Getting a well thought out pull request merged with minimal pushback!
What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
71–80 of 213 posts
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#72I 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…
CRUD applications are developed brainlessly. They're more challenging than it seems.
It's interesting that people develop CRUD applications in garbage-collected languages because manual memory management is a pain, but they'll gladly expose manual data management to the end user without worrying about analogous data bugs.
If data bugs are important, you need your data management system to have some qualities of a garbage collection system (tracing, reference counting) or it needs to be self-repairing (fill in missing data on demand). This is actually a challenging problem, assuming your data is important. This is why cache invalidation is one of the Two Hard Things in programming according to Martin Fowler.
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never been a coal miner, but there is some sort of satisfaction in working with your hands that you don't quite get being a corporate coder.
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…
> destroying your back, knees, your hands end up cut and calloused
+ your hearing, it can be very noisy in a mine.
I'm from a coal mining region and some of the miners hate the job with passion and curse it every day as they get on the comutter's bus. Others are more indifferent about it and even enjoy some aspects of it (mostly camraderie). I'm pretty sure the majority of them would switch for ANY office job that pays the same.
My general thoughts on the "I'm unhappy doing CRUD" sentiments is that people generally tend to get bored with what they're doing and the dream of one day doing something else, something more fulfilling, relieves the pain somewhat. Funnily, for pretty much all the alternative careers that devs talk about, there are internet threads where people working those jobs are discussing how to retrain as a software developer.
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#74When 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.
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never been a coal miner, but there is some sort of satisfaction in working with your hands that you don't quite get being a corporate coder.
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.
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#76What 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 technology. But I'll only earn a median income if I do that.
Or go straight into management and earn 2 to 2.5 times median. But that seems even more boring.
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#77I 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…
CRUD applications are developed brainlessly. They're more challenging than it seems. It's interesting that people develop CRUD applications in garbage-collected languages because manual memory management is a pain, but they'll gladly expose manual data management to the end user without worrying about analogous data bugs. If data bugs are important, you need your data management system to have some qualities of a gar…
Thanks! that's a remarkably insightful way to look at it.
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#78For 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.
Wait, what? You're experience doesn't matter? Your degree doesn't matter? You have to demonstrate you have the superior fizzbuzz implementation!? Tell me it's not TRUE!
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#79When 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?
I've never been a coal miner, but I have worked a number of extremely physically demanding jobs, one especially where people died from poor safety conditions and most of everyone called in sick several days a month ( I was complimented sincerely on what a good worker I was because I only called in sick once per month).
any day of that job was much worse than programming when programming on a good day, but programming on a bad day is much worse than any day of that job ever was.
Re: What is the best part about being a Software Engineer?
#80When 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.