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I'd just like to note that sometimes people present physicians as an example of people who don't need to work on their field outside of work. These people are h

I'd just like to note that sometimes people present physicians as an example of people who don't need to work on their field outside of work. These people are horribly informed. My extended family gatherings are like a medical convention. Both my parents are physicians. Unlike computer science there isn't a question of "do I need to work on medicine to continue to be on the top of my game?" The answer is yes. Period. As far back as I can remember my parents have always had heated medical discussions on new cases over dinner while my sister and I shared blank stares. When I was 6 or so I remember gathering all the copies of the New England Journal of Medicine, Modern Pathology, and the Journal of Clinical Pathology and using them to make a fort in the apartment. The high ceiling fit me and my sister quite comfortably. My mom spends her time thinking about how things could be done better and more efficiently in her practice and my dad is constantly innovating and forming companies. So do programmers have to like programming? Do they have to keep up with it outside of their job requirements? Yes. Period.

jerf 16y ago
'Unlike computer science there isn't a question of "do I need to work on medicine to continue to be on the top of my game?" The answer is yes. Period.' Perhaps the difference there is, who wants to go to a physician not at the top of their game for anything beyond a routine physical? Whereas a programmer not at the top of their game can do some useful things and won't kill anyone barring exceptional circumstances. In a competitive world, if you want to be on top in any skilled discipline you are going to have to put the time in. My family is primarily auto-related, and while they may not spend every spare hour tinkering with cars in their 50s, they can still do it and have certainly booked many thousands of hours not at work doing it. That industry supports even more people who don't really care.
- Locke1689 16y ago
  Well, yes, I was talking about people in both domains that are good. There are many bad doctors too, trust me (my parents rant all the time).
Prisen 16y ago
A Cobol programmer using twenty year old knowledge can still make good money and be useful. A physician using twenty year old medicine knowledge - not so much.
- rue 16y ago
  I do not think that is accurate. A guy using fifty-year-old technology can still be useful (COBOL, for example). Knowledge (of the problem domain) should definitely be of more recent vintage.
- Locke1689 16y ago
  I'm a systems developer so I'm used to working with "dead" languages but I'm skeptical that someone still programming like they're in the 1980s will do anywhere near as good a job as someone who has continuously updated their skill set. For example, semaphores have been around for 45 years but anyone using semaphores like they did in 1970 would be in for a rude surprise. Any modern kernel developer worth his or her salt knows about working around course-grained locking to avoid slowing their kernel to a crawl.

jerf 16y ago

'Unlike computer science there isn't a question of "do I need to work on medicine to continue to be on the top of my game?" The answer is yes. Period.' Perhaps the difference there is, who wants to go to a physician not at the top of their game for anything beyond a routine physical? Whereas a programmer not at the top of their game can do some useful things and won't kill anyone barring exceptional circumstances. In a competitive world, if you want to be on top in any skilled discipline you are going to have to put the time in. My family is primarily auto-related, and while they may not spend every spare hour tinkering with cars in their 50s, they can still do it and have certainly booked many thousands of hours not at work doing it. That industry supports even more people who don't really care.

Locke1689 16y ago
Well, yes, I was talking about people in both domains that are good. There are many bad doctors too, trust me (my parents rant all the time).

Prisen 16y ago

A Cobol programmer using twenty year old knowledge can still make good money and be useful. A physician using twenty year old medicine knowledge - not so much.

rue 16y ago
I do not think that is accurate. A guy using fifty-year-old technology can still be useful (COBOL, for example). Knowledge (of the problem domain) should definitely be of more recent vintage.
Locke1689 16y ago
I'm a systems developer so I'm used to working with "dead" languages but I'm skeptical that someone still programming like they're in the 1980s will do anywhere near as good a job as someone who has continuously updated their skill set. For example, semaphores have been around for 45 years but anyone using semaphores like they did in 1970 would be in for a rude surprise. Any modern kernel developer worth his or her salt knows about working around course-grained locking to avoid slowing their kernel to a crawl.