

"I want a picture of this bridge that I built, in these colors, from this angle, in this scale, made on this canvas, with these materials, painted with oil"

Do you get my point? The creative decisions could be endless, even with restrictions. Sure, not all programming is creative, but that's true about any creative field. Most of it is creative though, or rather, it's as creative as you are.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#223

Post by michakirschbaum »

I became a programmer to avoid being pigeon holed professionally. Programming has strengthened my critical thinking ability for other creative endeavors, and I could leave for actual engineering (e.g. electrical), applied mathematics, music, art, design, entrepreneurship.. basically I chose programming to leave the door open for any of these activities. I feel that this isn't a flexibility as easily afforded to say, physicians or lawyers.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#224

Post by patrickdavey »

sverrirs wrote: post #179
matt_wulfeck wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> smart but artless This is why it's so important for me to work on something people use . At a previous job I'd sometimes hit a wall. I would log into one of the production API hosts and tail -f the access logs, where I'd see many different people and applications using a piece of software that I'd help write. I'd grab an IP address and geolocate it and see where the person was from. The humanization of work can be…

Seriously, create a small report based on the logs that tracks visits, popular calls etc. It will do you good every morning to check it (charts and comparisons are great) and it will be an asset when promotion time comes around and you have define your "contribution" to the company :)

I absolutely love the visualisation on bookdepository [0] where you can see what people are buying...

[0] http://www.bookdepository.com/live

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#225

Post by bshimmin »

stevekemp wrote: post #163

In moments of madness I've considered both locksmithing and plumbing. Both are jobs that cannot be outsourced, and which SEO can be useful for. That said I'm a sysadmin rather than a programmer, and I have no immediate plans to change. One thing I would not do is become a photographer; that's my hobby (well that and rock-climbing / gyming), and I've seen too many people be burned by trying to become professionals. I…

I charge money to shoot old ladies, hookers, and pets.

That sentence really, really needs to be kept in the appropriate context to avoid some fairly serious misunderstandings.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#226

Post by paganel »

tmsam wrote: post #108
mimming wrote: post #67

After 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 6…

For what it's worth I still think pretty often of my high-school math teacher who helped me "get" Calculus, almost 20 years ago. I wouldn't have my current programmer job and interest in abstract things if it weren't for him.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#227

Post by truth_sentinell »

JaumeGreen wrote: post #195

I left programming for dancing. I'd been working at the same job for about ten years, and I started to work on a different group that made the same product with a never technology. I hated that, I found it hard to work in that and I wasn't that productive. Also I had some burnout, some depression, and not much to look forward to... Except for dancing. I had begun some years prior and I became somewhat good, and I eve…

You could save money from your programming job and fund yourself a dancing academy. Or even better, find a way to mix the two. Never stop dreaming!

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#229

Post by inopinatus »

dvrajan wrote: post #93
uniclaude wrote: post #14

I believe a lot of us here on HN would consider leaving programming for doing business. A lot (including myself) already did. Programming being very often about solving business needs, sometime in your career, you might be in a position to realize that it could make sense to go higher up the chain and build a company.

Indeed. Having started a business yourself. What do you think programmers should learn/know before make this feat.

Book-keeping, marketing, and managing high performance teams.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever thought of leaving programming for something else?

#230

Post by yitchelle »

I left programming to do ProjMan work so that I have more time doing my main project of giving my family the best life possible.

I found that SW engineering is too taxing on my time at my stage of my life. My wife and I are mid 40s and the kids are growing fast.

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