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Survey Results

Would you encourage a friend or relative to become a software developer?   [Edit]

Survey period: 10 Sep 2007 to 16 Sep 2007

Do your cousins look up to you in awe? Do you friends think you're way cooler than they are? Or would you prefer to think of yourself as a lesson unto others? (Suggested by RomTibi)

OptionVotes% 
Yes26514.80
Yes, unless they really had no chance of succeeding36420.34
Maybe - it's too hard to generalise37921.17
No, unless they were really keen or talented59533.24
No18710.45



 
GeneralRe: Yes, but... Not in my team/company/project... Pin
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar9-Sep-07 23:11
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar9-Sep-07 23:11 
GeneralRe: Yes, but... Not in my team/company/project... Pin
Nickolay Karnaukhov10-Sep-07 21:45
Nickolay Karnaukhov10-Sep-07 21:45 
GeneralRe: Yes, but... Not in my team/company/project... Pin
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar11-Sep-07 6:00
Vasudevan Deepak Kumar11-Sep-07 6:00 
GeneralRe: Yes, but... Not in my team/company/project... Pin
Nickolay Karnaukhov11-Sep-07 6:25
Nickolay Karnaukhov11-Sep-07 6:25 
GeneralRe: Yes, but... Not in my team/company/project... Pin
AlexCode9-Sep-07 23:29
professionalAlexCode9-Sep-07 23:29 
GeneralRelatives into Programming... Pin
Bruce Chapman DNN9-Sep-07 20:45
professionalBruce Chapman DNN9-Sep-07 20:45 
GeneralRe: Relatives into Programming... Pin
NormDroid9-Sep-07 22:48
professionalNormDroid9-Sep-07 22:48 
GeneralRe: Relatives into Programming... Pin
ClockMeister10-Sep-07 3:11
professionalClockMeister10-Sep-07 3:11 
brucerchapman wrote:
I wouldn't recommend anyone do programming unless they have the aptitude and want to do it for the right reasons.


Absolutely. However I think that's true for any field. If you're just getting into it for MONEY then that's the wrong reason. Don't get me wrong - it's not bad to earn the money, just don't make it the primary reason to pick your field.

brucerchapman wrote:
It's a good job, I think, especially compared to so many others. You can make a good wage, a decent living or a fortune, depending on how far you want to take it.


Yup. Have been doing it for 30 years myself - can't complain about the living I make. Sure does beat digging ditches. If you're frustrated with your job go out to a construction site and watch the guys out there for a half-hour. I guarantee you'll have a new appreciation for what you do.

brucerchapman wrote:
But if you're not cut out for it, it's can be a wretched job. It's the sort of job that if you hum along at the lower 30% in terms of ability, you'll get 90% of the crap jobs.


That's true in any field, not just programming.

brucerchapman wrote:
You'll get stuck supporting products written in technology two evolutions ago, like some weird VB3 app that is still mission critical and runs on a Windows 95 machine. You'll have to try and sort through 10 years of messed up spaghetti code - somewhat like having to live with the village bike, it's dreary and embarassing.


Er ... I'm not sure I agree with this, at least not entirely. If you're a true developer you can find ways to be creative with whatever you're "stuck" with, so to speak. In our company, for example, our product line still has some old legacy versions that still sell very well. Sometimes I'm asked to fix stuff in the old versions of the product. I really don't mind doing that.

brucerchapman wrote:
You'll dream of the day where you get to do a clean sheet design of an exciting new product - but it will never happen. And then the worst thing happens - your skillset finally becomes obsolete because you were stuck on the old projects and didn't keep up - and you end up as a bitter testing analyst with a chip on your shoulder. And daily you declare to people 'when I was programming in assembly we didn't introduce this many bugs!'.


If you're a sloppy performer then, yes, you may get "stuck" like this - however if you're really focused on being the best you can be at it this isn't a likely scenario.

Cheers,

-CB Smile | :)
GeneralRe: Relatives into Programming... Pin
Albert Dadze11-Sep-07 5:27
Albert Dadze11-Sep-07 5:27 
QuestionUsers are feared.. Pin
Jwalant Natvarlal Soneji9-Sep-07 18:25
Jwalant Natvarlal Soneji9-Sep-07 18:25 
AnswerRe: Users are feared.. Pin
mintxelas9-Sep-07 20:16
mintxelas9-Sep-07 20:16 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
Colin Angus Mackay9-Sep-07 21:44
Colin Angus Mackay9-Sep-07 21:44 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
mintxelas9-Sep-07 21:53
mintxelas9-Sep-07 21:53 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
Colin Angus Mackay10-Sep-07 2:21
Colin Angus Mackay10-Sep-07 2:21 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
Mustafa Ismail Mustafa9-Sep-07 22:08
Mustafa Ismail Mustafa9-Sep-07 22:08 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
W Balboos, GHB10-Sep-07 1:17
W Balboos, GHB10-Sep-07 1:17 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
AlexCode9-Sep-07 23:42
professionalAlexCode9-Sep-07 23:42 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
Colin Angus Mackay10-Sep-07 2:32
Colin Angus Mackay10-Sep-07 2:32 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
AlexCode10-Sep-07 23:52
professionalAlexCode10-Sep-07 23:52 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
Colin Angus Mackay11-Sep-07 8:29
Colin Angus Mackay11-Sep-07 8:29 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe11-Sep-07 22:56
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe11-Sep-07 22:56 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
AlexCode15-Sep-07 1:40
professionalAlexCode15-Sep-07 1:40 
GeneralRe: Users are feared.. Pin
Jwalant Natvarlal Soneji10-Sep-07 0:16
Jwalant Natvarlal Soneji10-Sep-07 0:16 
GeneralRe: Users are feared..[refactored] Pin
mintxelas10-Sep-07 9:18
mintxelas10-Sep-07 9:18 

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