25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning • Hacker News Board

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#11

Post by ui-explorer12 » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:33 AM UTC

tehlike wrote: post #6

readingnews wrote: post #5

No offense, but you claim you have been "officially coding for 25 years now". You state you are 36. Were you really, officially doing anything at 11 years of age. What does that mean? I was a solder tech at 13 years old. I NEVER throw that out there in any blog or write up, even though I was _literally_ getting a paycheck from a company. Does that make me an official solder tech? Hell no. When people ask how much exp…

Eh. I did coding when i was 13, started a project that got famous at the time, was a well known member of programming community back in the day, and got semi famous in .net circles when i contributed to castle project and nhibernate at age 19ish. Nothing big, but we got more free time as kids, hence did more. And yes, i think my engineering work was probably high quality even by my today's standards.

My first reaction was similar to the GP - not sure you can throw out the word "officially" when it refers to something you say you did at 11 years old, unless it's documented or there is some sort of record. When the overall post is how you have nothing to show for it, that's kind of the opposite of official.

Don't really care if people want to measure differently, but IMO what you've done in the past 2 years is way more important than how long you've been doing it. The 15 year old genius I went to university with is now 33 and doing the same mundane things as most salary devs.

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#12

Post by ratsimihah » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:37 AM UTC

orev wrote: post #3

What every salary-person has to show for it: a life lived; bills paid; food on the table; health; a roof over your head; a body not ravaged and damaged by hard labor; the ability to relax and have some entertainment in the evening; a place to sleep; comfort; relative stability; the ability to make a living using mostly just your brain. Yes, perspective is important, and I’m not saying one should not strive to make mo…

Maybe some of us tend to mix up "a life lived" with overachieving. In other words, we only feel it worth if we produce something truly outstanding.

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#13

Post by tehlike » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:38 AM UTC

ui-explorer12 wrote: post #11

tehlike wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh. I did coding when i was 13, started a project that got famous at the time, was a well known member of programming community back in the day, and got semi famous in .net circles when i contributed to castle project and nhibernate at age 19ish. Nothing big, but we got more free time as kids, hence did more. And yes, i think my engineering work was probably high quality even by my today's standards.

My first reaction was similar to the GP - not sure you can throw out the word "officially" when it refers to something you say you did at 11 years old, unless it's documented or there is some sort of record. When the overall post is how you have nothing to show for it, that's kind of the opposite of official. Don't really care if people want to measure differently, but IMO what you've done in the past 2 years is way…

None looks further than your last work experience when they are hiring you. That's true.

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#14

Post by darekkay » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:39 AM UTC

readingnews wrote: post #5

No offense, but you claim you have been "officially coding for 25 years now". You state you are 36. Were you really, officially doing anything at 11 years of age. What does that mean? I was a solder tech at 13 years old. I NEVER throw that out there in any blog or write up, even though I was _literally_ getting a paycheck from a company. Does that make me an official solder tech? Hell no. When people ask how much exp…

I think you understand the statement as "officially coding", but the author's point is probably "it is official that I have been coding for 25 years". Thus the confusion. He says nothing about the quality or consequences of his coding. I've started coding at 14, so yes, I have been coding since then (and I can "officialy" make this statement).

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#15

Post by omgoodness7 » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:41 AM UTC

I’m glad you had a long career and continue to do so. You sound similar to engineers I’ve interviewed with 1 year of experience for 15 years. Good luck on your journey.

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#16

Post by perfmode » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:44 AM UTC

orev wrote: post #3

What every salary-person has to show for it: a life lived; bills paid; food on the table; health; a roof over your head; a body not ravaged and damaged by hard labor; the ability to relax and have some entertainment in the evening; a place to sleep; comfort; relative stability; the ability to make a living using mostly just your brain. Yes, perspective is important, and I’m not saying one should not strive to make mo…

I can’t enjoy my leisure when there is so much injustice around me

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#17

Post by steve_taylor » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:49 AM UTC

orev wrote: post #3

What every salary-person has to show for it: a life lived; bills paid; food on the table; health; a roof over your head; a body not ravaged and damaged by hard labor; the ability to relax and have some entertainment in the evening; a place to sleep; comfort; relative stability; the ability to make a living using mostly just your brain. Yes, perspective is important, and I’m not saying one should not strive to make mo…

You forgot to mention millions of dollars of value created for other people.

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#18

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:52 AM UTC

perfmode wrote: post #16

orev wrote: post #3

What every salary-person has to show for it: a life lived; bills paid; food on the table; health; a roof over your head; a body not ravaged and damaged by hard labor; the ability to relax and have some entertainment in the evening; a place to sleep; comfort; relative stability; the ability to make a living using mostly just your brain. Yes, perspective is important, and I’m not saying one should not strive to make mo…

I can’t enjoy my leisure when there is so much injustice around me

[deleted]

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#19

Post by ivanhoe » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:55 AM UTC

Jordan Peterson has come up with this rule: "Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today". Aside all the controversy that surrounds him, this is really deep and solid advice IMO. You don't live the life to impress others, so who cares if you have to show "something", you did a tones of projects, you got knowledge and experience from those projects, that's what you can (and should) show - and if you also got yourself a normal, stable life, family, friends - what else do you need really? Fame, boosting your ego by getting stars on github, is that really such a big deal?

Re: 25 years of coding, and I'm just beginning

#20

Post by friedman23 » Sun, Jan 20, 2019, 12:57 AM UTC

steve_taylor wrote: post #17

orev wrote: post #3

What every salary-person has to show for it: a life lived; bills paid; food on the table; health; a roof over your head; a body not ravaged and damaged by hard labor; the ability to relax and have some entertainment in the evening; a place to sleep; comfort; relative stability; the ability to make a living using mostly just your brain. Yes, perspective is important, and I’m not saying one should not strive to make mo…

You forgot to mention millions of dollars of value created for other people.

A lumber jack cuts down a tree and sells the wood for $500 to a high end furniture maker. This furniture maker then produces an armoire that he sells to a rich person for $7000. Was that lumber jack exploited because he only made $500 from the wood?