Bored with Tech [modified]
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I would have to whole heartedly agree that much of what is "new" today is a re-hash of yesteryear. Allot of the business-centric tech is, well, boring. However, there really is some truly new stuff out there. Most of it is "incrementally new", not revolutionary. Take wireless networking and wireless communications. While the low-level ideas are not new, thanks to the continuous progress of hardware, things are getting smaller and more powerful which is opening new possibilities. Mobile technologies that were dreams 20 years ago are realities now. Touch capabilities while far from new, are much better today, so much so that new opportunities are emerging. General human input devices beyond keyboards, mice, touch screens and even speech are finally becoming realities. 3d presentation of information is finally starting to come around. (I think 3d has a very long way to go, but there's a technology I wouldn't mind riding along with.) Gaming technology and immersive environments that could not even be imagined 20 years ago are starting to become possible. Robotics, wow, robotics is moving ahead at a tremendous pace. That's just to name a few areas of software-related technology, there are many, many more exciting "new" technologies and opportunities out there. Some promises from the past like artificial intelligence have not developed as many would have hoped. I think we are coming around to the enormous difficulties and challenges with this concept. Even so, there are many bi-products of AI that are useful and mainstream today. Textual analysis used by search engines and other systems is a distant bi-product of AI research. Allot of the medical scanning systems incorporate bi-products of AI to accomplish the processing feats that they need to. For me, I find allot of doldrums in typical day-to-day business software. While the code is new, the ideas aren't and it is rarely exciting (except when given unreasonable deadlines). But, it pays the bills and enables me to do other things that interest me much more. I've more-or-less given up on main stream media, both general media like CNN/FoxNews/MSN/whatever and tech-centric news like wired, MSDN (what a joke), even long-trusted magazine sources. The quality of reporting has indeed declined, so much so as to render much of it useless. So, you asked what I do to get over the hump. For me, I have tried to take my passion for software development and turn it in directions that are new and interesting. In my spare time, I am developing a mobile
Those are good points. I guess I've been leaning towards a lot of 3D in my spare time (our apartment is so small there's no physical space to do real life projects like model building, circuitry, etc, so hobbies need to be kept virtual :) ). Maybe I'm just feeling a bit sad at the loss of interest in something that I used to find so fascinating.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
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Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:
Its hard to be bored with the Tech side.
That's where I'm struggling. It just doesn't seem like there's much of anything interesting happening. Can you point to some tech things that have struck your interest?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
- I am considering implementing a Javscript super computer (very interesting and scalable) 2) Lot's of AI research focusing on building a machine to solve the problem, try building one to ask the question. 3) Real-time data acquisition and reporting with data mining 4) * (ok this one is hush hush cause it would make me millions if I wasn't too lazy to implement: keywords HIPAA and low cost) I could go on but the interesting stuff you have to create ... not read about. My article on unsafe gray scale conversion was written primarily to support a motion recognition application I wrote which was kind of cool.
Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." --Stephen Crane
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I think I'm bored with the where the current, practically available software technology is going. For example, it would be kind of fun to write in Objective C, but there's no practical toolchain available for Windows, and the likelihood of that ever happening is pretty much zero. I too have started to migrate new app development at work C#. However that's not really that interesting or new, just a little less effort than MFC, plus some of the lack of features or bugs that you run into with WinForms just drives me up the wall.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
Jim Crafton wrote:
the lack of features or bugs that you run into with WinForms just drives me up the wall
I get the impression that would make me crazy too. Fortunately, we skipped WinForms and went directly to WPF. There are a lot of things about WPF that I really like. There are a few things that make me want to stab every member of the development team in the face with a spoon.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Jim Crafton wrote:
the lack of features or bugs that you run into with WinForms just drives me up the wall
I get the impression that would make me crazy too. Fortunately, we skipped WinForms and went directly to WPF. There are a lot of things about WPF that I really like. There are a few things that make me want to stab every member of the development team in the face with a spoon.
Software Zen:
delete this;Yeah WPF is a non starter for me. It's not worth the additional install hassle, and for what our apps do, it's just not worth the development hassle either. Once they upgrade the corp to Windows 7, I may review my thinking on it, but not till that's rolled out.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
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John C wrote:
Otherwise, get the hell out of it, there's simply nothing to be gained for anyone pursuing something you don't absolutely love doing every day.
Are you kidding me... Most people don't like there jobs. But being a software developer is better than about 80% of jobs out there. You don't have to love job, especially in this job market. Most people would be happy with something that pays decent and is tolerable.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
ToddHileHoffer wrote:
But being a software developer is better than about 80% of jobs out there
Well it might be for you and me but no one ever does that well at a job they hate and quality of life is far more important than any particular job. There's nothing like doing what you love and nothing worse for you than doing what you hate day in and day out. If I truly thought I would be happier digging ditches I'd have my shovel out right now.
ToddHileHoffer wrote:
Most people would be happy with something that pays decent and is tolerable.
Most people can't do this job because they'd find it soul sucking and insanely boring and simply aren't capable of doing it. The industry has *far* too many people just putting in their hours as dead eyed corporate lackeys already. The less of those the better for us who truly love doing it.
ToddHileHoffer wrote:
You don't have to love job, especially in this job market
Market schmarket! Anyone can get a job in any economic situation if they try hard enough and they can certainly get a job they love when they approach it with enthusiasm and lot's of effort. And they can certainly make a lot of money at it if that's their goal and they truly love doing it. You're advocating much the same thing as telling someone in an abusive relationship to stick with it because they can't possibly do better.
"I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter." — Blaise Pascal
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John C wrote:
I suspect it's a natural progression for developers who do this long enough but I might be wrong.
I think you're probably right. I suppose to some extent this is an inevitable phase that everyone goes through.
John C wrote:
here's simply nothing to be gained for anyone pursuing something you don't absolutely love doing every day.
Sure there is - a paycheck! Plus, there's *much* worse things I could be doing, and I have the free time to do things I am more interested in, so it's not all bad :)
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
Jim Crafton wrote:
Sure there is - a paycheck
There's far more to life than a paycheque. Do what you love to do with enthusiasm and enjoyment and money almost inevitably follows.
"I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter." — Blaise Pascal
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Jim Crafton wrote:
the lack of features or bugs that you run into with WinForms just drives me up the wall
I get the impression that would make me crazy too. Fortunately, we skipped WinForms and went directly to WPF. There are a lot of things about WPF that I really like. There are a few things that make me want to stab every member of the development team in the face with a spoon.
Software Zen:
delete this;Gary Wheeler wrote:
want to stab every member of the development team in the face with a spoon
I must say that I admire your restraint.... :-)
Why is common sense not common? Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level where they are an expert. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to be lazy Individuality is fine, as long as we do it together - F. Burns Help humanity, join the CodeProject grid computing team here
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:
"Follow your bliss." – Joseph Campbell
:thumbsup: :beer: :jig:
Joe Simes wrote:
"Follow your bliss." – Joseph Campbell
That would lead me to Salma Hayak, and I don't think the restraining order has been removed! Oh help me Obi Wan! You're my only hope!
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
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Gary Wheeler wrote:
want to stab every member of the development team in the face with a spoon
I must say that I admire your restraint.... :-)
Why is common sense not common? Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level where they are an expert. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to be lazy Individuality is fine, as long as we do it together - F. Burns Help humanity, join the CodeProject grid computing team here
While I'm not a fan of Kevin Costner movies, I am a fan of Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman who were both in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. That movie had the following bit of dialog: Sherriff of Notthingham (Rickman): "I'm going cut his heart out with a spoon!" Guy of Gisbourne: "Why a spoon, cousin?" Sherriff: "Because it hurts more, you twit!"
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Those are good points. I guess I've been leaning towards a lot of 3D in my spare time (our apartment is so small there's no physical space to do real life projects like model building, circuitry, etc, so hobbies need to be kept virtual :) ). Maybe I'm just feeling a bit sad at the loss of interest in something that I used to find so fascinating.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
Jim Crafton wrote:
Maybe I'm just feeling a bit sad at the loss of interest in something that I used to find so fascinating.
I'm right there with ya! My passion is gone, and I don't know why, but reading this thread is enlightening.
- S 50 cups of coffee and you know it's on! Code, follow, or get out of the way.
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Has anyone else gotten really disillusioned with programming recently? In the last year or so I've gotten really bored with it, it seems that much of what's considered "new" in the last 5-8 years is just rehashed stuff, and it's become really hard to work up much enthusiasm to spend extra time on it. When I started back in 1995, the industry, or at least the little that I was aware of, seemed much more dynamic. Now it just feels stagnant, and most of the things that I do find myself interested in seem like dead end technology. Many of the things that have become popular, like web "programming", just make me cringe. Part of this, I think, is that having gone through the process of learning multiple frameworks, multiple languages on multiple operating systems, using a variety of different toolchains, it all starts to become just "more of the same". So there's not that much "new" to learn in something like WPF, for example. It's just more of the same thing, with a few twists here and there, but it's not that much of a stretch anymore. Another issue is the way it's reported on in both the general media (say a magazine like Time) or even in tech specialist sites (excluding CP of course!). The willingness of any of these places to ask even the simplest of questions regarding "new" or "innovative" technology is nothing short of astonishing. Stuff I've seen reporting on is done in such an incredibly shallow, and frequently incorrect, manner that it's just depressing in the extreme. Has anyone else run into this? If so, what got you over the "hump", so to speak?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
modified on Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:58 AM
Yep, I've encountered and am going through the exact same thing right now. I don't have a solution yet, but I think it will sort itself out eventually. The trouble to me is that when you eventually distill each problem down, it is still fundamentally data in -> processing -> data out. Sure there are all sots of complexities, but when it comes right down to it, that is all there is. As the industry matures, the problems become seemingly less and less challenging. I liken it to the manufacturing industry. Early on the industry was all about who could make the most innovative methods of manufacturing, solving extremely challenging problems of how to make this or that, or get this or that product into a certain shape. As the majority of these problems were solved, the focus instead shifted to the product side - what sort of product can we make to make people happier, or that people will buy? It became less a technical challen to that of a creative one instead. That is where I feel I am at now. Really when push comes to shove, is there any technical problem that you solve eventually? I am assuming of course that it is solvable at all. Find the right tools, do soem research, write some software, and problem solved. It is the same old process again and again, it is just the tools that are changing. So the future - I think it will be more about how the technology is applied, rather than the technology itself. There really isn't that much new stuff out there. What is popular now was popular 20 years ago. But as to your actual quesetion, how to get over the hump. I'm not sure. Right now I'm pursuing other things, like writing or reading novels, and spending time with the kids. I do my day job of programming that lets me spend time doing other things. So not much help from me I'm afraid, which sort of makes me wonder why I posted in the first place eh?
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Has anyone else gotten really disillusioned with programming recently? In the last year or so I've gotten really bored with it, it seems that much of what's considered "new" in the last 5-8 years is just rehashed stuff, and it's become really hard to work up much enthusiasm to spend extra time on it. When I started back in 1995, the industry, or at least the little that I was aware of, seemed much more dynamic. Now it just feels stagnant, and most of the things that I do find myself interested in seem like dead end technology. Many of the things that have become popular, like web "programming", just make me cringe. Part of this, I think, is that having gone through the process of learning multiple frameworks, multiple languages on multiple operating systems, using a variety of different toolchains, it all starts to become just "more of the same". So there's not that much "new" to learn in something like WPF, for example. It's just more of the same thing, with a few twists here and there, but it's not that much of a stretch anymore. Another issue is the way it's reported on in both the general media (say a magazine like Time) or even in tech specialist sites (excluding CP of course!). The willingness of any of these places to ask even the simplest of questions regarding "new" or "innovative" technology is nothing short of astonishing. Stuff I've seen reporting on is done in such an incredibly shallow, and frequently incorrect, manner that it's just depressing in the extreme. Has anyone else run into this? If so, what got you over the "hump", so to speak?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
modified on Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:58 AM
Yeah Some sort of and thinking to switch to something else(my secondary option will be the designing). But I think there is no way to escape. as spending this much year in programming and then to start another thing seems little difficult.
Believe Yourself™
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I would have to whole heartedly agree that much of what is "new" today is a re-hash of yesteryear. Allot of the business-centric tech is, well, boring. However, there really is some truly new stuff out there. Most of it is "incrementally new", not revolutionary. Take wireless networking and wireless communications. While the low-level ideas are not new, thanks to the continuous progress of hardware, things are getting smaller and more powerful which is opening new possibilities. Mobile technologies that were dreams 20 years ago are realities now. Touch capabilities while far from new, are much better today, so much so that new opportunities are emerging. General human input devices beyond keyboards, mice, touch screens and even speech are finally becoming realities. 3d presentation of information is finally starting to come around. (I think 3d has a very long way to go, but there's a technology I wouldn't mind riding along with.) Gaming technology and immersive environments that could not even be imagined 20 years ago are starting to become possible. Robotics, wow, robotics is moving ahead at a tremendous pace. That's just to name a few areas of software-related technology, there are many, many more exciting "new" technologies and opportunities out there. Some promises from the past like artificial intelligence have not developed as many would have hoped. I think we are coming around to the enormous difficulties and challenges with this concept. Even so, there are many bi-products of AI that are useful and mainstream today. Textual analysis used by search engines and other systems is a distant bi-product of AI research. Allot of the medical scanning systems incorporate bi-products of AI to accomplish the processing feats that they need to. For me, I find allot of doldrums in typical day-to-day business software. While the code is new, the ideas aren't and it is rarely exciting (except when given unreasonable deadlines). But, it pays the bills and enables me to do other things that interest me much more. I've more-or-less given up on main stream media, both general media like CNN/FoxNews/MSN/whatever and tech-centric news like wired, MSDN (what a joke), even long-trusted magazine sources. The quality of reporting has indeed declined, so much so as to render much of it useless. So, you asked what I do to get over the hump. For me, I have tried to take my passion for software development and turn it in directions that are new and interesting. In my spare time, I am developing a mobile
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Has anyone else gotten really disillusioned with programming recently? In the last year or so I've gotten really bored with it, it seems that much of what's considered "new" in the last 5-8 years is just rehashed stuff, and it's become really hard to work up much enthusiasm to spend extra time on it. When I started back in 1995, the industry, or at least the little that I was aware of, seemed much more dynamic. Now it just feels stagnant, and most of the things that I do find myself interested in seem like dead end technology. Many of the things that have become popular, like web "programming", just make me cringe. Part of this, I think, is that having gone through the process of learning multiple frameworks, multiple languages on multiple operating systems, using a variety of different toolchains, it all starts to become just "more of the same". So there's not that much "new" to learn in something like WPF, for example. It's just more of the same thing, with a few twists here and there, but it's not that much of a stretch anymore. Another issue is the way it's reported on in both the general media (say a magazine like Time) or even in tech specialist sites (excluding CP of course!). The willingness of any of these places to ask even the simplest of questions regarding "new" or "innovative" technology is nothing short of astonishing. Stuff I've seen reporting on is done in such an incredibly shallow, and frequently incorrect, manner that it's just depressing in the extreme. Has anyone else run into this? If so, what got you over the "hump", so to speak?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
modified on Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:58 AM
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Jim Crafton wrote:
it seems that much of what's considered "new" in the last 5-8 years is just rehashed stuff
Haven't you just learnt more, so you now recognize the fads?
Jim Crafton wrote:
and most of the things that I do find myself interested in seem like dead end technology
In the nineties, the high goal were many-to-many relationships - plugging things and services together, swapping the single user desktop database for a multi-user server one without touching the app, etc. In the Naughties, w implemented that. Right now, we are either figuring out that this was a royally stupid idea, or we at least totally underestimated what it needs to make that work. In the Naughties, our toolchains got longer without getting much better. I am disillusioned with current developments, but not necessarily with the future. A few of the current technologies will mature and stick with us for the rest of our lives, the others will see the fate of DCOM and stuff - hysterically weird, but good improve-your-pension material for us old farts. Maybe we see some toolchain shrinkage: A single development environment that doesn't make me deal with the imperfections and error messages and broken tools of half a dozen technologies just to load and save some data. One where the components work out of the box, and cover 80% of the applications to be written. One that truly bridges the gap between the web and the desktop. One that doesn't make me write XML unless I feel that urge again.
Personally, I love the idea that Raymond spends his nights posting bad regexs to mailing lists under the pseudonym of Jane Smith. He'd be like a super hero, only more nerdy and less useful. [Trevel]
| FoldWithUs! | sighist | µLaunch - program launcher for server core and hyper-v serverpeterchen wrote:
In the Naughties, our toolchains got longer
I'm sorry, I just can't read that with a straight face... :laugh:
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in? Author of Guardians of Xen (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel)
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Has anyone else gotten really disillusioned with programming recently? In the last year or so I've gotten really bored with it, it seems that much of what's considered "new" in the last 5-8 years is just rehashed stuff, and it's become really hard to work up much enthusiasm to spend extra time on it. When I started back in 1995, the industry, or at least the little that I was aware of, seemed much more dynamic. Now it just feels stagnant, and most of the things that I do find myself interested in seem like dead end technology. Many of the things that have become popular, like web "programming", just make me cringe. Part of this, I think, is that having gone through the process of learning multiple frameworks, multiple languages on multiple operating systems, using a variety of different toolchains, it all starts to become just "more of the same". So there's not that much "new" to learn in something like WPF, for example. It's just more of the same thing, with a few twists here and there, but it's not that much of a stretch anymore. Another issue is the way it's reported on in both the general media (say a magazine like Time) or even in tech specialist sites (excluding CP of course!). The willingness of any of these places to ask even the simplest of questions regarding "new" or "innovative" technology is nothing short of astonishing. Stuff I've seen reporting on is done in such an incredibly shallow, and frequently incorrect, manner that it's just depressing in the extreme. Has anyone else run into this? If so, what got you over the "hump", so to speak?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
modified on Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:58 AM
yes. i think it's called "burnout". one way to get over the hump is to find yourself in the position of being unemployable unless you jump in and learn all these 'new' ways of doing the same old thing.
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Jim Crafton wrote:
Sure there is - a paycheck
There's far more to life than a paycheque. Do what you love to do with enthusiasm and enjoyment and money almost inevitably follows.
"I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter." — Blaise Pascal
But do not make the "build it and they will come" mistake. It is vital to connect what you do with enthusiasm with those who are willing to give you money. I have worked for a number of outfits with outstanding technology that died painfully because they thought the technology by itself would be enough, and failed to do intelligent marketing. That isn't to say that marketing is just throwing money into websites and advertising. It is really a function of the dispassionate observation of the environment you're in, combined with highly creative ways to help people understand how you can help them. My wife is a piano technician and is building an increasingly successful piano business by doing this. In short, passion -> money only if the passion goes into both what you do and how you market it.
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Has anyone else gotten really disillusioned with programming recently? In the last year or so I've gotten really bored with it, it seems that much of what's considered "new" in the last 5-8 years is just rehashed stuff, and it's become really hard to work up much enthusiasm to spend extra time on it. When I started back in 1995, the industry, or at least the little that I was aware of, seemed much more dynamic. Now it just feels stagnant, and most of the things that I do find myself interested in seem like dead end technology. Many of the things that have become popular, like web "programming", just make me cringe. Part of this, I think, is that having gone through the process of learning multiple frameworks, multiple languages on multiple operating systems, using a variety of different toolchains, it all starts to become just "more of the same". So there's not that much "new" to learn in something like WPF, for example. It's just more of the same thing, with a few twists here and there, but it's not that much of a stretch anymore. Another issue is the way it's reported on in both the general media (say a magazine like Time) or even in tech specialist sites (excluding CP of course!). The willingness of any of these places to ask even the simplest of questions regarding "new" or "innovative" technology is nothing short of astonishing. Stuff I've seen reporting on is done in such an incredibly shallow, and frequently incorrect, manner that it's just depressing in the extreme. Has anyone else run into this? If so, what got you over the "hump", so to speak?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
modified on Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:58 AM
Jim Crafton wrote:
Has anyone else run into this? If so, what got you over the "hump", so to speak?
That's definitely where I'm at. I am though challenging myself to learn F# by programming a Texas Hold'em game, with some good algorithms for the 'bot players. Other than that, what interests me is the problems that need solving, not the technologies that solve them. In fact, a lot of the time, I seem to be fighting the technology to solve the problem, such as my recent run-in with getting some C++/STL code to work with multiple processors and dealing with the fact that Microsoft's core memory management stuff is NOT thread friendly. That pisses me off, when some tool that a professional company (supposedly) has written fails to do its job, and I end up having to work around the crap, distracting me from what I really want to get done. One other thing--to this day, I have never seen a technology actually improve the software development process, with the exception of my Interacx suite. Call me biased. ;) Marc
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Has anyone else gotten really disillusioned with programming recently? In the last year or so I've gotten really bored with it, it seems that much of what's considered "new" in the last 5-8 years is just rehashed stuff, and it's become really hard to work up much enthusiasm to spend extra time on it. When I started back in 1995, the industry, or at least the little that I was aware of, seemed much more dynamic. Now it just feels stagnant, and most of the things that I do find myself interested in seem like dead end technology. Many of the things that have become popular, like web "programming", just make me cringe. Part of this, I think, is that having gone through the process of learning multiple frameworks, multiple languages on multiple operating systems, using a variety of different toolchains, it all starts to become just "more of the same". So there's not that much "new" to learn in something like WPF, for example. It's just more of the same thing, with a few twists here and there, but it's not that much of a stretch anymore. Another issue is the way it's reported on in both the general media (say a magazine like Time) or even in tech specialist sites (excluding CP of course!). The willingness of any of these places to ask even the simplest of questions regarding "new" or "innovative" technology is nothing short of astonishing. Stuff I've seen reporting on is done in such an incredibly shallow, and frequently incorrect, manner that it's just depressing in the extreme. Has anyone else run into this? If so, what got you over the "hump", so to speak?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
modified on Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:58 AM
Part of the problem is that you become trapped by the amount of money programming pays. However, if your passion continues to diminish, you won't enjoy life no matter how much you make. Programming is the new factory work. This trend will only grow stronger. My advice would be to explore other aspects of life and see if there are things that might be as fun today as programming was when you first got into the game. From that list, look for the ones with the potential to maintain the lifestyle that you currently enjoy. If you can find it, then do what many of us did - build the skills for the new career in your spare time while paying the bills with your current gig. It's a period of intense work, but the ability to transition to more fulfilling life makes it all worthwhile.
Christopher Duncan www.PracticalUSA.com Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes Copywriting Services
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Has anyone else gotten really disillusioned with programming recently? In the last year or so I've gotten really bored with it, it seems that much of what's considered "new" in the last 5-8 years is just rehashed stuff, and it's become really hard to work up much enthusiasm to spend extra time on it. When I started back in 1995, the industry, or at least the little that I was aware of, seemed much more dynamic. Now it just feels stagnant, and most of the things that I do find myself interested in seem like dead end technology. Many of the things that have become popular, like web "programming", just make me cringe. Part of this, I think, is that having gone through the process of learning multiple frameworks, multiple languages on multiple operating systems, using a variety of different toolchains, it all starts to become just "more of the same". So there's not that much "new" to learn in something like WPF, for example. It's just more of the same thing, with a few twists here and there, but it's not that much of a stretch anymore. Another issue is the way it's reported on in both the general media (say a magazine like Time) or even in tech specialist sites (excluding CP of course!). The willingness of any of these places to ask even the simplest of questions regarding "new" or "innovative" technology is nothing short of astonishing. Stuff I've seen reporting on is done in such an incredibly shallow, and frequently incorrect, manner that it's just depressing in the extreme. Has anyone else run into this? If so, what got you over the "hump", so to speak?
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow
modified on Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:58 AM
I am as enthusiastic about writing code as I have ever been, and I've been a professional developer for 20 years now. I've recently started getting into IP Telephony and am writing some cool applications that our customers our lapping up.
