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Notice it said programmer, not software engineer. Speaking for myself, software engineering is something I do because I have bills to pay. Programming is somet

Notice it said programmer, not software engineer. Speaking for myself, software engineering is something I do because I have bills to pay. Programming is something I started doing because it’s fun. The projects in this article are the types of projects I would do for fun if I had the time.

DeathArrow 3y ago
>Speaking for myself, software engineering is something I do because I have bills to pay. Programming is something I started doing because it’s fun. Same for me. While I strive to do stuff fast, in a way that is easy to maintain, modify and extend for work, see the big picture, take the right time of shortcuts, understand business and customers, there is not were the fun is. I enjoy the time when I am alone with the PC, far from user stories and scrums. I love to program, to convince the PC to do the trick I tell it to do. What I enjoy also is CS, algorithms, data structures, abstract thinking.
ixaxaar 3y ago
Also, I'd add that doing HoTT or other such "high theory" stuff actually enhances my understanding of the fundamentals and gives me the machinery to handle complexities systematically that building a mere web search engine would not. I already have a job for building such commodity stuff everyday.
tugberkk 3y ago
I like watching Tsoding in my spare time and I love what he calls "recreational programming". That is what we need imho, more recreational programming.
serial_dev 3y ago
> Software engineering is something I do because I have bills to pay. Programming is something I started doing because it’s fun. Sudden clarity. I feel like printing it and putting it next to my workstation, so that I remember this both when doing something fun and when having to work so that my bills get paid.
- baq 3y ago
  Yeah, this is a very important realization to make in a career of a software engineer. Other points to internalize: - in business, software is made to either earn money or pay less money. All other effects are at best secondary - code is a liability as much (or more) as it is an asset - programming is the easy 0-20% of the job of the software engineer, the rest is making sure the right thing gets programmed - no matter what they tell you it’s a people problem - software is always broken but it keeps running as long as practitioners are keeping it within the operational envelope

DeathArrow 3y ago

>Speaking for myself, software engineering is something I do because I have bills to pay. Programming is something I started doing because it’s fun. Same for me. While I strive to do stuff fast, in a way that is easy to maintain, modify and extend for work, see the big picture, take the right time of shortcuts, understand business and customers, there is not were the fun is. I enjoy the time when I am alone with the PC, far from user stories and scrums. I love to program, to convince the PC to do the trick I tell it to do. What I enjoy also is CS, algorithms, data structures, abstract thinking.

ixaxaar 3y ago

Also, I'd add that doing HoTT or other such "high theory" stuff actually enhances my understanding of the fundamentals and gives me the machinery to handle complexities systematically that building a mere web search engine would not. I already have a job for building such commodity stuff everyday.

tugberkk 3y ago

I like watching Tsoding in my spare time and I love what he calls "recreational programming". That is what we need imho, more recreational programming.

serial_dev 3y ago

> Software engineering is something I do because I have bills to pay. Programming is something I started doing because it’s fun. Sudden clarity. I feel like printing it and putting it next to my workstation, so that I remember this both when doing something fun and when having to work so that my bills get paid.

baq 3y ago
Yeah, this is a very important realization to make in a career of a software engineer. Other points to internalize: - in business, software is made to either earn money or pay less money. All other effects are at best secondary - code is a liability as much (or more) as it is an asset - programming is the easy 0-20% of the job of the software engineer, the rest is making sure the right thing gets programmed - no matter what they tell you it’s a people problem - software is always broken but it keeps running as long as practitioners are keeping it within the operational envelope