"I make computers go fast."
(About to get my PhD, doing research in systems and high performance computing.)
Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
21–30 of 64 posts
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#22I'm a computer geek.
That's it.
I usually get a short, puzzelled stare, followed either by either a "what, exactly?" if they wanna talk about it or a "oh, change of subject..." if they don't. However they answer, go with the flow.
BTW, I'm currently a sysadmin, but I'm a coder at heart.
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#23"I'm an infrastucture engineer. I keep all the underlying stuff working so that people who build software and websites have a place to put it."
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#24What I do: I write the software that lets other software developers get their job done; and in a circular way, I use the software I write to write the same software. If someone is technical, I can explain that I work on compilers.
But when I want to explain to non-techies what it actually entails: I say I sit in front of a text editor which contains precise instructions telling the computer what to do; and I edit it, slowly and experimentally, trying to get it right. It's almost like a poetry epic: low-level rhythm and rhyme, but high-level story.
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#25I make things go.
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#26Visitors to this country are often surprised to find that Americans like to begin a conversation by asking "what do you do?" I've never liked this question. I've rarely had a neat answer to it. But I think I have finally solved the problem. Now, when someone asks me what I do, I look them straight in the eye and say "I'm designing a new dialect of Lisp." I recommend this answer to anyone who doesn't like being asked…
The usual opening question in Ireland is "where are you from", and it's similarly awkward to answer for me (I'm not really from anywhere specific). If you're a foreigner in Ireland, the follow-up question is often "when are you going back?" - not intended in a xenophobic sense, but rather an assumption that one wouldn't want to leave one's home area for the rest of your life.
But I'm not sure there really are better ways to start a conversation that leads into talking about the people, rather than third-party topics. Probably a better answer to "what do you do", if you don't like the gambit, is to talk about your hobbies, or make something up that is only tangentially, allegorically or metaphorically about what you do.
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#27Sometimes it might be wise not to let people know exactly what you do. As a warning, I was golfing with my father and group of people who have the same profession. I had been doing contract work with a Big Company as a report writer (yes, I know, but the money was really good). It so happens one of the reports was a customer facing document (receipt of sorts) and it was specified by people who dealt with other Big Companies and not regular customers. This caused said report to be pages long. The professionals in the golfing group all had dealings with Big Company and had received many pages worth of this report. My Dad mentioned, by way of explanation on what his oldest kid did, that I had contracted to Big Company and had written said report.
...errr...
I found out, for the next 13 holes, how much they disliked said report with detailed explanations. I was no longer contracting with Big Company, so no feedback was passed on. Dad now understands why I give a very short non-specific answer.
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#28I always say 'Software Developer'. If you say, 'Computer Programmer' then they picture someone tinkering with computers, if you say 'Developer' or 'Engineer' they don't know it's anything to do with computers or software. What really annoys me, is when people respond with 'Oh right, I.T.' or 'I have a friend who does I.T. too, yeah he fixes computers at... ' - I personally see being a 'Software Developer' as a far hi…
> What really annoys me, is when people respond with 'Oh right, I.T.' or 'I have a friend who does I.T. too, yeah he fixes computers at... '
You shouldn't let this get to you. These people are just trying to relate to you based on this new information.
To someone outside an industry, most people in it can appear to do the same thing. Just think: how many types of airplane mechanics/portrait artists/theoretical physicists can you identify? To people in these and many other industries, I'm sure there's an incredible variety of roles and job descriptions.
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#29I make systems that help people stop ships from banging into each other. Essentially, I write computer stuff that lets people play "video games" with real life 80,000 tonne tankers, the idea being to help them go efficiently while keeping them out of places they shouldn't go, and keeping them apart.
Oh, and we help find the bad guys too.
Re: Ask HN: Explain to non-techies what you do: Programmer? Developer? Engineer?
#30I'm a computer geek. That's it. I usually get a short, puzzelled stare, followed either by either a "what, exactly?" if they wanna talk about it or a "oh, change of subject..." if they don't. However they answer, go with the flow. BTW, I'm currently a sysadmin, but I'm a coder at heart.
That is one of my answers. The other is to grin broadly and say "Code monkey".
People get a bit of dissonance when they see me saying that, since I'm a bit old for using a keyboard full time. But programming is one of few things I've found that I love [Edit: and people will pay me doing], so I went back.