The average Staff SW Engineer salary at Google is ~750k. The race is worth the reward.
I no longer build software
571–580 of 891 posts
Re: I no longer build software
#572Totally on board with not building software any more. In fact, at 55 this is my last week of it. For real. Basically, everything sucks more about building software nowadays more than I remember it sucking before, from the mere mechanics of navigating through an obscenely large pseudo-object-oriented codebase to the WRONG constructs/idioms people use to build distributed systems to the way software is packaged and dep…
Plus there's a massive amount of pollution, growing by the day. Everything is built on an increasingly shakey foundation and starts rusting right away. More time is spent on trying to figure out why X isn't working, less time on actually building.
A couple recommended talks about this subject.
Preventing the Collapse of Civilization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW-SOdj4Kkk
The Thirty Million Line Problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZRE7HIO3vk
Re: I no longer build software
#573Earlier quoted context omitted.
I may be privileged, but I am neither young nor overpaid. I started programming on something called the Commodore 64, so my opinions have been refined over decades. And if I say programming has become joyless, it's because I've been around long enough to remember when it wasn't.
My solution was to dump the Windows environment for my personal use. I program in Arduino where I only have 2.5 K for my variables, programming with so little memory really forces you to think about your program methods. I built small projects using 74LSxxx chips, building logic instead of programming it can be refreshing. When I need more space I program in C++ on a Haiku machine, 32 GB of ram and 12 CPUs gives you…
What is a "Haiku machine"?
Re: I no longer build software
#574Totally on board with not building software any more. In fact, at 55 this is my last week of it. For real. Basically, everything sucks more about building software nowadays more than I remember it sucking before, from the mere mechanics of navigating through an obscenely large pseudo-object-oriented codebase to the WRONG constructs/idioms people use to build distributed systems to the way software is packaged and dep…
I am not so old, but I also remember a time when software development was much more enjoyable. The difference is that at the time software engineers had more autonomy to decide what to do. Nowadays everything seems to revolve around fads. If you're not into the latest fad or have some ideas that differ you'll suffer resistance all the way around: in the job, online, when doing hobby projects, etc. Even open source nowadays has to conform to some well-supported online fad, otherwise people will complain of what you do.
Re: I no longer build software
#575Add me to the woodworking ex-developers. I built a website that pays the bills, and now I have a lot of time on my hands. I am finishing my first piece of furniture today. It's pretty scary to work without an undo button. The physical world isn't just instructions, but movements. A little twitch can ruin a cut. A clumsy movement can dent a piece of wood you spent an hour sanding. You truly experience the meaning of "…
> A clumsy movement can dent a piece of wood you spent an hour sanding
Dents can be somewhat fixed by getting them wet and ironing them.
Re: I no longer build software
#576Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your Cabinet on Stand [1] is gorgeous. 1. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fuller_craft/49837847346/in/al...
Thank you!
Seconded! Can you give a ballpark for how much you'd charge for a piece like this? Seems like an insane amount of work at incredible quality. I want to own it.
Re: I no longer build software
#577Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can order a comfy car anywhere I am with the tap of a button. I can order food from hundreds of restaurants and have it delivered in less than 30 mins with the tap of a button. I can book flights and hotels with the tap of a button. I can play with friends in virtual reality and actually sweat. I can watch a live stream of SpaceX launching reusable rockets in space. I could buy a car that is almost fully "self driv…
So we've mostly solved trivial non-problems if/not regressions? People lived in 1990 and didn't feel that bad to have to call a travel agency to get a ticket, or, god forbid, to actually meet friends and not in VR space... I'll give you "self driving cars" -- well, I would if they could work today, which they don't...
Anyone remember spending hours at AAA getting TripTiks and a highlighted route on a vague map for a (now) simple road trip? And the ensuing argument about the passenger's navigation obligations when you inevitably miss an exit halfway into the trip? And spending significant time preparing the (unreliable 80s domestic) car for a road trip?
I recently did a ~1000 mile trip that I used to do as a kid in the 90s. Back then it was literally a weeks worth of preparation. In 2020, I did the same trip on 1 hour notice with no concerns about my transportation, navigation, food, or lodging.
Sure, we made do with what we had in the 90s, but stuff is just incredibly more convenient and accessible now.
Re: I no longer build software
#578Totally on board with not building software any more. In fact, at 55 this is my last week of it. For real. Basically, everything sucks more about building software nowadays more than I remember it sucking before, from the mere mechanics of navigating through an obscenely large pseudo-object-oriented codebase to the WRONG constructs/idioms people use to build distributed systems to the way software is packaged and dep…
I've been able to, most of the time, work on (somewhat) novel problems, at least within the organizations I've been working, and certainly interesting ones to me.
But I've always enjoyed tinkering on non-productive personal projects more. Exponentially so. I'm with you on most of the things sucking in software development.
I spend so much time on shit. Politics, presentations to justify spending 0.000001% of our budget on things I need, convincing others that maybe we should leverage well established best practices, not even controversial or cutting edge kind, but the actual ones people everywhere use, rather than re-inventing the wheel every time.
Right now I'm expected to inventory our software catalog, again, because someone doesn't want to get that information from the place we are using to already document it.
And it's only Monday. This week will be long, so very long.
Re: I no longer build software
#579Amen. Modern software development is frankly kinda sucky. The old days pre-2000 were arguably a lot more enjoyable. Today it's just digital plumbing and dealing with all sorts of issues that are not creative. The sheer complexity is frankly absurd as well. I've thought about moving on from software many times, and I know many who have. Just because you can do something doesn't mean it's best way to spend your short l…
I think a lot of the pre-2000 programming was a bit more enjoyable because most of us were not programming for the web and actually using platforms that were designed for application development. The web is a very poor fit for what most people want designed.
There was nothing enjoyable about ActiveX.
Re: I no longer build software
#580I really want to do this too!
But a wife, two daughters and a mortgage… I love them more than my life, but think a lot about your life before you attach a millstone to your feet.