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I just want to code (2023)

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Re: I just want to code (2023)

#141

Post by gh0stcat »

Arisaka1 wrote: post #73
alkonaut wrote: post #59

Do many people hobby code with that entrepreneur mindset thing? Or sit down to play guitar thinking they want to make a hit and feeling bad if they just noodle some cover songs? What a miserable existence that must be. How do you get that way? Should we blame LinkedIn or what is it?

I will preface this by saying that, I decided to stop pursuing a job as a software developer because my 2 years of work experience mean nothing in the job market. Now that I ended up finding a job as a waiter (of all things) I finally enjoy learning new things again. Before, I would get chronically stressed researching the job market, gathering keywords from job openings, consuming Udemy courses at 2x speed, using AI…

I went through this exact thing. I became so depressed and stressed out during my last real software development job, after making it to a pretty respectable senior software engineer. I quit as a life saving decision, and now it seems that those 5+ years I put in just don’t matter, as I had been getting to the final hiring stages and then getting passed up constantly. In the other hand, I have been able to get into graphics programming, painting, 3d modeling, etc, because I don't have to come home and force myself to learn the new frontend/backend framework, I have a lot less stress and I have no desire to get back into the hamster wheel of the tech world. I love creating and building, it gives me a reason to live, I now know that I was preventing myself from this very important life satisfaction, which led me to my huge career impasse/quitting my job. I think some of us are just not built for the hyper optimization and materialism of the modern corporate tech world. I err personally more toward the artistic side, and that quality is not appreciated by the vast majority of recruiters and hiring managers. Like you, I am hopeful for the future, but I also no longer hold the delusion that I can find life satisfaction through the job alone, as I so naively pursued before. It’s so much harder to measure success when its not based on those simplistic metrics like company status or income, but maybe that’s because it never should have been the concern. :)

Re: I just want to code (2023)

#142

Post by kelsey978126 »

There's more than code to build a startup. I have found the best way for me to avoid burnout or alternatively feeling like i am behind is to set very high goals. Find a lifetime goal. Maybe it's making a startup, maybe it's something else. Everything you do should mostly fit into some super long term plan that could take an entire lifetime's worth of work. If you are doing creative or personal projects, these build skill and experience which will be needed by that long term project. Martial artists train by punching trees. To build micro fractures in the hand bones and increase the density and strength of these bones. Go punch your trees.

Re: I just want to code (2023)

#143

Post by Ylpertnodi »

skor wrote: post #113

I code purely for fun, creating programs that generate and compose music. Sometimes I hit the record button and capture the results. Here's one of my latest recordings, if anyone's interested: https://lowveld.bandcamp.com/album/etches . Musically I think this belongs in the underground - and should stay there. I'm very interested in the theory behind software & music. Over the years I've mostly focused on the enginee…

Interested. Would like to hear more (of the music, and what you code).

Re: I just want to code (2023)

#144

Post by goodpoint »

LandR wrote: post #114

Man, I work 8-4 Mon-Fri. As soon as 4 rolls around, I'm done with the money making portion of the day and the rest is just entirely fun stuff. I couldn't care less if what I'm doing isn't ever going to make money, it's just fun / interesting / satisfying curiosity. I run - but I know I'm never going to make money running. I climb - but I know I'm never going to make money climbing. I code for fun on my side projects…

[flagged]

Re: I just want to code (2023)

#146

Post by optymizer »

LandR wrote: post #114

Man, I work 8-4 Mon-Fri. As soon as 4 rolls around, I'm done with the money making portion of the day and the rest is just entirely fun stuff. I couldn't care less if what I'm doing isn't ever going to make money, it's just fun / interesting / satisfying curiosity. I run - but I know I'm never going to make money running. I climb - but I know I'm never going to make money climbing. I code for fun on my side projects…

I would like to be able to do that - I have such a long list of things I want to learn and do - but I can't just turn off my work brain at 4pm. I get sucked in by interesting problems. Low level optimization? They pay me for 9-5, but you can bet I'll be thinking about it over the weekend, maybe code up a potential solution.

I used to think less about people who check out at 5pm - how can you just leave and not give a shit that the code is a mess? - but as I grew older, I understood that they don't associate their self-worth with work. Their value system is different, and it's got benefits, like better mental health.

Re: I just want to code (2023)

#147

Post by goodpoint »

blahgeek wrote: post #50
IvanK_net wrote: post #45

I have no idea why they mention coding. It is the same in any kind of job. You can bake cakes for fun, make music for fun, write poems, novels, play chess for fun, practice sports, grow potatos ... At a certain stage, you realize that in order to be able to do only that job, you must make someone pay you for it. You must do it in a way (or in a volume) which makes others happy. The fact that it makes you happy is not…

I think it's more common because one doing only coding can get paid reasonably. On the contrary, few people who "bake cakes for fun, make music for fun, write poems, novels, play chess for fun, practice sports, grow potatos" can get paid enough for a living, so that's usually not an option to consider. (Which is the reason that I find us coding people very lucky.)

so you are saying work is meant to be miserable and coding is the exception. Is that a life worth living?

Re: I just want to code (2023)

#148

Post by Juliate »

baud147258 wrote: post #84
Juliate wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> coding is universally at a premium compared to other trades It has been and it still is at this time. Just saying that it won't last. The existential threat, and perpetual adaptation to technology musicians (classical as well as contemporary) have met since the invention of sound recording and its developments, is coming for software developers too.

> perpetual adaptation to technology musicians have met Didn't it also went with an important reduction in the number of people who could make a living out of that?

Precisely.

Re: I just want to code (2023)

#149

Post by alganet »

flmontpetit wrote: post #116
alganet wrote: post #42

Honestly, the text looks like it was written by someone who does not understand hobbyist programming. It's not fun. The activity is not an enjoyable act of entertainment. It's stressful, time consuming and miserable. The result is what matters. You did something. Learned something. For you, not because it was in some work planning. It provides catharsis. That sort of catharsis does not exist in some work related envi…

I don't find knitting fun, which is why I don't do it. Even if in theory I like the idea of creating custom clothing on the cheap, and whatnot. Maybe that's what programming is to you.

I do it for catharsis, to learn, to feel like I did something of my own.

Maybe you do because of the fun. Then you don't need me. Leave me alone.

Re: I just want to code (2023)

#150

Post by 32i5ens »

spicyusername wrote: post #117
onion2k wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a miserable existence that must be. This ignores the fact that people are motivated by different things. If you're someone who thrives on the intrinsic 'do this for the love and joy of it' motivation then you should absolutely just write code for the fun of it. But not everyone is like that. Some people need an extrinsic motivator to drive them to do things - that's usually money, or praise, or a punishment for…

I mean... one is definitely better...

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