What is the best part about being a Software Engineer? • Hacker News Board

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

#191

Post by pc86 » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 4:45 PM UTC

hnrodey wrote: post #173

pc86 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

This is just not true.

There are offices that have legitimate reasons for requiring employees to be there at certain times. I've worked in secured locations that were all but inaccessible at 6:01 pm and you needed a good reason to be there after 5. In an environment like that, you can't stroll in at 10:30 because you prefer to sleep in.

A lot of folks on HN seem to have this idea that as long as you show up it shouldn't matter what time you get there, how long your lunch is, when you leave, or how many hours you are working vs. sitting on Facebook, and there should be this pure meritocratic judgment based solely on the quality of your work. Maybe that's ideal, but it's 100% unrealistic. In an office environment, showing up on time, not leaving early, and not taking a two hour lunch should pretty much be the minimum.

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

#192

Post by pc86 » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 4:57 PM UTC

cylinder wrote: post #178

pc86 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Yes I have. And easy is relative. Of course my back is a little sore some days, and I've worried about carpal tunnel/RSI in the past. But if you're looking at manual labor (it's called "back breaking" for a reason), there's really no comparison.

Life is hard no matter what. We don't need to look at people who have it objectively much harder than us and say "but these florescent lights give me a headache" to try and make our lives seem harder than they are, just like we don't need to look at people who have it objectively much easier than us and say "they have so much money and free time they couldn't possibly understand how hard I have it."

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

#193

Post by joeld42 » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 5:17 PM UTC

To me it's like the world's best puzzle game where you never run out of levels, and get paid well for playing. :)

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

#194

Post by collyw » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 5:20 PM UTC

emodendroket wrote: post #138

lostcolony wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Its just the algo stuff you usually have to review before hand vs all the others' There's the problem. If it's something you have to review, it's not something you use that often. Unless the job is going to have you using it often, why is everyone's time being squandered on it?

I guess the problem is you need it infrequently but when you do need it it is really helpful to know.

And easy enough to look up.

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

#195

Post by jimbokun » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

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?

We have a large GWT code base, although others here work on it more than I do.

Problems that seem to get mentioned a lot:

1. Difficult to develop or debug without custom IDE plug ins. With Google cutting back on their investment, not clear how well those plug ins will be maintained in the future.

2. Awkward to work with Javascript libraries, at least compared to all Javascript development.

3. Sometimes hard to predict exactly what Javascript will be emitted for specific Java code.

4. Remembering the rules for what Java code can or cannot be compiled by the GWT compiler.

5. A lot of indirection. The event model has definite benefits, but it also seems to make it very hard to figure out what the program will do by just navigating the code.

6. Difficult to find developers willing and able to work on a GWT code base.

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

#196

Post by emodendroket » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 5:35 PM UTC

collyw wrote: post #194

emodendroket wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the problem is you need it infrequently but when you do need it it is really helpful to know.

And easy enough to look up.

But what are you looking up? You have to know what class of problem you have to be able to look it up.

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

#197

Post by jstelly » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 5:36 PM UTC

dkopi wrote: post #140

gonzo41 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Follow up is usually: now do that with O(1) memory.

This doesn't seem like a very valuable interview question anymore because it's well known and you can probably google the simple answer, but if not this is the basic idea (walk the list once pointing each next at the previous node and return the new head when you reach the end):

  List *Reverse( List *pList )
  {
	List *pPrevious = nullptr;
	List *pCurrent = pList;
	while ( pCurrent )
	{
		List *pNext = pCurrent->GetNext();
		pCurrent->SetNext( pPrevious );
		pPrevious = pCurrent;
		pCurrent = pNext;
	}
	return pPrevious;
  }

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

#198

Post by collyw » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 5:52 PM UTC

lgieron wrote: post #89

jetengine wrote: post #76

What are your experiences with creative jobs? I'm currently making 1.5 times median income (compared to the rest of the country) as a Java back-end programmer. But it's not the most exciting job because all I'm doing is keeping legacy code alive and implementing new business specifications. I have thought of going back to my old job as web-developer, doing cool stuff with Node, Angular and all the cool cutting-edge t…

> I have thought of going back to my old job as web-developer, doing cool stuff with Node, Angular and all the cool cutting-edge technology. I'd take Java over JavaScript any day. These technologies are trendy, but they're definitely not cutting-edge or cool.

I think its more about building new stuff or maintaining legacy code. The first is more interesting than the second.

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

#199

Post by lostcolony » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 6:00 PM UTC

lostcolony wrote: post #117

vitno wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, you get payed far more. A steelworker in 1975 made on average $7.11.[1] This is about $31.47 in 2016 dollars. Not bad at all, but I'm still guessing you make more. [1] http://articles.mcall.com/1985-07-19/news/2489404_1_steel-in...

Really? 31.47 * 52 (weeks) * 5 (days a week) * 24 (hours a day) = $196,372. In some place other than San Francisco (so pretty much guaranteed lower cost of living). Plus benefits, overtime, much lower likelihood of losing one's job, a pension...

Whoops, yeah, I shouldn't post while zoning out on a teleconf.

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

#200

Post by Joof » Thu, Apr 28, 2016, 6:18 PM UTC

dkopi wrote: post #82

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.

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.

If there isn't tail recursion should I implement it with trampolining in the compiler first?