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I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

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Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#91

Post by JonoW »

No of course it doesn't neccessarily mean that. Like most things in life; it depends. If you feel that your day job is fulfilling your interest and happiness as a developer, I'd say you don't need to work on side-projects, you're probably learning plenty during the day.

But if your work gives you restricted oppurtunities to try new technology, or burdens you with outdated tech and boring work, working on a side-project can reignite your enthusiasm in programming, which can never be a bad thing for your career.

Also, theres nothing to say you need to spend huge amounts of time on a side-project, maybe a few hours a month just to try a few new things. Sure, you won't become an expert in those things, but you'll get a feeling of what it's about.

And choose something fun to inspire you, nothing is more mind-numbing that coming home to work on a side-project that actually bores the hell out of you.

Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#92

Post by demallien »

kenjackson wrote: post #10
raganwald wrote: post #2

Correlation does not equal causation. Asking whether not programming in your spare time makes you a bad developer is the wrong question. The right question is, What is it about certain/many good developers that leads them to program in their spare time? Pursue that something and you may end up programming in your spare time. Or starting a company such that your side project is your job. Or finding something really ex…

The right question is, What is it about certain/many good developers that leads them to program in their spare time? This is a good question, but it does lead me to a thought... why does it seem like most side projects are done by people for whom the predominance of their work appears to be side projects? Let me explain. Most of the programmers who produce large products, don't do much in the way of side projects. Ca…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Bellard

Annoyingly enough, he has the same day job as me. My side projects don't get used across the internets :(

Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#93

Post by demallien »

mtviewdave wrote: post #47
rawsyntax wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doctors and lawyers have continuing education requirements that have to be fulfilled to keep their licenses. This is in addition to day job.

In California, physicians are required to put in 50 hours of continuing education every two years ( http://www.medbd.ca.gov/licensee/continuing_education_option... ). Let's call that 25 hours/year. That's something you can accomplish by going to seminars. By contrast, a software developer who codes recreationally for 5 hours a week, 50 weeks out of the year, is spending 250 hours per year coding outside of work. That…

A physician is not generally creating new stuff, just using stuff that is created by someone else. Programmers create, and creation requires a much deeper understanding of a subject than just using.

Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#94

Post by wccrawford »

karolist wrote: post #62

Programming is my hobby. I work on a startup product in my spare time, one question I'm faced with - is it possible to balance corporate work, startup idea and have time for side (hobby) projects? If startup product is not my main task when out of work, is it a sign that the thing will fail? I'd like to learn 3d, develop simple games, learn new languages and algorithms while still working on the startup product and m…

You're asking too many different questions at once.

It's possible to have 'successful' side projects, if you define success as simply not failing.

It's not possible to have a runaway success like Minecraft while you have a day job, though. It takes too much of your time to keep it going.

As for learning, you can learn anything you want. Just go to it.

Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#95

Post by edanm »

raganwald wrote: post #2

Correlation does not equal causation. Asking whether not programming in your spare time makes you a bad developer is the wrong question. The right question is, What is it about certain/many good developers that leads them to program in their spare time? Pursue that something and you may end up programming in your spare time. Or starting a company such that your side project is your job. Or finding something really ex…

"The right question is, What is it about certain/many good developers that leads them to program in their spare time?"

I think there's another way to look at this.

The fact is, programmers who program in their spare time are usually better than average (). That doesn't mean a programmer can't be just as good if he/she doesn't* program in their spare time. It doesn't even mean that programming in their spare time helps these programmers get better, or that better programmers tend to program in their spare time. It's the other way around - programmers who program in their spare time tend to be better (and one direction being true doesn't mean the other direction is true).

The only reason people care about whether others program in their spare time, is because this correlation exists. If I know someone programs in their spare time, that's a positive signal that they are a good programmer. And it's a perfectly legitimate shortcut, when interviewing someone, to see whether they're good. People take offense at the suggestion that they're "worse" because they don't program in their spare time, when in reality, it's just a shortcut.

* I think most people will agree, at least in terms of averages. Nothing about any particular programmer.

Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#96

Post by dodecaphonic »

themal wrote: post #20

Most developers I know - in real life - don't program in their spare time, never mind going to conferences or evening meet ups. If you work as a developer and your hobby is developing then there's a good chance that you'll burn out. That's not to say that it is bad for people who do it, just try to expand your hobbies to something outside of technology.

I've been on guilt trips because of the social aspect I'm missing (dojos, hackatons, weekly meetings in bars), but I've come to terms with it. I have a wife with whom I'd rather be, movies to watch and books to read. It's a tough balance, and ego-wise it can be brutal, but I'm aware now that after my commute home, I want to point my brain at different things.

The way I see it, the ultra-passionate, sleeps-eats-drinks code programmer is usually one who hasn't: a) learned to use his time parsimoniously; b) accepted there's a limit to how much you can do in one day; c) yet built a family. The last one, especially, if approached with gusto, will automatically make you ponder and weigh things -- and will also limit your time, fixing a and b if you don't fight it.

Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#97

Post by wisty »

callmeed wrote: post #58
reedF211 wrote: post #23

A good programmer should wake up at 6 am in the morning get a solid 2.5hrs of coding done by 8:30 am, at 8:30 leave for work, work till 6 (it goes without saying that the lunchbreak must be spent trying to learn the Haskell or if you are feeling lazy answering questions on stackoverflow). Commute from 6 to 6:30 (it's a bonus if you listen to a technical podcast during this time and no stuff like TWIT does not count,…

Once you've got a family, that changes my friend ... you need to set aside at least an hour a night to teach your kids how to code.

And if you don't have a family, but are planning one, ensure that the other potential parent can pass your technical interview.

Funny story - Bill Gates' first question to his wife was said to be "What was your math SAT?"

Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#98

Post by gaius »

wisty wrote: post #97
callmeed wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you've got a family, that changes my friend ... you need to set aside at least an hour a night to teach your kids how to code.

And if you don't have a family, but are planning one, ensure that the other potential parent can pass your technical interview. Funny story - Bill Gates' first question to his wife was said to be "What was your math SAT?"

Well, not that funny, when they first met she was a MS employee. He didn't pick her up in a bar with that line!

PS Would that work?

Re: I don't program in my spare time. Does that make me a bad developer?

#100

Post by jsmcgd »

k7d wrote: post #67
reedF211 wrote: post #23

A good programmer should wake up at 6 am in the morning get a solid 2.5hrs of coding done by 8:30 am, at 8:30 leave for work, work till 6 (it goes without saying that the lunchbreak must be spent trying to learn the Haskell or if you are feeling lazy answering questions on stackoverflow). Commute from 6 to 6:30 (it's a bonus if you listen to a technical podcast during this time and no stuff like TWIT does not count,…

I guess not everybody caught the irony

Don't you mean sarcasm or are you being ironic?
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