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If you write code to solve problems then you are a coder, just like if you drive trucks to solve a transportation problem. What's the point of getting into sema

If you write code to solve problems then you are a coder, just like if you drive trucks to solve a transportation problem. What's the point of getting into semantics? What programmer on the face of this earth doesn't realize that they're hired to code up a solution to some problem? Is this article implying that there are programmers out there who believe they are employed to write beautiful code to be looked at and admired and never to solve a single problem?

perl4ever 7y ago
From reading HN, it seems like there is a cultural outlook where everything other than the problem to be solved is first and foremost when choosing a place to work. Like, do they use the right tools, the right OS, the right management methodology, have the right perks. And when I look at job ads, it seems clear that there is a fair amount of competition among employers to appeal to these sorts of employees, by following trends or appearing to. I think it's obvious why - people who care about things other than problems for their own sake, if talented and self-motivated, are more versatile and therefore valuable, because they will do a more or less equally good job on any problem. This cultural dynamic is, I think, an obvious emergent dynamic that has made "don't be evil" a futile aspiration, not just for Google, but for the software industry in general.
- superpermutat0r 7y ago
  Yeah, I never understood the HR reps approaching me and listing all of the technologies company uses. After reading that I still have no idea what company is doing and why they would need someone like me.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    My last phone screen, I had a job and was pretty sure I didn't want to go anywhere, so I was free to express myself and talked about how much I liked the sort of problems I was dealing with at work. The feedback to the recruiter was "he didn't sound technical enough"...despite them not asking any technical questions. Everybody wants to save the world of course, but it seems like the modal outlook is that everything else comes first, including all the dealbreakers, and the substance of what you are doing is mostly pro forma.

perl4ever 7y ago

From reading HN, it seems like there is a cultural outlook where everything other than the problem to be solved is first and foremost when choosing a place to work. Like, do they use the right tools, the right OS, the right management methodology, have the right perks. And when I look at job ads, it seems clear that there is a fair amount of competition among employers to appeal to these sorts of employees, by following trends or appearing to. I think it's obvious why - people who care about things other than problems for their own sake, if talented and self-motivated, are more versatile and therefore valuable, because they will do a more or less equally good job on any problem. This cultural dynamic is, I think, an obvious emergent dynamic that has made "don't be evil" a futile aspiration, not just for Google, but for the software industry in general.

superpermutat0r 7y ago
Yeah, I never understood the HR reps approaching me and listing all of the technologies company uses. After reading that I still have no idea what company is doing and why they would need someone like me.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  My last phone screen, I had a job and was pretty sure I didn't want to go anywhere, so I was free to express myself and talked about how much I liked the sort of problems I was dealing with at work. The feedback to the recruiter was "he didn't sound technical enough"...despite them not asking any technical questions. Everybody wants to save the world of course, but it seems like the modal outlook is that everything else comes first, including all the dealbreakers, and the substance of what you are doing is mostly pro forma.