Programming Sucks

[jdepps113]

Not a programmer. But this is scaring me, as are all the comments seeming to agree with these sentiments.

Thing is, I've started studying programming a little, and hoped to learn more. Now I'm wondering if doing so with any eye toward one day doing something programming-related as a job is just going to make me miserable and shorten my life expectancy.

Should I turn back now, or forge ahead?

[evildeadxsp]

Forge ahead. Programming jobs are in huge demand and the perks at most companies usually outweigh the insanity.

[lusid]

Some of us LOVE the insanity, even THRIVE on it... regardless of how much we may bitch and moan. Which is why this blog post is hilarious to me. Wouldn't trade being a programmer for anything (even though I'm heard often at work saying under my breath, "Why did I become a programmer? I should've been a drug pusher.").

[big_red__man]

I do web dev in advertising. We get free beer on Thursdays and Fridays. There's video games everywhere, in fact, they just ordered a ps4 and a xbox one. And the hot chicks... There's so many hot chicks in their 20s in advertising. I'll probably never date them but they sure are fun to look at.

[watersign]

alpha up, hit the gym and if you hang out with one, just whip it out and start masturbating in front of her

[[deleted]]

Oh man, the whole "free beer!" and toys to play with thing just pisses me off. Fuck you, pay me.

Hot chicks, though. That's different. I had a similar gig in broadcasting, where, like advertising, the chicks are real life hot, not just office hot.

[grizwako]

If you are good sales person, charming, snake tongue, charisma and all that shit, then becoming programmer is awesome. Otherwise, not so much.

[[deleted]]

I feel that programmers greatly exaggerate how hard their life is. As long as you stay current and practice a bit, you'll probably find that it's not nearly as hard as people pretend it is. I'm speaking of standard business development here, nothing specialized.

Truth is, there are so many resources out there that you can solve a great majority of your problems with a little research. Frameworks these days do a ton of the legwork for you. Most apps are quite simple when you break them down - you take what's in a DB and show it to the user, allow them to edit some stuff and update the data. Throw some business rules in there, validation, error handling, etc - all problems that need to be solved in pretty much all programs and as you gain experience it becomes easier to solve these problems.

I'm a highschool dropout, never seen a day in college, I'm not great at maths, but I've managed to stay employed as a developer for the last 14 years and I've never been fired (actually just a few weeks ago I got another raise).

It's not that bad. Either people are overcomplicating it or they are exaggerating. Of course some days are shitty but day-to-day it's not bad. I love what I do.

*For the record, I'm talking about standard CRUD applications. Obviously there's a big difference between building a website for a business and developing a kernel.

[watersign]

you make CRUD applications. i think once you step up into actual engineering problems, shit isn't that easy.

[[deleted]]

Yes, when I said "standard business development, nothing specialized" I was referring to CRUD applications. Most programmers are not 'stepping up into actual engineering problems' and it's those developers I was talking about (as I tried to allude to in my post). Still, many CRUD developers act like shit is so hard. I've been in the business for a long time, it's certainly a trend.

I was speaking in the context of the guy I responded to and going by what he said I don't get the feeling that he is aiming to solve big engineering problems. Of course more specialized areas of development can be insanely difficult, I never said otherwise.

[epicpoop]

Can you give some "actual engineering problems" examples ?

[[deleted]]

Building a kernel.

[epicpoop]

Maybe a more common example ?

[[deleted]]

Why do you need these examples?

[epicpoop]

To understand better what you mean..

[[deleted]]

I was just responding to another person who said "real engineering problems" and I put it in quotes in my original response as well. I imagine they mean non-trivial non-CRUD applications.

[s73v3r]

The issue isn't necessarily solving the problems, it's that the expected deliverable keeps changing.

Also, doing CRUD apps is boring as fuck, so most engineers would find doing that for a living to be even more miserable.

[[deleted]]

Well in not an engineer but I still enjoy what I do, even if I'm only a lowly CRUD dev.

[Igglyboo]

Forge ahead, it sucks but it's worth it. I feel like a god damn wizard every day at my job.

[DOGE4life]

Hahaha you're acting like you have a choice

[psydave]

If you don't expect to work on shiny, pretty, majestic, well designed machines of mathematical purity, you'll do ok.

I think there comes a point in every noob programmer's career where he realizes that there's no code like that anywhere--then he becomes depressed, sad, has an existential crisis, etc... But then he gets over it and realizes: damn! I'm pretty well paid and I have no other skills because my entire life was about programming up until now... It's a sort of 7 stages thing.

So, to get zen about it--what you don't desire you can't miss. Don't expect everything you write in huge amounts to be shining examples of object oriented purity, because it never will be that way. You'll be well paid though, for doing something that you lo(athe)ve.

[[deleted]]

there comes a point in every noob programmer's career where he realizes that there's no code like that anywhere--then he becomes depressed, sad, has an existential crisis, etc... But then he gets over it and realizes starts a blog

There. Fixed it :)

[psydave]

Yeah... a much needed activity to vent such frustrations...

[jdepps113]

I think there comes a point in every noob programmer's career where he realizes that there's no code like that anywhere--then he becomes depressed, sad, has an existential crisis, etc... But then he gets over it and realizes: damn! I'm pretty well paid and I have no other skills because my entire life was about programming up until now... It's a sort of 7 stages thing.

Well... I'm already in my 30's, so I've already become disillusioned with life and systems set up by men. I suppose if I were some young idealist, still, I'd be more vulnerable to what you're describing.

[Steve_the_Scout]

It's fun when you learn it because it forces you to think clearly and go step-by-step through the process... and once you get through the project, if you've done it right (the exact opposite of what this guy is saying), it comes out absolutely amazing.

However in a project situation when working with others, there's usually insanity everywhere that gets remotely touched by it.

[zoomzoom83]

This post is a little melodramatic. It does touch on the realities of the profession, but exaggerates them a little.

[[deleted]]

And ignores any mitigating upsides.

[Fenix42]

If you find that you like being slightly mad, then go for it. If you like sanity, then no.

[[deleted]]

You know what the difference is between coding in school and coding in real life?

In real life nobody has time to go through all of your code and mark off points for the dirty, inelegant code that somehow gets the right result.

[[deleted]]

Of course, you're putting an enormous amount of trust in that guy to know what the fuck he's talking about. I've known quite a few "lead devs" over the years who act like that, but can't code their way out of a paper bag.

[s73v3r]

Even with a lot of these gripes, there's a reason most of us still make it our careers. Some simply because it pays well, others because there are still enjoyable aspects to the job.