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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?

#531

Post by mindcrime »

prawn wrote: post #502
mindcrime wrote: post #29

A few years ago, I briefly considered going back to school, getting a degree in Exercise & Sports Science, and getting into athletic training. But in the end, I could never quite convince myself to do it, and the moment passed. I also flirted with the idea of becoming a private detective a couple of times in my life. I actually still find that idea somewhat interesting, but I doubt I'd ever make the money doing that,…

Not sure about your location, but in Australia there are fairly accessible courses to help people get into personal training. I imagine that falls short of full, accredited athletic training. However, could you not get some lower-level qualification and set yourself up doing training 1-2 sessions a week? Gives you something different on the side without needing to make a full income or quit what you already know.

Yes, that was / is an option. I actually did buy a bunch of books on the topic (beyond ones I already had in my collection for my own use), and bought a certification course training manual for a personal trainer certification. But I guess inertia turned out to be too powerful a factor to get around. I was making good money in tech, and I do actually enjoy it, and in the end the motivation to truly step away was never strong enough.

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

#532

Post by triplesec »

xchaotic wrote: post #286
triplesec wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's too late? I'm certain you could work in other kinds of development

I bet the OP can make loads more money in VFX than going back and doing some junior programming role, hence I'm with him.

Over time with investment in self, the money would outstrip vfx, even if the first job only matched it. If you like development, do some projects!

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

#533

Post by NumberCruncher »

david927 wrote: post #114

I currently work in a good environment where I'm appreciated and paid well. Not many people in the world can say that, so I have a lot to be thankful for. Programming has done good by me. But I don't love it. Alan Kay is right, it's like building "an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves". There's no eleg…

>> "I wanted the reward and not the struggle. I wanted the result and not the process. I was in love with not the fight but only the victory. And life doesn’t work that way." I learned to pick struggles I love, to pick processes I love and to pick fights I love. Writing code a.k.a. "programming" is a part of struggles I have chosen for myself and I am fine with it. What I learned through the process:

- Do "programming" if you love to pile bricks on top of each other, with no structural integrity, done by brute force as one of thousands of slaves, building a pyramid for someone else.

- Do "programming" if you love to pile bricks on top of each other, sometimes with structural integrity, sometimes with elegance, as a lone wolf or a part of a small team working on its own business. Just remember Derek Sivers.

- Do "programming" as a part of solving your own problems you would otherwise solve by boring manual work. Don't tell about your programming skills to your boss. Make a short day and have a beer while others are solving their own problems with boring manual work! Cheers! Credit goes again to Derek Sivers.

But if you care about "working on the next pyramid" and you are not the pharao... well, to cite Mark Manson, you "are giving too many fucks where fucks do not deserve to be given".

Sorry for the offensive language, blame Mark Manson for it, if you want to.

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

#534

Post by marktangotango »

yoyobird wrote: post #435

I think automation will replace the need for SEs. Sites like weebly, jeenka, snapmobl eliminate the need for a programmer if you want to build your own website. If I were a programmer, I would start thinking about exit paths within the next 10 years

FYI people have been saying this since the 50's. Symbolic assemblers were supposed to make 'programming' obsolete; there's a relavant quote by Richard Hamming I can't be arsed to look up.

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

#535

Post by marktangotango »

Lawstudent004 wrote: post #374

I'm 25, I finished my bachelor of laws last year (started in 2010) and I'm doing my master of laws atm (it's a 5 year programme where I live, bachelor is 3 years, master is 2). I've always wanted to do something in IT and lately Infosec has really started interesting me. Last year I took up some programming classes (java) and I actually liked it, however I kept convincing myself that despite that, I was going to fini…

I've worked with a couple of JD holding developers over the years. So there is precedent from what I've seen.

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

#536

Post by asveikau »

Fifer82 wrote: post #529
asveikau wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His comment was aimed at someone defending those with a disorder they cannot help. I call that bullying.

Oh please. Grow a set of balls.

Balls is calling you out for your behavior. What have you done here except pick on people for standing up to it?

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

#537

Post by Fifer82 »

asveikau wrote: post #536
Fifer82 wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh please. Grow a set of balls.

Balls is calling you out for your behavior. What have you done here except pick on people for standing up to it?

I don't like PC Police who run around with "Bully" on their poster as a backup. It makes me cringe.

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

#538

Post by pathsjs »

mpfundstein wrote: post #490
pathsjs wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has really little to do with mathematics...

I don't agree. Did you ever take a good look into FP? Start with Functors and Monads and wander deep down the path to category theory... But beware, you won't be able to function anymore in a JAVA OOP store :P

Well, I am actually a mathematician. I knew cateogry theory well before I was even able to hack a web page with php and jquery. :-)

And still, I find that most of the abstractions that appear, say, in Haskell have little mathematical content. Even less so their imitation in Javascript. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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

#539

Post by gaastonsr »

david927 wrote: post #512
david927 wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Notice that I'm quoting Alan Kay. You're not just disagreeing with me, you're disagreeing with a Turing Award winner -- and that's not to say that he's right, or by extension that I'm right, but you can't simply hand wave it away as coming from someone who doesn't understand it well enough.

I didn't word that well. What I'm saying is that it specifically is missing what architecture or math has, which is a sense of higher understanding and managed view. So in other words, this isn't just a failure to find the beauty of PHP, but that PHP (for example but any language will do) is fundamentally misshapen and malformed.

Again, in your view. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't have it.

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

#540

Post by geekster777 »

Yes! I'm graduating school in a month, and I've already considered this. I have a couple years of prior industry experience, though. I love the challenges, but I ultimately feel unfulfilled by writing code. It's something I can do happily for five, maybe ten years, but not for thirty-five.

So recently I've been planning to fund a creative life by saving like a college kid for a decade. The prospect's actually led to a heavy side interest into finance. There are tons of resources on early retirement and financial independence floating around, as well as other ways to create passive income. Based on my starting salary, I'll likely be able to supplement a new career within a decade.

As for what I would do, I'm looking into making music, writing books, and chemistry. Been keeping a journal of book ideas for a few months - challenged myself to write a new one every day - so that I can choose the best ones to practice writing once I get some downtime. I've been playing guitar for over ten years, and I love the production of music. It would likely be recreational, but I want the ability to produce professional quality songs. And chemistry is the moon I shoot for. It's what I've enjoyed learning most in school, so learning and understanding as much of it as I can will bring me great satisfaction.

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