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I am consistently enjoying myself more when doing coding side projects, than anything at work. I think that's just ... sort of normal when your profession and y

I am consistently enjoying myself more when doing coding side projects, than anything at work. I think that's just ... sort of normal when your profession and your hobby are the same thing - when you don't have any boss except yourself.

kgf1980 3y ago
I think for me it’s not having a time pressure - if it takes me 2 weeks spending 2 hours a day to implement something there’s no issue when it’s just projects for myself (I’ve basically written a PWA for tracking my pay, hours, rest time etc which I use every day, and implement a new feature I decide would be useful when it comes up, so kind of the ultimate dog-fooding)
- ipaddr 3y ago
  I' m the opposite. I put myself under 2 week sprints at home. Imagine someone is working on the same idea and put pressure on myself to get done and release. At work I hold things an extra day or more so I have something easy to say at the standup. Stands ups at work force this slow pace because it sounds better and is easier for others to follow.
Swizec 3y ago
To share an opposite anecdata: After many years of coding side projects and work projects, I no longer get a kick out of side projects. They just don’t scratch the itch anymore. They just pale in interestingness/size/complexity compared to what I get to do at work and if I wanted a big enough side project to scratch the itch, then it would require a team to get done and wouldn’t be a side project.
pipes 3y ago
I've heard with lorry driving there are issues with vibrations causing physical harm eventually? Maybe that is nonsense? If you don't mind me asking how much were you earning as a developer and how much do you earn driving lorries?
- kgf1980 3y ago
  I’ve not had any issues with vibrations but I’ve not been driving perhaps long enough? That said, the newer generation of trucks are so smooth I don’t think that’s as much of an issue as it may have been in previous generations. Wage wise, working as a developer in the UK (working for small consultancies, not startups etc) my wage topped out at around 38k - last year driving I earnt 46k and this year with promotion (from rigid to articulated vehicles) and annual payrise, plus assuming I work a similar amount of hours I’m estimating 52-55k (all before tax)
  - throwaway5959 3y ago
    I’ll never understand why developers there make less than the US. It’s not like they aren’t providing similar scale/leverage to a business.
    - badpun 3y ago
      By some estimates, the US is home to 50% of world's globally reaching corporations. Software written at those companies has giant business implications (thanks to those companies' scale), and thus the devs can be better compensated for their work.
      - 369548684892826 3y ago
        If this was the reason then UK developers working for US companies would be paid better
        badpun 3y ago
        Not neccessarily. Companies just pay each country's market wages. The difference between US and UK is that large amount of developer positions with high return on investment (for the company) pushes US market wages upwards - all those megacorps are competing for a limited pool of US people, and can afford to compete on salaries.
    - 3y ago
jmkni 3y ago
I've come to realise that actually coding is the part of software development I enjoy the least, and in many staff software engineer positions, that is basically entirely what you are doing Other people are doing the fun/interesting stuff, project managers, product owners, scrum masters, etc etc are doing all of the fun interesting figuring out/thinking, and then it's just your job to code it. When you work on side projects, you get to wear all of those other hats and it's way more rewarding
- doctor_eval 3y ago
  Not really related to your points but I feel that separating design and implementation is a mistake; the people designing and implementing should be, if not the same people, then certainly in the same room, and in constant contact. So it could be that, if you’re in a world where you aren’t getting to do any of the fun figuring-out stuff, perhaps that’s a problem with the workplace structure rather than with programming generally. I enjoy a bit of everything, and am apparently lucky to have been able to do it for a long time.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  Wild! Coding, for me, is the fun part - implementing the solution, once I've come up with one. I've never looked at a product owner or a scrum master and thought to myself, "man, those guys get to have all the fun." I've more often thought, "wow, they have to answer to three people, two of whom are assholes, who have four opinions on how things should be done between them."
- cudgy 3y ago
  Opposite for me. Much rather code an abomination than hash out the abomination in meetings all day with scrum “masters”, product “owners”, and software “engineers”.
- turdprincess 3y ago
  Actually coding is the domain of mid level and senior engineers. Staff engineers architect, design technical strategy, collaborate across teams. A proper staff engineer might only see code during review or a proof of concept.
treflop 3y ago
For me, I enjoy programming but just as a tool. I enjoy it like I do my table saw. But I use my table saw because I want to build certain stuff. Maybe a cabinet or something. You would never catch me using my table saw or programming “just for fun.” And if I’m not enjoying what I’m building, it’s not like the tool will somehow make it enjoyable.

kgf1980 3y ago

I think for me it’s not having a time pressure - if it takes me 2 weeks spending 2 hours a day to implement something there’s no issue when it’s just projects for myself (I’ve basically written a PWA for tracking my pay, hours, rest time etc which I use every day, and implement a new feature I decide would be useful when it comes up, so kind of the ultimate dog-fooding)

ipaddr 3y ago
I' m the opposite. I put myself under 2 week sprints at home. Imagine someone is working on the same idea and put pressure on myself to get done and release. At work I hold things an extra day or more so I have something easy to say at the standup. Stands ups at work force this slow pace because it sounds better and is easier for others to follow.

Swizec 3y ago

To share an opposite anecdata: After many years of coding side projects and work projects, I no longer get a kick out of side projects. They just don’t scratch the itch anymore. They just pale in interestingness/size/complexity compared to what I get to do at work and if I wanted a big enough side project to scratch the itch, then it would require a team to get done and wouldn’t be a side project.

pipes 3y ago

I've heard with lorry driving there are issues with vibrations causing physical harm eventually? Maybe that is nonsense? If you don't mind me asking how much were you earning as a developer and how much do you earn driving lorries?

kgf1980 3y ago
I’ve not had any issues with vibrations but I’ve not been driving perhaps long enough? That said, the newer generation of trucks are so smooth I don’t think that’s as much of an issue as it may have been in previous generations. Wage wise, working as a developer in the UK (working for small consultancies, not startups etc) my wage topped out at around 38k - last year driving I earnt 46k and this year with promotion (from rigid to articulated vehicles) and annual payrise, plus assuming I work a similar amount of hours I’m estimating 52-55k (all before tax)
- throwaway5959 3y ago
  I’ll never understand why developers there make less than the US. It’s not like they aren’t providing similar scale/leverage to a business.
  - badpun 3y ago
    By some estimates, the US is home to 50% of world's globally reaching corporations. Software written at those companies has giant business implications (thanks to those companies' scale), and thus the devs can be better compensated for their work.
    - 369548684892826 3y ago
      If this was the reason then UK developers working for US companies would be paid better
      - badpun 3y ago
        Not neccessarily. Companies just pay each country's market wages. The difference between US and UK is that large amount of developer positions with high return on investment (for the company) pushes US market wages upwards - all those megacorps are competing for a limited pool of US people, and can afford to compete on salaries.
  - 3y ago

jmkni 3y ago

I've come to realise that actually coding is the part of software development I enjoy the least, and in many staff software engineer positions, that is basically entirely what you are doing Other people are doing the fun/interesting stuff, project managers, product owners, scrum masters, etc etc are doing all of the fun interesting figuring out/thinking, and then it's just your job to code it. When you work on side projects, you get to wear all of those other hats and it's way more rewarding

doctor_eval 3y ago
Not really related to your points but I feel that separating design and implementation is a mistake; the people designing and implementing should be, if not the same people, then certainly in the same room, and in constant contact. So it could be that, if you’re in a world where you aren’t getting to do any of the fun figuring-out stuff, perhaps that’s a problem with the workplace structure rather than with programming generally. I enjoy a bit of everything, and am apparently lucky to have been able to do it for a long time.
pavel_lishin 3y ago
Wild! Coding, for me, is the fun part - implementing the solution, once I've come up with one. I've never looked at a product owner or a scrum master and thought to myself, "man, those guys get to have all the fun." I've more often thought, "wow, they have to answer to three people, two of whom are assholes, who have four opinions on how things should be done between them."
cudgy 3y ago
Opposite for me. Much rather code an abomination than hash out the abomination in meetings all day with scrum “masters”, product “owners”, and software “engineers”.
turdprincess 3y ago
Actually coding is the domain of mid level and senior engineers. Staff engineers architect, design technical strategy, collaborate across teams. A proper staff engineer might only see code during review or a proof of concept.

treflop 3y ago

For me, I enjoy programming but just as a tool. I enjoy it like I do my table saw. But I use my table saw because I want to build certain stuff. Maybe a cabinet or something. You would never catch me using my table saw or programming “just for fun.” And if I’m not enjoying what I’m building, it’s not like the tool will somehow make it enjoyable.