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

#1

Post by wrrice » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 3:46 AM UTC

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?

#2

Post by raganwald » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:06 AM UTC

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 exciting to do at your current job. Or whatever. In words much older than our civilization: "Do not follow in the footsteps of the Sages. Seek what they sought."

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

#3

Post by keyle » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:15 AM UTC

I used to code the night away. Then be unable to sleep too excited about what I was doing.

Now I have a fiancee and we live an exciting new city (Brisbane, AU).

I've just outgrown it. I think both ways are normal. However, the dude that doesn't program during the day and yet paid to do so IS WRONG... Whoop, that would be me. Back to work!

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

#4

Post by natch » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:17 AM UTC

As an outsider (not being you), I would consider it a red flag, nothing more. Additional evidence would be needed to draw any conclusions.

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

#5

Post by unshift » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:35 AM UTC

when i'm working a 9-5 job, the last thing i want to do is go home and program more. i'd rather throw the ball around with the dog or rock out on my guitar.

in my experience the people who say "you have to have side projects to be a good developer" are either people who do program in their spare time, or people who want to hire the type of programmers who voluntarily chain themselves to their desk.

this is one myth i'd really like to see die. good accountants don't balance checkbooks in their spare time, do they? lawyers don't hold mock trials, doctors don't do surgery on their friends as side projects, and construction workers don't pour concrete for kicks on the weekend.

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

#6

Post by DanI-S » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:36 AM UTC

Unless you have a super-awesome job (and lots of people do), programming in your own time may be the only way to discover and play with new things. If you work backend at a C# shop but would like to start writing Ruby, you're unlikely to get the opportunity to learn unless you do it in side projects.

Practically, you may be totally happy in your current niche, but you're at higher risk from technological obsolescence unless you diversify.

This is as much an argument for '20% time' as it is for programming at home.

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

#7

Post by MattGrommes » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:41 AM UTC

When I look at resumes and talk to candidates, seeing that they don't at least read about programming outside isn't an automatic no-go but as natch says, it's a red flag. I've worked with people who have no interest in programming, they just do it because it's what they do and they need a paycheck. Not programming or showing an interest outside of work is an indicator of this kind of person to me. Of course it's not 100% but it leads me to ask other questions to make sure they will want to learn. That said, there are plenty of corporate places that are perfectly fine with this kind of person, I just don't work at those places anymore.

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

#8

Post by younata » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:45 AM UTC

For my internship this summer, I actually write code! I've found that I do little to no non-work programming during the week. However, I do spend a lot of time during the weekend programming.

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

#9

Post by biot » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:49 AM UTC

unshift wrote: post #5

when i'm working a 9-5 job, the last thing i want to do is go home and program more. i'd rather throw the ball around with the dog or rock out on my guitar. in my experience the people who say "you have to have side projects to be a good developer" are either people who do program in their spare time, or people who want to hire the type of programmers who voluntarily chain themselves to their desk. this is one myth i…

All those activities in other professions don't involve learning. Presumably, balancing a checkbook is a solved problem but an enthusiastic accountant may have brushed up on Sarbanes-Oxley legislation to learn how their craft would get impacted. Lawyers may not hold mock trials but they may read journals in their spare time which cover interesting precedent-setting cases. Doctors don't do surgery for fun but they may read up on newly discovered surgical techniques for reattaching severed nerves. And someone in construction might read up on new, energy-efficient construction techniques and materials... but odds are good they don't lay bricks at home.

So yeah, don't go home after work and write Hello World or re-implement bubble sort yet again. But do keep up with developments in your craft. If you don't have this opportunity at work, hopefully (for your own sake) you still do take the opportunity outside of work. Software changes so fast that most don't have time during work to keep up. If you let your knowledge get too out of date, your value diminishes rapidly. I think this speaks for a need for more work-sponsored learning opportunities, whether that's courses, conferences, or Google-style 20% time.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be operated on by a doctor whose knowledge of surgery stopped in 1960.

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

#10

Post by kenjackson » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:50 AM UTC

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. Carmack seems to be heads down on Rage. I don't see a Carmack GitHub project. Nothing from Tim Sweeney either. I don't see anything from the devs that did GTA or Halo or RDR or the latest Mario game.

What about David Cutler? Linus -- he did Git, I guess a side project(?) -- other stuff? Any of the iOS architects have GitHub side projects? WebOS architects?

It seems like we have two classes of devs. Those that ship large products. Whether its iOS or Grand Theft Auto 5. And devs that ship little projects. Small startups, little tools here and there. The overlap between the two seems rather small.