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I've been writing & supporting code for commercial and bespoke (mainly business) systems since 1978 on many different platforms and languages, and 36 years later I still love it, still do it for a living, & am writing my best stuff, but look at all the new languages, frameworks, operating systems etc. and think "here we go again" so am getting increasingly reluctant to want to keep re-learning it all once more, and at 52 I still often put in 80+ hour weeks to meet deadlines but can feel a bit of the passion dying year on year, so how long have others kept on? and if you moved away to a different sphere or know of others that did, what did they do? I earn good money which is hard to give up but it isn't the be all and end all, i'm just looking for something different where I can put my experience to good use and have a tad more fun over and above being some sort of 'manager'. Thanks.
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I've been programming, and the associated stuff, since 1975; and I still am. I expect when I die someone will carefully pull the keyboard away from my cold dead fingers, unplug my mouse for the last time and switch off my non-touch screen to save the last ergs of power on the planet.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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_WinBase_ wrote: I still often put in 80+
I have never had to do that. I did put in a year of 60+ hour weeks and that wore me out. I do enjoy development but not when that is all there is in life.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Correct. If you're consistently putting in 80+ hour weeks, you're doing it wrong. Period, full stop.
Either unrealistic goals are being set, or the problem it not well enough understood. It's no wonder there's burnout after that sort of period.
It's at a point like this one needs to step back and question the process. Why do I perceive the need for such long weeks? Who's going to die if some feature is delayed so I have a reasonable work/life balance? (The answer to the second is very likely, "nobody").
P.S. to answer the OP's question, I've been grinding along since 1986. Looking back over all that time, I don't recall a single time when, after putting in significant extra time, the world was any different than if I hadn't.
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That first sentence is kind of long.
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That one was short.
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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I started getting paid to code (FORTRAN) in 1969 and earned money to pay for college writing and tutoring programming. From 1975 to about 1982 I did very little actual programming, from 1982 to 1990 I started programming again on my PC's. In 1991 I programmed full-time, but later started mixing more engineering into my work.
These days I write code as needed for my consulting and for my research efforts, as well as for fun.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E.
Comport Computing
Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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Have been writing code since 1980, and writing code professionally since 1984. I've definitely been influenced by new technologies (read "had to learn new frameworks and concepts"), but the changes in direction have seemed natural: C to C++ to Java to C#, console apps to GUIs, Win32 to MFC to .NET, and desktop form factor to mobile.
I've found that "relearning" is less of an issue today than it was 30 years ago. For example, moving from desktop to Android took a lot less time (a few weeks) than moving from console apps to event driven GUIs in the early 90s.
Bottom line: I still love building software and don't want to do anything else in life.
/ravi
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I was 7 in 77 when I started. I've been doing it professionally for..psh... 25 years? Something like that.
I've all but given up on ever being able to cut free and code the way I can, as opposed to spending the larger part of my time babysitting, managing my business customers, fixing other people's messes (organizational or technical), and engaging in Machiavellian machinations worthy of a Lannister.
I used to love it. I still love those brief moments of success when I finish something.
I'd walk away today if I knew what to do instead.
I'm more than 10 years late for the door.
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Man, with all the responses I feel like a kid around here.
I started learning programming in 1999, but started doing it professionally since 2007.
Heck I wasn't even born when most of the other guys started.
Anyways, I've noticed that whenever I feel my passion for it dying out a bit, if there is someone that I know personally that I can teach stuff to or that I consider as "competition" I try harder and learn more stuff, do more of it in my spare time and my passion lights up even brighter than before.
One thing to note is that 80+ hrs a week of ANY SINGLE THING and I'd be sick of it pretty quickly, heck, even videogames which I also love.
My suggestion is that you try and cut down your hours to the normal 40 a week or even just like a part time job (maybe 20 - 30 a week), if possible of course. Then you could use the spare time to try and mentor some young mind on this road, try new IT/programming (maybe get an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone?) related stuff or just get a different hobby altogether (Woodworking? Working on cars? Hunting?).
Think of what would you do if money was never gonna be an issue, then save money, and go do it.
If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right - Henry Ford
Emmanuel Medina Lopez
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Quote: I feel like a kid around here.
Don't worry about it, kid!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Emmanuel Medina Lopez wrote: what would you do if money was never gonna be an issue
Tending bar in a third-world cantina.
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
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Prefer the cantina in Star Trek V -- with the triple-breasted cat woman. "The closest thing to Paradise."
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
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So ... just how many hands do you have? 
A positive attitude may not solve every problem, but it will annoy enough people to be worth the effort.
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: Tending bar in a third-world cantina.
They can still find you there. At least that is what Hollywood has taught me. 
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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I started learning in 2003 in college. I was always into computers and taking them apart and rebuilding, but never was coding.
I begin professionally in 2007 as well, so for 7 years as a profession now.
I normally put in 40 hours at work and then 10 to 20 with at home projects and part time work. It is more like 10 hours with family stuff, but sometimes get up to 20.
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I've been programmatically converting O into CO2 since 1971. I've been doing it ever since and I love it. <Deep breath.> Other than that, I've dabbled in Basic, Delphi, Visual C++, and Visual C# for ten years and then left (almost eight years ago) since it wasn't my degree and never did any of that as a kid. I still debug code, script a lot, and write math programs for fun, but that's the extent of my programming experience. I'm an analyst by nature and haven't found my true calling yet.
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Only since 1989 -- my college co-op job (using VAX BASIC mostly  ). Did just plain old C with embedded SQL in the 90s. Then C# . Mostly using SSIS currently, but I still get to use some C# .
I've never had to work more than forty hours a week on a regular basis, and I like to think I would not take such a job. The occasional long day (like yesterday) or support at night or on a weekend is OK.
I hope to continue in software development for another hundred years or so.
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
modified 17-Jun-14 12:54pm.
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_WinBase_ wrote: I still often put in 80+ hour weeks to meet deadlines
Whoa, slow down there... less meetings and you get all your work done by 5!
Kidding aside, I've been professionally programming for only a few years... just 12. I don't think I have ever worked a 60 hour week, and rarely more than 50. Now that I have kids and a family, it is a rare day that I am willing to work extra instead of go home and take care of what is the most important... those kids and my wife.
I don't keep pace (promotion wise) with my peers, but I do well enough to live an easy life and get along well with my co-workers. I can't complain, money isn't everything.
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Paid to code since 1986; almost always in industrial environments (food manufacturing, pulp and paper, now utilities).
Now, I don't 'code' so much as I do administer a data collection system (60+ installations in the organization). I do write .NET code as needed to process non-standard data, and I do miss coding, but I love what I do and am well paid... so, I'm happy...
Tim
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Whoa! 80 hour weeks? If I've got my math right, that's like 10 hours every day, for 8 days a week.
That's a lot of work.
I am salaried to 40 hour weeks and they get at least 8 hours out of me each 2 week paycheck. 
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newton.saber wrote: Whoa! 80 hour weeks? If I've got my math right, that's like 10 hours every day, for 8 days a week.
Perhaps! Or he could be working nine hours a day for nine days a week and taking an hour off early at the end of the week.
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Being paid to program since Nov. 18, 1991.
dBase III+ and Clipper
to C using BRIEF as an editor (still miss my Microsoft C 5.1 function reference, it was in 3 ring binder form. Pages always laid flat. BRIEF had a macro language like jEdit does it was kick-a$$) [in the Travel data arena]
to a job where I did VC++, Powerbuilder, SQL, network maintenance, etc. [pension calculation company]
to Delphi 6 [working for a US gov't contractor]
to another job in Delphi 6 that is transforming into Java projects. [back to travel data, funny how the world works]
Rarely put in more than 40 hours a week.
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_WinBase_ wrote: put in 80+ hour weeks
Well, I think we can rule out that you work in France...
The programmers I know that loved programming and solving problems then moved to management hated it. They also turned out to be very poor managers.
I've become complacent at times, but have discovered that there are plenty of different types of jobs out there. I have also found with many of them you really can work a regular work week. I have been reluctant to change jobs because I thought the money couldn't get any better, or whatever else. Basically the fear of change, but non of my fears have turned out to be true.
Hopefully you are working with a technology that you enjoy, and is somewhat sustainable. I would suggest to stay on top of the technologies that are used for the types of programming that you enjoy and whats relevant for that industry.
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