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What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

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Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#141

Post by [deleted] »

cheez wrote: post #75
k-mcgrady wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also the black lung that you don't quite get being a corporate coder. I think it's very easy for people who aren't working with their hands every day to sit back and talk about the 'satisfaction' you get. You may get that if you go and do it for a day. When you're doing it every day you're destroying your back, knees, your hands end up cut and calloused, and you're exhausted. And the 'satisfaction' probably d…

Sure, I was thinking more along the lines of other, less life threatening "working with hands" type work. I knew an IT admin who used to be a lumberjack and the guy missed being in the wilderness for months at a time.

[deleted]

Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#142

Post by emodendroket »

cm3 wrote: post #74
blowski wrote: post #34

When I was at school we had to interview our headmaster, and somebody asked him if he thought his job was difficult. His answer has always stayed with me: "Compared to lying on a beach drinking cocktails, it's difficult. But compared to a coal miner, it's ridiculously easy." Would I rather be a software developer - even one who is building boring CRUD apps - or a coal miner?

That's too simplistic of a view. Physical work is hard on your body, but mind work is equally hard and you cannot brute force most of it. The mind needs to process complicated problems asynchronously, while you let it rest by taking a walk or doing house cleaning, but physical work needs no such thing, as long as your body condition is sufficient.

Maybe a coal miner is the wrong example, but I think you can think of plenty of jobs you would not want. I certainly would not want to go back to working in a call center like I did in my previous life, even if the pay were the same or slightly better.

Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#143

Post by dpritchett »

m-i-l wrote: post #91
Flashuk100 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a comp sci student up north, are the salaries in London worth the hassle of living in London? Don't get me wrong I like visiting London, but I wouldn't want to live there unless the incentive is too good to pass up.

Its not just the salaries, its the opportunities. There are just so many tech jobs available in London. And once you have a job, you have much more flexibility to change jobs without having to move home. This might not be a consideration when you are younger and more flexible in terms of location, but I do know some people who have settled in other parts of the UK who now have families and feel stuck with their curre…

I respect the idea of a vibrant job market but free pizza seven nights a week sounds a bit like hell.

Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#144

Post by pc86 »

apercu wrote: post #108
derefr wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the worst thing about this sort of "IQ dick-waving contest" culture, to me. I'd be fine with doing ridiculous CS Theory stuff in interviews, if the job was about doing that. I love that stuff, when my mind is geared into the right mode, and a job that required a lot of it would give me the ability to leave my mind geared into that mode. Instead, my mind has downshifted into the CRUD-dev gear from years of dis…

I think it's also counter to good work harmony. Whenever I have worked with or hired the genius/best and brightest, a high proportion of them have difficulty playing nice with others or staying focused on routine work. You need a couple really crazy smart knowledgable people. And then fill out rest of the team according to their roles and fit.

EDIT: It looks like I replied to the wrong comment and quoted the wrong comment on top of that. No idea what happened.

Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#145

Post by pc86 »

naivepiano wrote: post #130
dkopi wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"First day in the job I figure that their main tech/language was TCL (of course they never mentioned it in the interviews)." And you've never asked?

Of course I did. They lied with "java".

Don't you think it's much more likely that their stack is largely Java but you were working on a largely TCL piece of it, than it is that they decided to lie and trick you into taking a job you wouldn't otherwise want?

Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#147

Post by odonnellryan »

blowski wrote: post #34

When I was at school we had to interview our headmaster, and somebody asked him if he thought his job was difficult. His answer has always stayed with me: "Compared to lying on a beach drinking cocktails, it's difficult. But compared to a coal miner, it's ridiculously easy." Would I rather be a software developer - even one who is building boring CRUD apps - or a coal miner?

> Would I rather be a software developer - even one who is building boring CRUD apps - or a coal miner?

I've done manual labor. I feel when I did carpentry it was more rewarding than software development.

Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#148

Post by GFK_of_xmaspast »

ap22213 wrote: post #80
blowski wrote: post #34

When I was at school we had to interview our headmaster, and somebody asked him if he thought his job was difficult. His answer has always stayed with me: "Compared to lying on a beach drinking cocktails, it's difficult. But compared to a coal miner, it's ridiculously easy." Would I rather be a software developer - even one who is building boring CRUD apps - or a coal miner?

My job is definitely easier than a 1930s immigrant coal miner's. Is it easier than a 2016 coal miner's? Probably. Maybe. Is it easier than a furniture mover's? No, but it pays a lot more. Is it easier than a 1970s steelworker's? Certainly not, and it actually pays less.

Every time I've dealt with furniture movers I've noticed that they work incredibly hard and I'm glad I don't have to do that for a living (my back would disintegrate).

Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#149

Post by jazzyk »

askyourmother wrote: post #16

For me, the best part is interviewing for new jobs. You have not lived till you are asked to reverse sort a binary tree, whilst skipping on one leg, having to show you are passionate about the job! The disappointment was that the actual job did not entail data structures, Algorithms or even skipping! Just CRUD web apps.

Ha, ha. I would hire you in an instant.

Wit/sense of humor is an indicator of intelligence. Which means even if you are not entirely familiar with the whole stack of tech we use, you will pick up things fast.

Sense of humor also helps immensely in crunch times...

Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?

#150

Post by thirdsun »

crispyambulance wrote: post #63

I think "CRUD" applications are getting an undeserved bad rap. There's always interesting challenges involved, which sadly gets dismissed as "business logic". If CRUD apps were really so brainless, there would have been a race-to-the-bottom plethora of platforms/tools by now that allow domain experts to create their own applications. Another way to look at is that CRUD apps put food on the table for you guys. Be grat…

Well said. Furthermore aren't most apps at the core actual CRUD apps? Surely, if we remove all those layers of abstraction that make an app feel pleasant to use, there won't be much remaining that distinguishes it from those CRUD apps. Isn't that the actual challenge?
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