

Ask HN: Programmers, are you still excited about programming? - davidroberts

I love programming and I think I have the talent to do it professionally. But I'm scared. Based on what I see on HN and elsewhere, the workplace seems to be where the excitement of programming goes to die. Is it true? Does the joy of solving difficult problems with elegant code get buried where you work? Is your workplace special because it's not like this? How to find a place where coding still rocks?
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justrudd
Heh. Ever heard the expression, you gotta kiss a lot of frogs?

Finding the right place for me is very different from finding the right place
for you. For example, where I work (zulily) there is a ton to do. I think
about all the cool problems I get to solve. But at the same time, I have to
deal with a lot of "not how I would have done it" solutions. Don't get me
wrong, I'm fully aware that any decisions that I make will be castigated by
current/future workers (the wheels on the bus go round and round).

With that said, find an industry that interests you right now. Find companies
that are using software to solve problems in that industry. Then just start
working. When you are there, you have 2 outcomes - one is that everything is
amazing and nothing needs to change (unlikely) and the second is that it's
mostly OK.

If it's mostly OK, you can decide to put up with it (because the challenges
and coding are tilting in the favor of happiness) or you can (cliche alert) be
the change you want to see. If you see a process that you don't get, question
it and find out why it got instituted. If no one can give you a good reason
(and good is subjective I know), then change it. Get rid of it. Nuke it from
orbit (it's the only way to be sure). If your boss says things like "Because I
said so" - find somewhere else to work.

A lot of people will tell you "Just code on side projects". That's an awesome
idea. but you can work on side projects about 2-3 hours a day (assuming you've
got friends and other hobbies). Is that 2 hours a day really enough to make up
for the soul sucking 8+ hours you spend at an office? I know it isn't for me.
I've got side projects, but most of them revolve around how I can learn a new
technology to help the company I'm currently working for.

And just to answer your original question: Yes. I'm still excited by
programming.

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codeonfire
Business hates the idea of people solving difficult problems with elegant
code. Most businesses wants dumb people solving easy problems through
repeatable patterns. There are lots of different kinds of software
development. If you pick the wrong company you could be doing lots of
repetitive work. Even if you pick the right company there will be enormous
pressure from all sides to turn your job into being a typist. The best
solution is ownership and management of the firm by developers, which is how
many successful firms are started.

~~~
davidroberts
It seems like this applies in any line of work.

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eduardordm
Not every task is the same, and, yes, you will have to deal with tasks you
would rather be doing something else - no matter what career you pick - this
is why discipline is usually more important than 'talent' (which is a scam,
talent is just result of hard work, you always start at zero talent). Keep in
mind that even programming that 'rocks' will get old and you will want to move
to something else.

Be careful with the definition of 'difficult problem'. Building a HTTP server
from scratch is not a difficult problem. Trying to understand a 30 page
generalization of financial calculations and implement it on a programming
language when you are not a mathematician is a difficult problem. Most
programmers, specially 'juniors', have a very shallow understanding of what
difficult means. Nothing you know how to do is difficult, it can just be
lengthy, only new things / things you don't fully understand are difficult.

This is valid for pretty much every career, really.

The only advice I give to people entering this career is to get ready to deal
with the complete, absurd social ineptitude of the majority of technically
great professionals in the field. Which is not all bad, with a bit of social
skills, you will lead.

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Deinos
For me, it ebbs and flows. There are times when I feel challenged, and there
are definitely times where politics, the types of problems, etc. tend to
extinguish the flame to get excited and work hard. I think the trick is, when
you feel your "programming fire" starting to get extinguished, find a side
project that inspires you (granted, if you have the time to do so). This gets
me through the burn out and piques my interest when the day to day coding
doesn't do it for me.

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keefe
Coding rocks in places filled with top performers. If you're really good and
don't settle for working with mediocre people, you'll find an interesting
place. Also, your creative expression for coding has to be something that
persists longer than a single job.

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factorialboy
You can burn out. Make sure you keep learning new things and solve different
problems.

Luckily the field is really vast to keep you interested for decades.

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zenbowman
Absolutely - this is in fact a golden age for programmers. Working conditions
are a lot better than 10 years ago, and the power at our fingertips is beyond
what I could have imagined.

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canatan01
Keep learning new stuff and make things just for the fun of it.

