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Developers need to code after-hours in order to stay competitive in part because our industry enables businesses to not to provide continual learning time durin

Developers need to code after-hours in order to stay competitive in part because our industry enables businesses to not to provide continual learning time during an employee's workday. If you had, say, 20% of your work week to practice on skills, technologies, patterns or ideas that weren't a direct deliverable: would the average you still feel compelled to spend so much of your free time additionally practicing skills (ultimately to the benefit of your employer)? We bemoan the scourge of scope creep and the waste of mass meetings. Businesses demanding only short-term saleable output from developers is another drag on sustainable productivity.

anoplus 7y ago
> Developers need to code after-hours in order to stay competitive Which I think is an interesting social problem, where people feel uncomfortable not working after-hours because others do. I am a developer. I began a secret personal experiment where I do the opposite. I take 20% of my working hours for personal development without anyone knowing. I want to see if I actually become better professional. It takes great discipline for me in the face of pressure. I keep work related tasks out of my free time to minimum. I am not always succeed in taking entire 20% time to be honest. I also try to take short breaks to avoid burn-out.
Nursie 7y ago
> Developers need to code after-hours in order to stay competitive I don't think this is true. The technology does not actually move that fast and you can keep up to date in work time by making sure you get on to projects and teams that stretch and educate you.
collyw 7y ago
That's just rubbish. Sure the fashion show continues, with its constant churn and in order to keep up with that churn you probably need to keep on learning in your spare time. But most problems could be solved far more simply if people put a bit of forethought in rather than chasing fads. Does every website benefit from being a SPA. Do you really need all the kubernetes and docker containers? Realistically how much are you going to scale? Here is an example: https://adamdrake.com/command-line-tools-can-be-235x-faster-than-your-hadoop-cluster.html https://adamdrake.com/command-line-tools-can-be-235x-faster-...
screwt 7y ago
That's not the case where I work. It's a sound business decision for a company to invest in its people. Better-trained staff, happier staff, longer retention. It sounds like the place you work isn't like that. There are other places that are better.
hknd 7y ago
FAANG/Hedge Fund SWE here. I'm not doing any coding in my free time (as have too many other things to do), and I'm doing very well as a high level IC.

anoplus 7y ago

> Developers need to code after-hours in order to stay competitive Which I think is an interesting social problem, where people feel uncomfortable not working after-hours because others do. I am a developer. I began a secret personal experiment where I do the opposite. I take 20% of my working hours for personal development without anyone knowing. I want to see if I actually become better professional. It takes great discipline for me in the face of pressure. I keep work related tasks out of my free time to minimum. I am not always succeed in taking entire 20% time to be honest. I also try to take short breaks to avoid burn-out.

Nursie 7y ago

> Developers need to code after-hours in order to stay competitive I don't think this is true. The technology does not actually move that fast and you can keep up to date in work time by making sure you get on to projects and teams that stretch and educate you.

collyw 7y ago

That's just rubbish. Sure the fashion show continues, with its constant churn and in order to keep up with that churn you probably need to keep on learning in your spare time. But most problems could be solved far more simply if people put a bit of forethought in rather than chasing fads. Does every website benefit from being a SPA. Do you really need all the kubernetes and docker containers? Realistically how much are you going to scale? Here is an example: https://adamdrake.com/command-line-tools-can-be-235x-faster-than-your-hadoop-cluster.html https://adamdrake.com/command-line-tools-can-be-235x-faster-...

screwt 7y ago

That's not the case where I work. It's a sound business decision for a company to invest in its people. Better-trained staff, happier staff, longer retention. It sounds like the place you work isn't like that. There are other places that are better.

hknd 7y ago

FAANG/Hedge Fund SWE here. I'm not doing any coding in my free time (as have too many other things to do), and I'm doing very well as a high level IC.