|
Just wanted to let everyone know I'm tired. I'm tired of IT. I'm tired of coding (since 1992). I'm tired of long nights trying to meet unrealistic deadlines. I'm tired of managers who motivate by complimenting you into accepting this as the norm. I'm tired of managers with type A personalities. I'm tired of managers with clean desks (I know they are hiding something). I'm tired of looking up coding solutions on Google (who remembers what we searched before Google? Nobody? That means I'm old. It was Deja News or DejaVue, btw).
On that topic, as I approach 50, I know two things: I'm not going to be the 50+ year old programmer, grey haired, sitting in the cube maze with the 20-somethings, fixing crappy code written 15-20 years ago. Nor do I want to be the IT manager, who spends long hours in meetings trying to forward this never-ending agenda of BS. This sounds like I'm angry and bitter, but I'm not. I'm actually thankful I didn't leave college become a musician like I told my Mom one night while hopped up on Vicodin during a bout of strep. But I'm also sad that I didn't. We are defined by the choices we make.
So I shall go forth for the next few years and suck up as long as necessary. I'll do my job well as I always have but there are other coders out there who know more than me and can not only take up the slack, but improve on it. I respect all of you, those that contribute to the knowledge bases and the "Internet of Things" and answer the stupid questions from the legions of noobs and moderate the forums and provide the "step-by-steps". Cheers to you and please remember that coding can consume you so much it runs your life. So step out occasionally without the phone, tablet or Oculus Rift and go somewhere interesting and meet real people. That's my plan at least. Maybe I'll turn it into a career.
|
|
|
|
|
Sounds like a plan!
Good luck - from one Oldie (on the wrong side of 50) to a not-quite-so-oldie.
And remember, you may be older, but at least you learnt to think about what you were doing instead of just grabbing something from Google: the latest generation seems to do nothing else... 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
modified 9-Jan-15 11:19am.
|
|
|
|
|
OriginalGriff wrote: instead of just grabbing something from Google: the latest generation seems to do nothing else...
No, that's the previous generation. The current generation post the Google search query into QA and expect us to do the legwork for them.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
|
|
|
|
|
I really wish I didn't stand corrected. But I do...
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
|
|
|
|
|
Hmm, I think you guys are being a bit silly "things were better before" kind of way. I'm sure that people copied things from books before (I still do  ), and before that we copied from our parents or other people. Just face it, a lot of human activity consist of copying things 
|
|
|
|
|
I'd agree - I will use code from articles and so forth - but I think about the code I'm using and will modify my code to work with it, or it to work with my code.
But there seems to be a trend (in QA at least) of "find some code that says it does the job" and expect it to work without any changes. Even if your app is written in C++ and the code you found is PHP...
I don't understand that, not at all: even if I buy a part for my car, I don't necessarily expect it to fit - I check, and compare old and new, and make sure before I try to "stuff it in there". Don't you?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
|
|
|
|
|
OriginalGriff wrote: I don't understand that, not at all: even if I buy a part for my car, I don't necessarily expect it to fit - I check, and compare old and new, and make sure before I try to "stuff it in there". Don't you?
That's always a good idea, especially if one doesn't completely understand what you put in, which we rarely do these days. But my experience is that people that know what they do, tend to check it even more, to make sure there aren't any stupid mistakes.
|
|
|
|
|
OriginalGriff wrote: even if I buy a part for my car, I don't necessarily expect it to fit - I check, and compare old and new, and make sure before I try to "stuff it in there". Don't you?
Nope, I recently made a purchase like that. I came home and was like "these things come in different sizes?"
There's just stuff I'm not so good with. Now I went back to the store, I was the QA n00b that time.
With programming it's no different I guess, except when their code doesn't fit they come to QA.
What baffles me is that the people in QA are, apparently, students or even professionals. You'd expect a bit more from them. And they can't even form correct English sentences.
i mean who cant from a can not engrish sentense corectly. thats jus lame.
I sentence them to grammar school!
My blog[ ^]
public class SanderRossel : Lazy<Person>
{
public void DoWork()
{
throw new NotSupportedException();
}
}
|
|
|
|
|
Kenneth Haugland wrote: I'm sure that people copied things from books before
Copy from paper?
You cannot help but learn stuff if you are typing a 500-line listing from a book into your IDE. That quite different from a copy/paste from a website, hitting F5 and proclaiming "it don't work".
Some of these people do not know anything about coding - it's just blocks of text that get combined like lego's.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
|
|
|
|
|
Well, that depends on the complexity I guess. But I would always recommend that you read the book, or the article, that follows the code.
BTW: I used to love playing around with lego 
|
|
|
|
|
Eddy Vluggen wrote: blocks of text that get combined like lego's.
Well, in QA it's more like two bits of Lego, a pile of Meccano, a house brick, and a couple of cricket balls...
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
|
|
|
|
|
I can sympathize, being more than a dozen years your senior and still coding (since 1967 in high school). I have carefully managed to avoid management for all these decades, and my current environment isn't all that bad, but... I can't find motivation any more.
According to my calculations, I should be able to retire about 5 years after I die.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I can only gather that is either:
1. An acronym I don't understand
or
2. A misspelling and you meant porn
|
|
|
|
|
yes. 
and I can only hope that you knew I was joking.
|
|
|
|
|
I don't think I've met anyone who was serious on these threads. It's almost like reading AVClub
|
|
|
|
|
It's not a misspelling - Google would've pointed you to this[^].
PS: I'm an older fart than you and still love writing code and building apps. There's nothing else in life I'd rather do. Just sayin'.
/ravi
|
|
|
|
|
Old-ish-coder wrote: DejaVue
Wow. That brings up memories...
... Or does it?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
|
|
|
|
|
I've been at it a little longer than you and I still love it - apart from restoring classic cars, I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing. 
|
|
|
|
|
I call that lack of imagination.
|
|
|
|
|
Old-ish-coder wrote: as I approach 50
Me too, later this year.
Old-ish-coder wrote: become a musician
You can do both. I just bought a native-American-style flute this past weekend, very soothing... and now to repost the joke about the guy playing bagpipes all night...
|
|
|
|
|
I am not so old, and I don't work on a cube maze. But I somehow simpatize with your thoughts.
I am more PLC, Robot and all-road industry developer/programmer more than a high-level developer/coder. But in my "young" 10 years experience have had what you decribe enough times.
Somehow I feel lucky though. I am changing job to a fully new area in the development of test devices for cars in production. Working in a office, not having to travel so much as I am used to and being better paid. For sure there are going to be stressy times, but it is not going to be even close to actual level.
Got married some days ago and the reforms of my own house (in a new city) are almost complete, in two weeks I will sleep everyday in my bed.
All combined is going to give me a fresh amount of spare time. I would like to invest it in fitness (not only because of health, I hope to meet new people there), going out with my wife in our new bikes, going to learn Tango or other similar dances, trying to get good relationships with my new neighbours (some of them are very nice so far) and of course have kids in not so far future.
I have enjoyed the years working on this company and I am going to miss a lot some friends, to be honest I will somehow miss the challenges I have been facing through the years too. But I won't miss at all the continouos being far from home, the jerks I have faced in some projects trying (thank good) unsuccessfully to beat me down and the stress of the very close deadlines. That's the damm of being good, you are always called when it is almost too late to save the day.
Life is too short to be always working, my luck... I discovered it soon enough.
Old-ish-coder wrote: Maybe I'll turn it into a career.
I whish you luck and success on it
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
modified 9-Jan-15 11:58am.
|
|
|
|
|
I can one-up you both in terms of age and years coding (although being paid for it has been a little less!) I really do get it. Programming is creative, .... BUT at some point in your career each new problem looks a lot like a problem you've solved before. The process continues until it's no different to delivering milk (same old every day!) It took me longer to get to this point programming than any of my earlier careers (I've had a few!)
Grinding code is something I now hate, even though I can still remember the wonder at writing code and getting the computer doing something neat. A new technique or technology comes along or a problem proves so thorny that you really do have to think and crack the knuckles. When you've conquered it there's a feeling of elation (maybe a bit of smugness), but things quickly subside to ennui again.
I have 12 weeks to go before I'll be the wrong side of 60 and OUT OF IT. Sure I'll probably end up doing some consulting, but code grinding will be behind me. In a couple of years I'll probably be bored about attacking the invasive species that there are on my country property, but maybe not as I don't have to do it. I might even find time to pop back to the UK and jam on guitar with POH.
I wouldn't say I'm envious of people who have been at it a long time and still love it, nor would I say that boredom is inevitable, but I do say good on 'em. I've been lucky and I've had a lot of fun getting here, but now it's time. What a long strange trip it's been.
Life is like a s**t sandwich; the more bread you have, the less s**t you eat.
|
|
|
|
|
Thank you for sharing this. I just turned 48 and while I haven't been coding as long as you, (10 years in another field) I can relate to this dreadful 'old and tired' feeling.
It's impossible to not to get burned out or downright pissed off if you are being pushed too hard or the environment is hostile. Have you thought about changing employers?
Old-ish-coder wrote: who remembers what we searched before Google?
When I was learning it was either the locally installed MSDN or one of the dozens of programming books I still have!
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
|
|
|
|
|
I just switched jobs. Improved hours worked and benefits, but BS is BS, regardless of where it falls.
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
