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Advice From An Old Programmer

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11–20 of 124 posts

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#11
Maybe you'll find that because you can dissect their logic that they hate arguing with you.

I'm glad I don't need to argue with "them" in my current position, but I've seen this effect a lot: the most manipulative people in a company are against any logical processes.

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#12
I think this piece keeps coming up every so many days. It's a great piece of advice, and i think most developers come to the same conclusion after a few years. I think a useful corrolary from this is "Do not reinvent the wheel all the time by changing programming styles, instead try to extend the frontiers of technology" (I 'm looking at you, web frameworks).

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#13
post #8
post #2

> "People who can code in biology, medicine, government, sociology, physics, history, and mathematics are respected and can do amazing things to advance those disciplines" True. I have a theoretical physics friend who's now applying a ton of machine-learning techniques to biophysics stuff (in an academic setting). I've no idea exactly what he's doing other than he's always snowed under and people keep coming back to…

My favorite example of this is OsiriX[1], a GPL'd medical imaging (DICOM) viewer written by a radiologist who couldn't find existing software that did what he wanted. It's now an established part of the DICOM world. [1] http://www.osirix-viewer.com/Snapshots.html

I have known people who started as programmers and became highly valued domain experts, so it works in the other way, too.

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#14
post #7

"People who can code in the world of technology companies are a dime a dozen and get no respect" Generally in business, those people whose job title is 'programmer' or 'developer' or 'software engineer' get relatively little respect even with lots of experience. (I am 37 years old and programming since 12) Previously I thought the only way out of this is to become a 'manager', which I never really wanted to do... Rec…

a) Is "respect" really so important to you that you are willing to sacrifice a 25 year career? Surely if the pay is good and you enjoy that's all that matters.

b) By switching professions to a more "respected/cool" one do you not think you're just contributing to the problem of programmers not being taken seriously?

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#15

"People who can code in the world of technology companies are a dime a dozen and get no respect" , I disagree with that, I think you got a lot of respect in a company that is focused on technology. But If you are working into a marketing company in the development team, then yes you will not get much respect..

I'm a web developer in a marketing company. What you said is partially true, especially if your management doesn't really understand development (highly likely.) However, if you are able to look at the work that comes down, and come up with better ways to do it and engage management (rather than just being a set of hands to do their bidding) you can increase your value. You will never be as valued as you would be at…

I agree with that, and I'm not saying it's the case for all marketing companies of course.

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#16
post #11

Maybe you'll find that because you can dissect their logic that they hate arguing with you. I'm glad I don't need to argue with "them" in my current position, but I've seen this effect a lot: the most manipulative people in a company are against any logical processes.

And those people usually get their way, too. Quite frustrating to deal with them, mostly when they come back to you after their way didn't work out and want you to solve it.

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#17
post #7

"People who can code in the world of technology companies are a dime a dozen and get no respect" Generally in business, those people whose job title is 'programmer' or 'developer' or 'software engineer' get relatively little respect even with lots of experience. (I am 37 years old and programming since 12) Previously I thought the only way out of this is to become a 'manager', which I never really wanted to do... Rec…

a) Is "respect" really so important to you that you are willing to sacrifice a 25 year career? Surely if the pay is good and you enjoy that's all that matters. b) By switching professions to a more "respected/cool" one do you not think you're just contributing to the problem of programmers not being taken seriously?

> more "respected/cool"

By using "cool", I get the impression that you're thinking more about respect from people outside work, rather than those you are working with. I think the article was talking about respect from the people you work with and work under, in the sense that if you are not respected, then you likely won't get paid what you are worth. From the point of view, point (a) is a contradiction - if you are not respected by the company you work for, the pay won't be good.

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#18
post #7

"People who can code in the world of technology companies are a dime a dozen and get no respect" Generally in business, those people whose job title is 'programmer' or 'developer' or 'software engineer' get relatively little respect even with lots of experience. (I am 37 years old and programming since 12) Previously I thought the only way out of this is to become a 'manager', which I never really wanted to do... Rec…

a) Is "respect" really so important to you that you are willing to sacrifice a 25 year career? Surely if the pay is good and you enjoy that's all that matters. b) By switching professions to a more "respected/cool" one do you not think you're just contributing to the problem of programmers not being taken seriously?

Part of the respect is a better pay, which is important to me as I have small children to care about. But the main reason is that so far I enjoy learning quantitative finance.

" contributing to the problem of programmers not being taken seriously" I don't know. Maybe switching professions is an extreme thing, but gaining some knowledge in a specific domain (other than programming) is a good advice to every programmer.

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#19
"Programming as an intellectual activity is the only art form that allows you to create interactive art." (his emphasis)

Kinetic sculptures? Fashion? Hell, go to a science museum and you'll find endless halls of interactive art, little of which involves programming.

Re: Advice From An Old Programmer

#20
When I read pieces like this, it reminds me there are many reasons for learning to code. Some learn just because the technology is interesting. This is a fine reason, but what's interesting today will not continue to be interesting tomorrow.

Some have learned to code because they want a steady job. This is an ok reason, but being an accountant, plumber, carpenter, or "running a fast food joint" has the same benefits.

The best reason to learn to code, and the reason I did, is because your head is full of..... stuff. Stuff that is always there, choking out simple thoughts like "I'm hungry" or "I'm tired". And the supply of stuff never runs dry, it constantly increases and overwhelms other thought and builds up immense pressure on the sides of your cranium until your head feels like it'll burst.

And the only way to relieve the pressure is to turn that stuff into code.

That's why you should be a programmer.

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