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I really don't think of myself as some sort of genius. It's not productive to feel that way. I want to believe that software is something everyone can do. But I

I really don't think of myself as some sort of genius. It's not productive to feel that way. I want to believe that software is something everyone can do. But I just haven't observed that in real life. I think it's folly to compare the intelligence of a tradesman to a software developer (or anyone for that matter). But there is SOMETHING, that not everyone has (or maybe just doesn't want to obtain), that's required to do software development at any kind of capacity.

dajtxx 3y ago
I don't think you need to be particularly smart to be an avg software developer; the older I get the more I realise how average I am. When I started work as a teenager I used to think I was a brilliant programmer - hah, no way! But I do think you need an interest in the practice and a certain mindset, just like any other job. I do it because I quite enjoy writing certain types of software, which I often don't get to write. I've never been paid all that much for it, never more than about 90K US, and not even that for very long. I think all those FAANG salaries are obscene and there's no way even a small fraction of the people making that money are worth it, or earning it, especially with how they're not making society any better. It's interesting talking to tradespeople and learning about what they do. There's a lot of math involved in some trades like machining and electricians where I live learn a lot of it too while training. A good tradesperson has to be every bit as clever as your normal software developer. My old man was a diesel mechanic, then a fitter and turner and finally did a mech eng certificate at night school and became a draftsman. What he learned was way more difficult than anything I ever had to learn.
- chrisweekly 3y ago
  Interesting that you and another responder upthread both want to measure salary worthiness against (degree to which the role is) "making society better". I wasn't making a broader statement about what society _should_value, rather a more direct observation that software developers typically generate more value than they receive in compensation, from the perspective of their employers' balance sheets. I've worked at companies where engineering generated over $5m ARR per developer. None of us saw even 10% of that. In software companies, execs are typically overpaid, and tech talent is underpaid.

dajtxx 3y ago

I don't think you need to be particularly smart to be an avg software developer; the older I get the more I realise how average I am. When I started work as a teenager I used to think I was a brilliant programmer - hah, no way! But I do think you need an interest in the practice and a certain mindset, just like any other job. I do it because I quite enjoy writing certain types of software, which I often don't get to write. I've never been paid all that much for it, never more than about 90K US, and not even that for very long. I think all those FAANG salaries are obscene and there's no way even a small fraction of the people making that money are worth it, or earning it, especially with how they're not making society any better. It's interesting talking to tradespeople and learning about what they do. There's a lot of math involved in some trades like machining and electricians where I live learn a lot of it too while training. A good tradesperson has to be every bit as clever as your normal software developer. My old man was a diesel mechanic, then a fitter and turner and finally did a mech eng certificate at night school and became a draftsman. What he learned was way more difficult than anything I ever had to learn.

chrisweekly 3y ago
Interesting that you and another responder upthread both want to measure salary worthiness against (degree to which the role is) "making society better". I wasn't making a broader statement about what society _should_value, rather a more direct observation that software developers typically generate more value than they receive in compensation, from the perspective of their employers' balance sheets. I've worked at companies where engineering generated over $5m ARR per developer. None of us saw even 10% of that. In software companies, execs are typically overpaid, and tech talent is underpaid.