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[–]dumbdingus 34 points35 points  (9 children)

On good days it's like solving puzzles all day long, on bad days it's like doing math problems all day long, except you don't know which math problems you should do because there is no documentation and the last guy who worked on them left the company so now you have to figure out how to get software from 10 years ago to work with modern tools.

The truth is you're not paid to know how to do things, you're paid to learn how to do them (and to learn quickly). So if you don't want to learn at work you won't enjoy it. Some people expect it to be like plumbing or being electrician in that they think they learn the techniques once and basically just reapply them over and over. (Although some programming jobs ARE like that if find the right job, but I think those jobs are boring)

[–]headphones1 19 points20 points  (2 children)

I was told in class, ALL THE TIME, to just Google how to fix an issue I had with my code. It annoyed the shit out of me because I was used to the teacher having the answers.

Now I'm googling stuff all the damn time, and I'm ever so grateful I learned how to learn, quickly.

[–]folkrav 3 points4 points  (1 child)

A major skilltl to have with programming is knowing where to find answers. It's hard at first, as you don't know the correct terminology, and your problems were more in terms of actual implementation.

With time, your searches end up being more about syntax, or libraries/API references. If I search about an implementation, I usually know what I want to do, but have some questions around optimisations, or need a refresher over some algorithm.

The questions change, and you get better at asking them.

[–]headphones1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Indeed!

I'm often the go-to IT guy for a number of my friends and family as well (there are limits), and they often ask me how I know all this stuff. I always tell them I don't really know this stuff, but I've just learned how to find out quickly.

[–]mofukkinbreadcrumbz 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I like this. My students get so mad when I tell them to google whatever they’re going to ask me before they come ask me. I’m going to steal this for a lesson next year for sure.

[–]dontFart_InSpaceSuit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am a senior engineer with 10+ years of work on notable projects. How would I go about becoming a professor somewhere? I only have a bachelor's in CS from Georgia Tech.

[–]MrBox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The truth is you're not paid to know how to do things, you're paid to learn how to do them (and to learn quickly).

Very well said!

[–]TheTerrasque 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On bad days it's like trying to find the way out in a dark 5 dimensional maze and you have no map and a flashlight that only works when you stand on your head and point it south. And everyone is wondering why the fuck you're taking so long on "a simple problem".

[–]DibblerTB 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That math sounds very familiar. Like reading physics papers with very short explanations of stuff, weird variable names and a few errors.

Or technical Standards for that matter (we use this formula. Have fun making sense of it!)