How's it going?

[booman]

So much for an encouraging word on Development (wink wink)
Its a crazy world for programmers...
The good ones should be paid the most!
I just hope the growth of Linux for desktops and gaming will spur-on more conscious multi-platform development.

 

[allenskd]

Hmm? Same can be said on any professional field though... things like that doesn't worry me at all, haha. Thing is, if you go to subreddits like r/programming you just get the idea that developers just dislikes on other developers (further reading to get a glimpse). In general it is just a means to an end (but then there's the whole code is poetry, let's write passionately, everything must be perfect (I guess they forgot refactoring exists?). Ideally you would love to do everything perfectly with all unicorns and rainbows; after freelancing years ago creating wordpress plugins and fixing php-written portals there's just no time for that.

 

[booman]

True...

• Good Firefighters should be paid the most
• Good Police should be paid the most
• Good mechanics should be paid the most
• Good IT Techs should be paid the most
• Good Chefs should be paid the most
• Good Teachers should be paid the most
• Good Programmers should be paid the most

But we all know our world is backwards and the Celebrities, Political Figures, Doctors, CEO's...
Most of their success is based on the work people behind-the-scenes

Anyways, I'm no programmer and money-is-time so I'm not surprised games are pushed through with programming bugs/error because you can only cram so much work in one day. I was in a CAD development position for 8 years and after the housing market crash I didn't have time to perfect all my work. I had to cut corners and quality to push out the product faster.
I hated doing that! I love going the "extra mile" and adding extra detail to impress the customer. Not to mention its fun.
The economy and people who manage their money poorly can definitely affect your productivity.

Lately I do most of my extra work for free

• Graphic design for Church bulletins/inserts
• Website design
• Computer repair, refurbishing
• Video Game Concepts

This way there is no "unrealistic" expectation from my clients. I do the work for free and they are happy with it. If not, I only lost some time but gain some experience/skills

 

[Gizmo]

Hmm? Same can be said on any professional field though... things like that doesn't worry me at all, haha. Thing is, if you go to subreddits like r/programming you just get the idea that developers just dislikes on other developers (further reading to get a glimpse). In general it is just a means to an end (but then there's the whole code is poetry, let's write passionately, everything must be perfect (I guess they forgot refactoring exists?). Ideally you would love to do everything perfectly with all unicorns and rainbows; after freelancing years ago creating wordpress plugins and fixing php-written portals there's just no time for that.

There's definitely validity in the post you link to. It is frequently the case that devs hate on other devs for no reason other than "you aren't doing it my way". This isn't limited to just devs though; to a certain extent it's prevalent in ANY engineering community.

It's sometimes referred to as NIH ("Not Invented Here") Syndrome.

Case in point: people have been hating on the various iterations of C for DECADES. Yet C++ is still among the top 3 programming languages in use around the world in EVERY survey.

Every year we hear about a new programming language that is going to be "the" language of the future. And every year, C++ is still there.

Why?

Mostly, IMO, it's because developers want to work on the 'cool' stuff. Nothing wrong with that; I think we'd all agree that writing the software for the next space shuttle is a helluva lot more sexy than writing the software for the next sewage pump controller.

But we need to learn how to use our tools, and which tools are appropriate for which jobs, rather than trying to make one tool do everything, or creating a new tool every year because the old tools are "just so 5 minutes ago". And honestly, I am just bleedin' tired of having to learn a new programming language every year because it's 'sexy' just so I can get some twit from HR to look at my resume, especially when said programming language is unlikely to be of use NEXT year. There are only so many ways you can make a screwdriver. Everything else is just window dressing.

I used to LOVE writing software, because I was SOLVING PROBLEMS. Now, IF I write software, I'm strangling a political snake while wrangling a tool that doesn't do what I need and beating it into submission because someone who doesn't even understand what I do has decreed that 'this is how it is' based on advice from someone else who thinks "it's sexy". AND THEN, I have to compete with amateurs who ALSO don't understand what I do, but maintain they can do it for 1/2 or 1/3 what I charge.

It's just not worth it to me any more. Maybe I have the wrong attitude, but that's how I feel about it.

 

[allenskd]

Hence what I said "it's just a means to an end". I feel the same and I'm not even at the stage to call myself a seasoned programmer.

Anyone, including me, would love to work on really cool projects. Does having a "normal" job makes you less of a programmer? Not really. I know a lot of people in the linux community "admires" people who put insane hours in open source projects, or maybe closed source projects like JetBrains IDEs. Thing is, as much as I love programming and the things it entail; I just can't see myself sacrificing my social life (anymore than what I already sacrificed). I learned the hard way it's not worth it. At the end of the day it's just a job, a job that can really be incredibly stressful when it comes to debugging, deadlines, etc.

I know I'm sort of stretching the subject to something else, yet somewhat related. It's the same way I feel about programming languages, they consume an incredibly amount of time. Even now I'm still going through C++ resources, learning Qt Framework and becoming more talented in the messy world of UIs.

While I like to know and glance at new tools, programming languages in this case. I'm rather "conservative" in the sense that if Python/Django works for me to create web applications, chances are you will never see me touching Ruby/RoR. If the other tools I know well, and know that they do the job just find there's really a rare chance I'll switch to that new unpredictable possibly-not-thoroughly tested tool that only cover a few corner cases.

Only thing I have left to learn is functional programming, which to be honest I'm still pondering what the heck should I create with it in terms of small applications. And this is out of pure curiosity as I've yet to SEE a job ad wanting that skill set.

Having said that. I'm not an unreasonable person; well, I'd like to think I'm not. I'm always open to new faster and solid ways of building applications, and I definitely always like to hear feedback. What can I say? I'm just tired of all the koolaid chugging going around.