Earlier quoted context omitted.
Identity politics have made it even more miserable.
what does that even mean?
Excessive regard for people's most superficial immutable traits; e.g., racism, sexism, etc, whether "well-intentioned" or not.
I've walked away from software development
101–110 of 237 posts
Re: I've walked away from software development
#102Oooof, this hit me hard. Burnout to the max from the sound of it.
The only way I've managed to solve any of these qualms is to just tell my boss, more senior engineer, director, etc, "No". Work is a relationship just like any other and your job will treat you exactly as you let it, and if you never say no or stick up for yourself and say I don't like this or that, of course it's going to grind on you.
Just like everything else with life, there's going to be some bad with the good, just be sure to draw a clear line in the sand as to what you're willing to put up with and when it gets crossed, stand your ground.
Re: I've walked away from software development
#103In the middle of the rant on burnout, he says: > I'm sick of everyone being on Adderall. Is that really a thing? ie What proportion of software folks are using it?
If only. Also cocaine and marijuana, and of course all the excess coffee. I'd say almost half of people in the industry use something.
Don't forget alcohol; the go-to for self medication.
Re: I've walked away from software development
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah but the fat checks act like golden handcuffs, one is reluctant to lose them and will take more shit over time just because of the fat checks. Smart folks realize this and instead of enjoying the lifestyle fat checks bring they live frugally instead and get ready for an modest exit. It is possible, yes
Not really handcuffs. You make a ton of money and move to a lower cost area to work on whatever you want. Financial independence removes way more restrictions than actually requiring a paycheck to live. Even if you stay at the company, just knowing that you have the money to say screw it and do what you want is empowering - Oh, you're going to fire me if I don't do xyz, go ahead because I don't need the job.
>Not really handcuffs.
Ok, temporary handcuffs. The author of the original post on reddit mentions feeling as if escaping prison so there's something to handcuffs after all
>Oh, you're going to fire me if I don't do xyz, go ahead because I don't need the job.
That is only true when you have accumulate something and are ready to do your thing. Till then one is willing to put up with plenty of BS. But it's true, fat checks offer this alternative of exit. However, they are also keeping one from getting a more sane alternative because they pay isn't as good. There are still decent companies and jobs out there that you can run into if you're willing not to cash in fat checks.
Re: I've walked away from software development
#105In the middle of the rant on burnout, he says: > I'm sick of everyone being on Adderall. Is that really a thing? ie What proportion of software folks are using it?
The addreall comment blew me away too. When did smart people start taking PEDs? My guess is that software development is a field where it is more common for folks with the ADHD hyperfocus to excel, but if there is a problem brewing it should be addressed.
[deleted]
Re: I've walked away from software development
#106In the middle of the rant on burnout, he says: > I'm sick of everyone being on Adderall. Is that really a thing? ie What proportion of software folks are using it?
My guess is that the author feels like others are more productive than he is, and is dealing with that by claiming everyone is on Adderall. It’s more likely that he is struggling with a common psychological distortion - minimize his accomplishments and maximize his failures.
[deleted]
Re: I've walked away from software development
#107I think all of us 40+ folks are in the same place. When we first started we didn't mind the bullshit so much because we were too dumb to realize how much there was. Then we got older and, yeah, it's ridiculous, but we were pretty decent at surfing the bullshit waves so we still didn't mind so much. Now you're in your 40s and the real obligations of life have started piling up. You've gone from 7 hours of free time a…
Not just 40+. I'm just over 30 and I've felt that way for a while. I have a lot on my plate but other than that I live alone so I do have the time and energy to focus on learning the bleeding edge and I do enjoy it. But the truth is, the exact things described in that post kill my motivation. And here's an interesting fact: I spent almost 9 years working in one company. The only reason why I stuck around for so long was the absence of all the ridiculous reporting, filling jira tickets and all that dreadful crap. We had a relatively small but very solid team with simple rules and procedures: everything that needs to be done is done with well-described and documented gitlab issues, each issue gets it's own branch, do what you have to do, push, open a merge request to the lead developer(me for the past several years). Simple and straightforward, releases were always ready well before the deadlines, developers staying with the team for 5+ years on average, even when offered double what they were making. What changed? The exact thing that the reddit post described: new management, endless bureaucratic crap, endless made up acronyms, pointless meetings with tons of questions not worth discussing(ex: "Apple doesn't allow this so we can't do it", followed by 3 hours of discussions as to who should we talk to to get it up anyway) and to top this off: "hey there's this other team that doesn't do anything, we'll mash the two together so they have something to do". As a result all the most senior members(myself included) decided to quit, non-negotiable. it really pains me to see how much ego, bureaucracy and arrogance I see everywhere. Needless to say, I had to make some compromise with all that but it is insanely frustrating.
I feel like most of the software engineering world is going through a Steve Ballmer crisis: the industry is dictated by people who know nothing about the inner workings. As a result unnecessary solutions are pushed down our throats: "We should use X technology". Fine, but why, it will be slow, unmanageable and will leave us pegged to the company that developed it? "Nonsense, it is the best, everybody is using X". And 6 months later...
Re: I've walked away from software development
#108> I'm sick of wasting time writing worthless tests. I'm sick of fixing more tests than bugs. I think as an industry we need to look at tests, particularly unit tests, and Test Driven Development (TDD) through critical lens. Writing unit tests is seen as a virtue while in reality how much value an individual unit test adds given the cost of writing, running and maintaining unit tests. What baffles me the most is TDD.…
I wholeheartedly disagree with TDD part, I get it unit tests are more fragile in fact, I prefer integrations and module tests over unit test but doing the test upfront it a worthy investment, because speed up the development (because you only have run the test to validate the new feature) and also more often than not after the feature is done without the tests then the tests are never made
Re: I've walked away from software development
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Oh, by the way, it's December, so we need you to watch that 45 minute security training video again so you don't accept USB flash drives from strangers in the parking lot. The ability to mute a tab and have it run in the background is at times a beautiful thing.
Unless you work at Amazon where the training pauses if the tab isn’t actively focused. I’m convinced that it’s a form of torture.
Just put it on a second monitor and mute it?
Re: I've walked away from software development
#110software development is not for everyone, who has interested only those stay connected with it.