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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?

#171

Post by naivepiano »

gaius wrote: post #155
naivepiano wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OMG I remember interviewing for a company asking all the right questions and talking about nice tech stacks and whatnot. People were nice too. Then I got an offer and I accepted it. First day in the job I figure that their main tech/language was TCL (of course they never mentioned it in the interviews). Stayed 2 weeks and went off running. The possibility of being stuck with some backwater tech killing off your futur…

Your username is well chosen - Tcl is a very underrated language. I'll wager they engineer rings around their competition. Good luck with the Java. You know it's the new COBOL right?

Tcl may be the best language in the known universe (highly doubt it) but try running a job search for it in linkedin. Then do the same for java. I'm not the damned CEO you know. I need to think of my own employability/career.

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

#172

Post by jcadam »

gonzo41 wrote: post #136
dkopi wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but If I had to reverse a linked list without recursion to be hired, I'll be damned if I'm going to allow someone else to be hired without doing that.

put it in a stack then take it back out, first in last out.

GAAAAAAHHHH!! I mean, Of course I knew that already :)

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

#173

Post by hnrodey »

pc86 wrote: post #114
PaulRobinson wrote: post #107

Software engineering is not a flat domain. I work in a web-based e-commerce outfit with 30+ other SEs who are all really into their work, smart, and committed to doing the Right Thing. This is a good gig. If I was working on a COBOL app on a mainframe where all the documentation was in German - and I was offered the chance to interview for that gig just a year ago - I doubt I would have as much fun. As a Ruby/Go/Rust…

> Nobody cares if I'm a few minutes late in as long as I make stand-up. I see this sentiment a lot. What is HN's aversion to showing up to work on time?

"on time" is a relative term. Assuming you show up, work your time, make your meetings and commitments and be a reasonably accountable person - no one will care what time you start the day whether it is 5am or 10am.

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

#174

Post by crispyambulance »

emilburzo wrote: post #158
crispyambulance wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day, there were few javascript libraries and none of them could handle differences between browsers consistently. This was when people had to "roll their own" javascript, explicitly use xmlhttprequest (ajax) and web development was a pain in the ass. People will laugh when I say this now, but for a time GWT was seen as an AWESOME alternative. The proposition that you could just write java and just have GW…

> .. until you started using it! I've been building stuff using GWT for the past 5 years, so I'm either doing it wrong or I'm completely missing something. So, what's wrong with GWT?

There's nothing "wrong" with GWT itself and it served a purpose, but now that javascript/web tooling is sooo much better than 2006, GWT is less compelling.

Last update was when, 2014?

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

#175

Post by epalmer »

ak39 wrote: post #170
epalmer wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ran a few small development shops a long time ago and then went into ecommerce in a bank. Eventually I was a bank compliance advisor (business side) for the bank. No hands on IT and I was miserable. I was good at what I did, remediate systems and processes to make the bank examiners happy but 70+ hr work weeks were killing me. Hence I decided I wanted to get back to web development as the job I am doing now that I…

Like I said, full respect. Thanks for such a detailed response. Been hearing much about eXist but haven't had the courage to get my feet wet. Maybe some time this year. I don't use Oracle, have had all my clients on MS SQL Server (BI Cubes and reports) and they're happy. So am I. Not religious about this anyway. Have been dying to convert some of our consulting wares to pgSQL - soon. I don't intend to impose my views…

I am humbled by your comments.

> 1) Have the courage to try out new languages/frameworks fearlessly. (I am a bit of a coward here.) > 2) Be a finisher. If you can complete projects - even if they're small (actually, the smaller the better) - you can always look back and say "I did that. That system they're using there ... I had something to do with it." I know the spouse couldn't care two hoots but it is the stuff that keeps me alive with hope. There's something deeply Marxist about this - I know - but I don't want to philosophise.

Agree 100%. Working in the bank (really a credit card bank at the time) taught me so many ways to overcome obstacles and to get the job done. Plus now 11 or 12 years of scrum (agile light) helps. I am a director so I am required to be the face of web development with campus units. Interpersonal skills, collaboration and an understanding of company, working units and individual's culture and how to use that to you advantage helps immensely.

Stay positive, keep a sense of humor.

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

#176

Post by lgieron »

_some_guy wrote: post #135
lgieron wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How's that? You net maybe 2-2.5k pounds per month contracting in Warsaw, and 8k for an equivalent job in London. Rent and commute in London is maybe 1k more than in Warsaw.

I get 1500 pounds net per month in Warsaw with 2 years of experience. For London (according to numbeo.com) I would have to make at least 4500 pounds net to have comparable lifestyle. That's 80k pounds per year before taxes - AFAIK not feasible for someone with my experience.

Right, London starts making sense only once you can get into senior roles.

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

#177

Post by emilburzo »

crispyambulance wrote: post #174
emilburzo wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> .. until you started using it! I've been building stuff using GWT for the past 5 years, so I'm either doing it wrong or I'm completely missing something. So, what's wrong with GWT?

There's nothing "wrong" with GWT itself and it served a purpose, but now that javascript/web tooling is sooo much better than 2006, GWT is less compelling. Last update was when, 2014?

> GWT is less compelling.

Last try :-)

Why?

> Last update was when, 2014?

https://github.com/gwtproject/gwt/commits/master

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

#178

Post by cylinder »

pc86 wrote: post #160
cm3 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but not as a daily activity for long stretches (months), so my view may be incomplete. EDIT: Not as a job, but working for weeks, daily on a personal project.

There is absolutely no comparison between the person who has to work a manual labor job breaking their body down because it's the only way they can earn a living and the guy doing 2-3 weeks of physical labor because they have a personal project they want to finish. I mean I can't even put into words how ridiculous this comment is.

Have you worked an office job for years on end? They aren't exactly easy on your body, or soul, either. And trades have "executive" levels as well.

I'd rather be the Plumber for a skyscraper development than the accountant for it...

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

#179

Post by fghrthtb »

apercu wrote: post #166
pc86 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

At some companies, you're right... I am seeing some stuff right now that blows my mind, complete incompetence getting promoted to executive levels. Unbelievable.

http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-o...

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

#180

Post by fruzz »

The best part for me is the money, benefits, the flexible hours, the free food, the mental stimulation, and the occasional expression of creativity.

I don't believe that we change the world, or that we contribute to society any more than the person working behind the counter at a fast food join, the janitor, or other jobs that are so frequently devalued compared to ours. I believe that my job is far less valuable than someone doing social work or a nurse, for instance.

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