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My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

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Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#441

Post by dv_dt »

Bluestrike2 wrote: post #340
exelius wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just have to say this: So typically american. The attitude presented in the article is indeed typically American -- but not for the reason I think you intended. The quintessential American quality is the belief that every person has the right to control their own destiny. Fuck, it's right there in the first sentence of the first document declaring this country's independence. Americans are often seen as greedy re…

It's a very interesting dynamic. Humanistic psychology focuses extensively on ideas of locus of control (Rotter) and self-actualization (Maslow). The perspective has its shortcomings, but I think it manages to hit on a point that many of the others either miss or place little emphasis on. People in general tend to underestimate just how significant that can be. For example, I've always found the argument that certain…

It's ironic to me the reputation for American pragmatism when compared to attitudes in many areas, particularly in the area healthcare. For better theoretical independence from government, we suffer for reduced practical independence due to healthcare costs, and lack of sick leave & vacations, etc.

While Europeans seem to have come to the opposite balance of concerns on independence.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#442

Post by hodgesrm »

kamaal wrote: post #326
aantix wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>My sister started as a programmer 30 years ago but jumped into management [...] My sister has 10X the assets I have. It's so hilarious that he calls himself a "programmer". With 30+ years of experience, you're a software engineer, an architect, and best of all, a consultant. Then you charge 5x the normal rate of a salaried engineer, work normal hours, and start accumulating real assets. He needed to put down the tec…

>>Then you charge 5x the normal rate of a salaried engineer, work normal hours, and start accumulating real assets. This is dream which happens only when you are asleep. In real life an older person is less energetic, less enthusiastic, can't do weekends, has health issues, has responsibilities, has family commitments etc etc. Young people work insane hours, they do that for cheap, they show up on weekends and are mo…

> This is dream which happens only when you are asleep. In real life an older person is less energetic, less enthusiastic, can't do weekends, has health issues, has responsibilities, has family commitments etc etc.

This is complete nonsense. The best and most productive engineers I know are in middle age or beyond. In addition to raw technical ability--which does not decline in my experience--they have a level-headedness about making decisions that is rare to find in younger people. It's a critical success factor, especially for complex projects.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#443

Post by seivan »

kamaal wrote: post #326
aantix wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>My sister started as a programmer 30 years ago but jumped into management [...] My sister has 10X the assets I have. It's so hilarious that he calls himself a "programmer". With 30+ years of experience, you're a software engineer, an architect, and best of all, a consultant. Then you charge 5x the normal rate of a salaried engineer, work normal hours, and start accumulating real assets. He needed to put down the tec…

>>Then you charge 5x the normal rate of a salaried engineer, work normal hours, and start accumulating real assets. This is dream which happens only when you are asleep. In real life an older person is less energetic, less enthusiastic, can't do weekends, has health issues, has responsibilities, has family commitments etc etc. Young people work insane hours, they do that for cheap, they show up on weekends and are mo…

Well put, you have a way of gently articulating something I can barely say coherently.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#444

Post by rlonstein »

citizens wrote: post #422
tcfunk wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like $80k must be an outdated number. My wife and I pull in just under $100k together, and we can't even (comfortably) afford a home. Between rent, student loan payments, health insurance, bills, and car loans, and food, I think we maybe have $500 left to throw around each month. If we were paying against a mortgage, that would basically be zero.

It's definitely outdated, or at least location dependent. The average rent in Manhattan in 2/16 was $3,850. Landlords won't rent to you unless you earn 40x the monthly rent which is $154k. In Brooklyn, the average is $2,716 which ends up being $108,640. ( http://www.mns.com/brooklyn_rental_market_report )

> Landlords won't rent to you unless you earn 40x the monthly rent

I've recently seen 45x monthly in Manhattan and LIC (Queens).

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#445

Post by iolothebard »

anonymoose123 wrote: post #397
graycat wrote: post #229

IMHO, the OP is missing a big, huge point: He is really in the best position. So, here is what he should do: Step 1: Create a small business. For this, he should pick a product or service that can be that of a significant business, e.g., the one he would like to manage as as technical CEO and where initially he can develop the product or service mostly just by programming on his own. Then from that product or service…

Step 3: Profit? (Seriously, it is easier said than done. Do you know how many small businesses failed?)

Depends on how you define success and failure. I've had 7 failed startups (#8 is in the process of failing at the moment). I consider them all failures because I didn't end up with FU money. Funny thing is startup 6 & 7 really got me close.

Although, even if I won a billion dollar lottery, I'd still move on to startup #9. Half the fun is in the building anyway :-)

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#446

Post by kazinator »

drblast wrote: post #430
kazinator wrote: post #297

I will always be a programmer, no matter what. My regret is only about not being richer, that's all. I don't want another kind of job ; I want a shitload of money, so I can code whatever I want all day long, until I drop dead at the TTY prompt. Plus do a ton of cycling, running, guitar playing and such. Regret over not having tried this job or that seems misplaced to me. If the job you're missing out on could be done…

I love that last paragraph, and the idea of management-as-a-hobby. That's a great way to think about it. You can make plenty of money as a programmer. Plenty, as in, I have enough to enjoy my job and my family, be relatively independent, and succeed at life.

That's right; many people do something they don't really like (or even completely hate) for a living.

Even if you don't like the kind of programming you're doing (or perhaps just the lack of having total control over the requirements), it still has a lot in common with programming that you do like.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#447

Post by mahyarm »

kdamken wrote: post #181
Chris2048 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a 30yo dev, I started getting pains in my wrist, and numbness on one side of my hands (the pinky and finger-next-to-it). I switched to a ball-mouse at work, and no longer get this. I believe the large amount of time using a mouse had compressed and damaged my nerves somehow. I'd recommend the switch for anyone spending hours with a mouse.

Just for your info - that numbeness is your ulnar nerve flaring up. There are three main nerves in your arms, the radial, median and ulnar. If you start having those issues again, there may be an issue in your ulnar tunnel, aka where your funny bone is in your elbow. Typically, if the issue is worse when your arm is bent, you know it's that. Just wanted to save you some trouble googling things if it happens to comes…

Do you know of a resource that explains all of the causes of various RSI symptoms and how to avoid them? Like how did you learn about the ulnar issue?

I've found that there isn't an RSI doctor you can go to easily or look up on yelp, and when you go to doctors they can be pretty useless in this category.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#449

Post by Jonathanks »

Wow! It's great knowing some person have been in the art for so long and have accomplished so much. I've had a laptop computer for about a year now and I've not done anything really good with it. It came with Windows and some programs (Office, Mavis Beacon, a CAD software, etc) installed and I've found my passion for breaking things increase since then. After learning how to type on the keyboard (with the Mavis Beacon software), I got annoyed at the OS pestering me to enter an activation key (it wasn't activated) and I got it activated. I dealt with little inconveniences, tried to fix things that weren't broken (just out of curiosity), broke more things in the process (viruses helped me do this too), crashed my hard disk, got a bad LCD screen, lost precious files and had some other misfortunes (all in less than one year). Now I've found myself in a strange relationship with Linux (so addicted I test distros for fun). I'm thinking of installing Slackware for no valid reason than 'I just like it'. I tried my hands on web development, read some books, did a few pages for fun and soon found myself visiting and leaving languages like a tourist, without knowing anyone well. All in about one year. I tried taking Harvard's CS50 on edX and I couldn't complete because of freshman college work and here I am now, back at web design. I seem to have no skill; just curiosity and impatience. But I'll learn. And for the nostalgia I feel about the things I've broken, I'll build more.

Re: My Biggest Regret as a Programmer

#450

Post by [deleted] »

citizens wrote: post #422
tcfunk wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like $80k must be an outdated number. My wife and I pull in just under $100k together, and we can't even (comfortably) afford a home. Between rent, student loan payments, health insurance, bills, and car loans, and food, I think we maybe have $500 left to throw around each month. If we were paying against a mortgage, that would basically be zero.

It's definitely outdated, or at least location dependent. The average rent in Manhattan in 2/16 was $3,850. Landlords won't rent to you unless you earn 40x the monthly rent which is $154k. In Brooklyn, the average is $2,716 which ends up being $108,640. ( http://www.mns.com/brooklyn_rental_market_report )

[deleted]
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