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>People who cannot write code are building software. People who have never designed a data system are designing data systems. Most of it is not shipped; it is b

• ryandrake 5mo ago
  Yea, I remember that one. Great article. Also spawned a decent discussion about how optics and "keeping up appearances" always matters, often a lot more than we think they do.
  • roncesvalles 5mo ago
    One of the bitter lessons I learned in my SWE career is that looking the part is almost everything. The meme boomer advice of "dress for the job you want, not the one you have" is remarkably true if you broaden the definition of "dress". Race, gender, lookism, age, everything matters in your career. Career progression gets easier just by being the right age, or being the right race (whatever that is at your company), or being the right gender (again, depends on your company). Grooming and personal fitness are easy wins. I've never seen an obese or unkempt executive or middle manager. Even the way you move makes a difference. If you stay past 4:30pm, you're destined to be an IC forever. Leadership-track people leave the office early even if it means taking work home, because it shows that you have your shit together. Leadership-track people eat lunch alone, not at the gossipy "worker's table". And of course, the way you dress matters (men look more leadership-material by dressing simple and consistent, for women it's the opposite). It's all about keeping up appearances.
    • LPisGood 5mo ago
      > If you stay past 4:30pm, you're destined to be an IC forever I have never heard this said before. I wonder how true it is in general
      • roncesvalles 5mo ago
        If you stay late it looks like a) you're struggling, b) you're a try-hard, c) you don't have a life after work. One of the most actionable low-hanging career advices I could give is be among the first ones to pack up and leave for the day. You can always continue working at home if you're not done.
        • abustamam 5mo ago
          When I worked for a crypto startup early in my career, we were once chastised because no one was in the office at 6:30pm. Some engineers (including me) did mostly work from home but most people, engineers and non engineers alike, mostly worked from the office. And a couple years ago I did a short consulting stint for an AI startup (I know how to pick the bubbles huh?) where I shipped something at around 6pm my time, got a call at 9pm their time to talk about it, and then he asked me "what are you working on tonight?" I quit the next day. Anyway, this advice confuses me because many companies see staying late as a badge of commitment. Maybe it doesn't apply to startups.
    • a34729t 5mo ago
      Interestingly enough, a coworker recently told me that I likely don't have much room for advancement at my employer, given my race. He said look at the race of the people on the ladder above you (it's mostly one race), and then look at yourself. Also, being tall. Easiest way to identify management is height.
      • yard2010 5mo ago
        Honestly this brings tears to my eyes. It's like humans would never get past that obstacle and unlock the next level cooperation..
• oxag3n 5mo ago
  If that happens globally where AGI and engineer replacement is "shipped" as a social construct, I'm afraid real software engineers (who can write and understand production ready systems) will be the vocal minority who can't do anything.
  • wartywhoa23 5mo ago
    Well, someone has got to become that John Connor, see?
• a34729t 5mo ago
  It goes even further: The existence and availability and feature set of a technology/service is a social construct within a company. At my employer (major public company), when someone says we have X, this then politically turns into X exists, and you have to use it with the assumed feature set. Even when this feature set doesn't exist!
• analog31 5mo ago
  This reminds me of a workplace where I spent many years. I asked several people what it meant for something to be "released" and nobody could tell me. I never even knew after I became a project manager.
• analog31 5mo ago
  This reminds me of a workplace where I spent many years. I asked several people what it meant for something to be "released" and nobody could tell me. I never even knew after I became a project manager. This was at a company that made hardware products.