Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore • Hacker News Board

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#11

Post by euroclydon » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:04 PM UTC

I love programming. But certain aspect of the career do get to be a grind: Sitting in a chair all day makes my hamstrings tight, working on a large globally distributed team is frustrating because I spend so much time just trying to coordinate rather than writing code, and some days every tool we use seems like a half-broken POC.

I'm starting to think programming is a lucrative career not because of the skills or intelligence it takes, but because of the frustrations you have to be prepared to handle over the long term. Do many people wash out of programming? It seems like we need to invest more time figuring out how to handle the pain of the career in order to reap the benefits of have a great salary over several decades.

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#12

Post by frozenport » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:05 PM UTC

I like ______________________, but have found that I’m not very good at it professionally, should I get an MBA?

I think this is why MBAs are increasingly seen as worthless

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#13

Post by treskot » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:05 PM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #3

I like programming a lot. If I'm away from it for more than a couple weeks, I start to miss it. The software industry deserves to choke on a dick and die, however. Fuck bad code, micromanagers, dopey "startups" that expect 14-hour days on the assumption that 0.0x equity slices represent real "ownership", closed allocation, and regimes in which programmers don't choose their tools. All of that can go to hell. As softw…

Well said! Lets face it. Nobody wants to work for others and live by (obey) others orders.

The real problem is if one quits programming a bunch of new fresh minds will 'toil' the way you and I did. And the world moves on. It's all about the mind-set.

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#14

Post by sid6376 » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:06 PM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #3

I like programming a lot. If I'm away from it for more than a couple weeks, I start to miss it. The software industry deserves to choke on a dick and die, however. Fuck bad code, micromanagers, dopey "startups" that expect 14-hour days on the assumption that 0.0x equity slices represent real "ownership", closed allocation, and regimes in which programmers don't choose their tools. All of that can go to hell. As softw…

I think we often easily attribute these problems to the "management" types but do start-ups with founders as programmers treat other programmers any better?

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#15

Post by seivan » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:09 PM UTC

I feel like that occasionally. I wish I did some different decisions when I was younger. I always look with envy at lawyers, sociologist, political science major and other bullshitters. Especially the ones who work for the government No work effort, very little pressure to come with results. Even product managers or "UX" people...

I know it's arrogant of me to say so, but the more I observe them, the little they seem to work, or if they do work, it comes off as snake oil.

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#16

Post by bingobangobongo » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:09 PM UTC

mmcconnell1618 wrote: post #9

michaelochurch wrote: post #3

I like programming a lot. If I'm away from it for more than a couple weeks, I start to miss it. The software industry deserves to choke on a dick and die, however. Fuck bad code, micromanagers, dopey "startups" that expect 14-hour days on the assumption that 0.0x equity slices represent real "ownership", closed allocation, and regimes in which programmers don't choose their tools. All of that can go to hell. As softw…

Doctors have to go to medical school and then have a residency and the AMA closely controls the total supply of physicians. Lawyers have to go to an accredited school and then pass the bar (in some states the school part is optional). A computer science degree is the closest thing the tribe of programmers has to a professional certification. There are some organizations that have attempted to bring the tribe together…

That sounds terrible.

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#17

Post by msvan » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:09 PM UTC

I think many of those of us who get into programming in the first place do it because of some kind of intellectual curiosity and because we get a thrill out of building things with tangible results. Which is probably why you'll find lots of programmers also interested in playing musical instruments, learning foreign languages, writing fiction and so on. It's a certain kind of mindset.

I've been thinking about what jobs can potentially offer the same kind of intellectual stimulation as programming, and while I'm sure they're out there, programming offers this and is a skill that you can actually make quite a bit of money from while not being as ridiculously competitive as, say, being a movie director or a songwriter. If you know of other jobs that fit this bill, let me know.

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#18

Post by seivan » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:10 PM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #3

I like programming a lot. If I'm away from it for more than a couple weeks, I start to miss it. The software industry deserves to choke on a dick and die, however. Fuck bad code, micromanagers, dopey "startups" that expect 14-hour days on the assumption that 0.0x equity slices represent real "ownership", closed allocation, and regimes in which programmers don't choose their tools. All of that can go to hell. As softw…

Thank you. This is how I feel, whenever I wanna run away.

We work for dickheads and losers who can't ship. We need to build and ship for them. We are a defeated tribe.

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#19

Post by mac1175 » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:12 PM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #3

I like programming a lot. If I'm away from it for more than a couple weeks, I start to miss it. The software industry deserves to choke on a dick and die, however. Fuck bad code, micromanagers, dopey "startups" that expect 14-hour days on the assumption that 0.0x equity slices represent real "ownership", closed allocation, and regimes in which programmers don't choose their tools. All of that can go to hell. As softw…

Thank you for this. I feel the same exact way. Every needs programmers but won't respect them. That has been by sentiment at many places I have worked at. At my job, the CTO got on the cover of a magazine that involved tech in government for a mobile app I was hired to design an implement for. The best part is that he had no real hand in the design or implementation of the app nor ever wrote a single line of code in his life. This isn't the first job that this happened. Basically, it all comes down to politics and the problem is mixing programming with it.

Re: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore

#20

Post by Morcane » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 2:12 PM UTC

Maven911 wrote: post #10

Me neither, i just can't handle the stress anymore, large sw base, sprints, etc.

It's not so much the sprints I hate, it's more the total feel of being micro-managed that I hate about current software development / software project management practices (aka agile). It just sucks all the fun out of software development. Like I'm back in bloody high school, where I needed a hall pass for taking a leak.

Learning new languages, technologies only bring back the fun feeling for a short while.

I can remember learning Lisp for the first time in college..man, it totally blew my mind and all I could think of was coding problem solutions in Lisp as elegantly as possible. That feeling, that child-like curiosity and drive ... that's what I want back.