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It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

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Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#11

Post by jshowa3 »

K0nserv wrote: post #2

It is perfectly OK to only code at work, but you need to ensure you are learning and developing at work. Almost all programming related fields are still growing and changing rapidly. To stay relevant you need to invest in learning and self improvement. This can definitely be done as part of your job, but it's also something you can achieve by coding outside of work. Regardless of how you do it, ensuring that you are…

While I agree that you should keep learning and growing, I don't agree that its because technology is changing so rapidly. Often times change is equated with "new X framework" that just becomes popular and has no significant advantage over existing tool sets. Also, most companies rarely adopt new technologies, even if it would benefit them, because they've produced so much product using one tool set, that making a change would require too much time. So it's not unreasonable to find companies still working with 20 year technologies (cough vb6) because the install base is so large that an investment to upgrade just isn't worth the cost.

In short, you can make a pretty good living simply maintaining old, existing software and never learning anything really new. After all, people only care that it works and that you fix their perceived issues with it. As long as you keep doing that, you'll be employed.

Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#12

Post by Tor3 »

Well.. this assumes that coding (all coding?) is a burden.. I agree with the article in that coding _for_ work, outside of normal work hours, isn't something to strive for. I did that a lot when I was young, but that was not only when it was necessary due to the strained time schedules we had then, it was also because I literally hungered for it. I needed to. So I would go back to work after dinner and hack away to figure out how the OS worked, deep inside, for example. Writing or modifying device drivers, writing tools that extended the OS functionality, that kind of things. Back when things were new.

These days I don't, as a rule, code for work outside of work hours. But I need to code in my spare time. That's when I can do things that really interest me, side projects where I can enter the 'flow', something I nearly never can do at work anymore. I have to go into flow mode now and then to keep up my ability for concentrating on problems (and yes that's necessary to keep up my work performance too). A few years back the constant interrupts at work degraded my performance so much that I spent my three week holiday in various cafeterias, with a laptop and documentation, and worked all day on my hobby project, finally re-learning to enter the flow again. As in "I looked up, and five hours had passed". Myself, laptop computer, documentation, coffee, food available. Happiness.

Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#14

Post by bovermyer »

K0nserv wrote: post #2

It is perfectly OK to only code at work, but you need to ensure you are learning and developing at work. Almost all programming related fields are still growing and changing rapidly. To stay relevant you need to invest in learning and self improvement. This can definitely be done as part of your job, but it's also something you can achieve by coding outside of work. Regardless of how you do it, ensuring that you are…

Yes, but not at the cost of work-life balance.

Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#15

Post by mruts »

Tor3 wrote: post #12

Well.. this assumes that coding (all coding?) is a burden.. I agree with the article in that coding _for_ work, outside of normal work hours, isn't something to strive for. I did that a lot when I was young, but that was not only when it was necessary due to the strained time schedules we had then, it was also because I literally hungered for it. I needed to. So I would go back to work after dinner and hack away to f…

I don’t code after work, instead I just focus my efforts on coding for the firm. That way I can get rewarded for it.

Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#16

Post by bovermyer »

Tor3 wrote: post #12

Well.. this assumes that coding (all coding?) is a burden.. I agree with the article in that coding _for_ work, outside of normal work hours, isn't something to strive for. I did that a lot when I was young, but that was not only when it was necessary due to the strained time schedules we had then, it was also because I literally hungered for it. I needed to. So I would go back to work after dinner and hack away to f…

On personal projects I have entered a flow state so deep that, when my wife interrupts me to remind me I skipped breakfast and now it's lunchtime, it takes me a few moments to actually be able to understand her. It's like she's speaking a foreign language.

I have never had that happen at a day job.

Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#17

Post by exelius »

xfitm3 wrote: post #8
K0nserv wrote: post #2

It is perfectly OK to only code at work, but you need to ensure you are learning and developing at work. Almost all programming related fields are still growing and changing rapidly. To stay relevant you need to invest in learning and self improvement. This can definitely be done as part of your job, but it's also something you can achieve by coding outside of work. Regardless of how you do it, ensuring that you are…

You absolutely should be learning and growing on company time.

Yup, this is the real reason behind concepts like “10% time”. Play with new stuff on your side projects, not on production systems.

Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#18

Post by huffmsa »

Does a lawyer do law outside of billable hours? Some do pro-bono. But not the majority.

Does a doctor practice medicine outside of his hours? Again, some work at free clinics, but generally no.

Do veterinarians like it when you ask them to take a look at your cat when they're not in clinic? No. Almost always no.

Work is work, leisure is leisure. If coding is leisure for you, that's great.

Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#19

Post by newsgremlin »

People are allowed to do whatever they want. Any claims of lack of passion or work ethic are opinions and anecdotes of individual experiences.

There is limited time in a day and in life, you can't spend hours on multiple hobbies and interests without compromise and without eventual burnout within ones capabilities.

Feel like this kind of do's and don'ts of when to spend time and how much time to spend coding is a recurring topic that should be put to bed in the developer world. Those who want to shine above the rest will always and should pursue that goal, those falling below that bar is perfectly fine, it's all about personal wants and needs at the end of the day.

Re: It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too

#20

Post by boboguitar »

huffmsa wrote: post #18

Does a lawyer do law outside of billable hours? Some do pro-bono. But not the majority. Does a doctor practice medicine outside of his hours? Again, some work at free clinics, but generally no. Do veterinarians like it when you ask them to take a look at your cat when they're not in clinic? No. Almost always no. Work is work, leisure is leisure. If coding is leisure for you, that's great.

> Do veterinarians like it when you ask them to take a look at your cat when they're not in clinic? No. Almost always no.

My wife(a vet) won't even let me tell people, that aren't very close to me, that she is a vet. It's ridiculous the amount of free advice she gets asked. The worst part about it is that she has had several classmates from vet school that have been sued(and lost) from the free advice they gave to other people outside of work hours. It's a huge liability issue and trust me, the people who want free medical advice are the people who will sue you because you didn't correctly diagnose the problem for free.

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