> I wish I had practiced law for the past 7ish years instead, because at least all of my skills would still be relevant. Hah! Not so. I've been a dev for a lo

> I wish I had practiced law for the past 7ish years instead, because at least all of my skills would still be relevant. Hah! Not so. I've been a dev for a long time, and my spouse a lawyer. Back when we were both fresh out of school I remember running her through quiz questions to help her prepare for her bar exam. We devs HAVE NO IDEA how much arcane archaic stuff lawyers have to pretend to know to get certified to do their jobs. For example: "mortmain" (French for "dead hand"). What happens when property is bequeathed to a defunct institution? It's on the test. It's easy to come up with a logical answer. But to pass the bar exam would-be lawyers have to know the right answer, cold without looking it up, and why it's the right answer. Hint: it's not at all logical. And, will a working lawyer deal with that question? Maybe three times in her career if she's an estates-and-trusts specialist. There are thousands of these things for lawyers. Bar exams are hard because of protectionism -- low supply means high pay. The same is true of doctors and developers. Developer pay is high BECAUSE the exams are hard. The exams are hard BECAUSE developers want high pay.