4 ms·

You will likely get bored eventually. For you'll start to see patterns, you'll start to see much further ahead after some time. You'll be able to see things fro

You will likely get bored eventually. For you'll start to see patterns, you'll start to see much further ahead after some time. You'll be able to see things from a much wider perspective. You will see that there are many things that can be done, must be done, and must be avoided. Many potential opportunities and pitfalls. Your horizon will broaden. You are now able to think and plan much further ahead and you are able to plan much bigger things. But you will notice that you are just one person. Its impossible to do all of that alone. Then you realize that you need to work as a team.

epgui 4y ago
Most engineers I hear say this ("you get bored and after a while it's all the same") don't seem to share my interest for learning very-different languages or academic computer science theory. I am interested in all of that, and I am pretty confident I will never run out of things to learn.
- epolanski 4y ago
  You say that with few years under the belt. Come in a decade.
  - epgui 4y ago
    I studied biochem for 12 years and know what it's like to reach the edge of human knowledge on a very very very narrow and specialized topic. I know enough about the breadth and depth of computer science to know how insane it is for any one person to think they've run out of things to learn.
    - unity1001 4y ago
      > I know enough about the breadth and depth of computer science Its not about learning. Its about creating. After a while, you will have created a majority of the potential things you can create and everything will start to look the same. If you are a CS researcher and will remain as such, your perspective may be applicable. In the actual industry that apps, services are created and provided to the users, its not. So as long as you stay in research and not go into actually making apps, you'll be fine. That is, if constantly learning and not creating does not start to bother you...
      - bluesnowmonkey 4y ago
        > After a while, you will have created a majority of the potential things you can create and everything will start to look the same. This sounds like the famous quote: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” It’s as wrong now as it was a century ago. We’re surrounded by opportunities, things waiting for someone to invent them. If you don’t see them, maybe you’re not looking hard enough. I certainly work with plenty of people who feel like we’ve basically solved it, our system works fine. It doesn’t. It’s shit, they just don’t feel like building anymore. I’m in my third professional decade, for what it’s worth. Far from leveling off in the long run, an IC’s capability is exponential, if you keep trying.
        unity1001 4y ago
        > This sounds like the famous quote: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Thats for science and invention. Not engineering. Less, the current tech space in which we are catering to the public. Even when there are new inventions, it takes decades for one of them to materialize. You could definitely work in a large research organization, do research with large funding - the research that your funders want you to do, of course. Then you can spend a few decades researching something, and maybe you can invent something new. If that would satisfy you, that's also a career option.
    - epolanski 4y ago
      What I'm saying is that it sounds naive to think you will be the same person in one year, let alone a decade and to think that your interests won't change. We've got only one life, and as much as I like programming and engineering, and fp, maths, logic I really hope life has also other things to show me and enrich me, and I hope I moved my interests elsewhere in a decade.
    - ntr-- 4y ago
      I think what other commenters are getting at is that at some point you won't be interested in * manipulating lists with functional programming * manipulating lists with OOP * manipulating lists with a non memory managed language * manipulating lists with a hard type safe language and will start being interested in * guiding people to manipulate lists as simply as possible to MAKE SOME MONEY
      - epgui 4y ago
        Yeah, I hear that, but there are so many deeper things to learn, and it's totally possible to continue learning these things while building real things and making good money (not necessarily in any job, but there are jobs out there that give you more or less autonomy and latitude). Proof languages, dependent types, other category theory -inspired abstractions... For example I've been really enjoying reading this journal lately: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-functional-programming https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-functiona...

epgui 4y ago

Most engineers I hear say this ("you get bored and after a while it's all the same") don't seem to share my interest for learning very-different languages or academic computer science theory. I am interested in all of that, and I am pretty confident I will never run out of things to learn.

epolanski 4y ago
You say that with few years under the belt. Come in a decade.
- epgui 4y ago
  I studied biochem for 12 years and know what it's like to reach the edge of human knowledge on a very very very narrow and specialized topic. I know enough about the breadth and depth of computer science to know how insane it is for any one person to think they've run out of things to learn.
  - unity1001 4y ago
    > I know enough about the breadth and depth of computer science Its not about learning. Its about creating. After a while, you will have created a majority of the potential things you can create and everything will start to look the same. If you are a CS researcher and will remain as such, your perspective may be applicable. In the actual industry that apps, services are created and provided to the users, its not. So as long as you stay in research and not go into actually making apps, you'll be fine. That is, if constantly learning and not creating does not start to bother you...
    - bluesnowmonkey 4y ago
      > After a while, you will have created a majority of the potential things you can create and everything will start to look the same. This sounds like the famous quote: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” It’s as wrong now as it was a century ago. We’re surrounded by opportunities, things waiting for someone to invent them. If you don’t see them, maybe you’re not looking hard enough. I certainly work with plenty of people who feel like we’ve basically solved it, our system works fine. It doesn’t. It’s shit, they just don’t feel like building anymore. I’m in my third professional decade, for what it’s worth. Far from leveling off in the long run, an IC’s capability is exponential, if you keep trying.
      - unity1001 4y ago
        > This sounds like the famous quote: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Thats for science and invention. Not engineering. Less, the current tech space in which we are catering to the public. Even when there are new inventions, it takes decades for one of them to materialize. You could definitely work in a large research organization, do research with large funding - the research that your funders want you to do, of course. Then you can spend a few decades researching something, and maybe you can invent something new. If that would satisfy you, that's also a career option.
  - epolanski 4y ago
    What I'm saying is that it sounds naive to think you will be the same person in one year, let alone a decade and to think that your interests won't change. We've got only one life, and as much as I like programming and engineering, and fp, maths, logic I really hope life has also other things to show me and enrich me, and I hope I moved my interests elsewhere in a decade.
  - ntr-- 4y ago
    I think what other commenters are getting at is that at some point you won't be interested in * manipulating lists with functional programming * manipulating lists with OOP * manipulating lists with a non memory managed language * manipulating lists with a hard type safe language and will start being interested in * guiding people to manipulate lists as simply as possible to MAKE SOME MONEY
    - epgui 4y ago
      Yeah, I hear that, but there are so many deeper things to learn, and it's totally possible to continue learning these things while building real things and making good money (not necessarily in any job, but there are jobs out there that give you more or less autonomy and latitude). Proof languages, dependent types, other category theory -inspired abstractions... For example I've been really enjoying reading this journal lately: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-functional-programming https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-functiona...