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Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

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Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#101

Post by 0xffff2 »

omarhaneef wrote: post #10

CS isn't a career. CS is part of all careers. I imagine when cuneiform was first invented, there was a group of people who were the first writers and they probably worried that it would get saturated. How can we all be writers? There are only so many things to write down: recipes, shopping lists, the kings desires, and heroic tales. What are the rest of us going to do? But of course writing is just a way of expressin…

Whether this is true or not, it's distinctly unhelpful for a high school student trying to pick a college major.

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#102

Post by randomdata »

thfuran wrote: post #96
randomdata wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even farmers, it might not be necessary, but it can make a huge difference. As a software developer by day, farmer by night, I'm not sure there is much overlap. Some of the problem solving skills I learned on the farm have made me a better programmer, I expect, but I don't see much advantage in building software for my farm. Anything you can dream of is available commercially at a fraction of the cost it would take…

I'm not sure that's a saying outside of agriculture.

It was on HN that I first heard it. I'm not sure it is a saying within agriculture. We take for granted the advanced technology that we get to play with.

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#103

Post by uwuhn »

thorwasdfasdf wrote: post #41

If you're from an elite university, then you'll have a good chance of getting into a FANG. A SE at a FANG will make triple as much as a SE for most other companies, so do try your best to get into a FANG. If you're smart, You might be able to earn 400K or more in just 5 to 8 years. However, if you don't get into a FANG, it's not the end of the world. You might still be able to find another job at another software com…

>However, if you don't get into a FANG, it's not the end of the world. You might still be able to find another job at another software company if you're lucky. As the years go on, it'll be harder to get job due to the rapidly increasing supply of engineers.

And the great thing about FAANG is that it's only easier to get in as you gain more experience. You're not screwed if you don't get in as a new grad or junior.

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#104

Post by jdhn »

d-d wrote: post #91

Unpopular opinion: it's not a good career unless you are the best of the best. IMO blue collar work is a better option because it's easier work and more stable, and lets you have a life outside work. In software the hours are increasing to no real benefit, and free time is burnt just keeping with the times. The evolution of tools, best practices and high availability of quality knowledge has made it trivial to spin u…

Interesting take. Personally, I would say that even as a middling developer, you'll be earning more than the vast, vast majority of blue collar workers, and probably putting less wear and tear on your body.

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#105

Post by uwuhn »

standardUser wrote: post #64
throwawaysea wrote: post #38

Personally I think that this entire sector is due for a reduction. Companies like Facebook or Amazon or Google or just soaking up employees to work on things that don’t really matter. Once they figure that out and manage more efficiently, there will be layoffs followed by the inevitable commodification of CS talent. This field isn’t special, it’s like any other field that went through a boom phase and a later regress…

"Soon everyone in every role/industry will have rudimentary programming skills" I'm completely baffled as to where all of today's workers in their 20's, 30's and 40's, almost none of whom have any programming skills whatsoever, are going to learn programming skills in this "soon" timeframe.

Americans won't, but immigrants will.

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#106

Post by vsareto »

d-d wrote: post #91

Unpopular opinion: it's not a good career unless you are the best of the best. IMO blue collar work is a better option because it's easier work and more stable, and lets you have a life outside work. In software the hours are increasing to no real benefit, and free time is burnt just keeping with the times. The evolution of tools, best practices and high availability of quality knowledge has made it trivial to spin u…

This is a pretty extremist point of view. It's kind of like saying you shouldn't drive a regular car because you're not a Formula 1 driver. There are plenty of companies who value working a max of 40 hours per week. If you are the best of the best, that isn't going to be a good fit for you.

Much of the visa fraud is probably large companies that have a regular amount of visa hires in the first place. A mid-size company that has zero H-1Bs is not likely to have resume fraudsters through that channel.

This post paints every business as some sort of vicious meat grinder and the reality just isn't true. You have to avoid bad companies just like with every other field.

Even if you are expendable and get let go from a single company, it's not a death knell for your career. Explain the situation, and that it wasn't a good fit, and try to highlight other strengths during the interview.

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#107

Post by anon9001 »

swagasaurus-rex wrote: post #82
anon9001 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It'll usually get you the medium bucks, though, before topping out, which ain't the worst. Can confirm. I make medium bucks. The way the economics work, it made more sense for me to make medium bucks remotely in a cheap CoL area than it did to try and get big bucks in a major city.

I think what he means by big bucks is ownership. Salaries top out at... $200,000 for non-specialized professions, $500,000 for the best of the best... Compare that to the capital gains made by people who are owners of businesses. Or other large capital investments.

He does. The thing is you have to hang out with the right people, and even then it's a low percentage chance that you'll become an owner.

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#108

Post by ghostpepper »

0xffff2 wrote: post #101
omarhaneef wrote: post #10

CS isn't a career. CS is part of all careers. I imagine when cuneiform was first invented, there was a group of people who were the first writers and they probably worried that it would get saturated. How can we all be writers? There are only so many things to write down: recipes, shopping lists, the kings desires, and heroic tales. What are the rest of us going to do? But of course writing is just a way of expressin…

Whether this is true or not, it's distinctly unhelpful for a high school student trying to pick a college major.

I interpreted this comment as saying that CS will always be a useful skill and will never be saturated so therefore pick CS as your major if you are passionate about it, without a fear that it will be saturated

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#109

Post by codingslave »

d-d wrote: post #91

Unpopular opinion: it's not a good career unless you are the best of the best. IMO blue collar work is a better option because it's easier work and more stable, and lets you have a life outside work. In software the hours are increasing to no real benefit, and free time is burnt just keeping with the times. The evolution of tools, best practices and high availability of quality knowledge has made it trivial to spin u…

This is my opinion exactly. Programming is great if you are in the top 1% maybe 2%, you can make 400k - 800k as just a senior engineer. Everyone else is fighting to keep their knowledge base current, working for companies that do not value them, etc. Basically if you cant pass hard algorithms interviews with a bit of study, you should leave the field and do something else.

Re: Ask HN: CS, still a good career in 3-5 years?

#110

Post by torgian »

_bxg1 wrote: post #45

There's definitely been a huge influx of people jumping on the CS train for the money recently. But the thing is, from what I've heard, there's still a huge gap between how may programmers are needed and how many there are. Now, this state of affairs won't last forever. Eventually the market will level out. But I would guess we have at least another 5-10 years until that happens, and when it does happen, it won't mea…

I think this is mostly true. People are still going to want custom pages, etc, but that's why _now_ is the time to "git gud" at building stuff. If you become a wiz, you'll be on the list of consultants for Company X to hire.

And as for everything else... lots of industries need good problem solvers that are in the CS field. I'm going to be getting a Masters in Geoinformatics because it interests me, and it just happens to be a more niche field than others. I think this will help me in the long term as well.

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