I've lost my mojo...
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
Time to look for a different employer, methinks.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Time to look for a different employer, methinks.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
I have been looking. I have had several interviews but they all seem to much the same. Does no-one actually write applications any more. Has software development degenerated into a game of high-tech Lego?
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
It just isn't fun anymore and I'm like you it has passed me by, just to much for this old man to learn and keep up with.
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
Version 3.0 now available. There is no place like 127.0.0.1 -
I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
You should definitely change your username... And probably change your job also... :rose:
[www.tamautomation.com] Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing.
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
I'm still being paid to play for a living - needs to do things the company wants, but then, that's where the money comes into the picture (eating, heating, cooling, and going to Jamaica All-Inclusive Resorts for vacations (with no computer)). Buck up. Kill a manger or two. You'll feel better in no time.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
It gets to us all sooner or later. Be assured, you're not in an exclusive club where few qualify for membership. As you approach the club entrance, take a right and go down the stairs. Pass through the double doors leading to the parking lot. See the dumpsters on the left? You'll find us all in there. :-D Welcome to our world, earthling.
"I do not have to forgive my enemies, I have had them all shot." — Ramón Maria Narváez (1800-68). "I don't need to shoot my enemies, I don't have any." - Me (2012).
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
THats the main reason I like working in the Kernel, its real engineering and is very challenging and gives you a sense of achievement when the product is finished. You also get a fair bit of respect from the managers since they know as a resource you are scarce.
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
Much software development does appear to have shifted towards "glue code that even your manager could write" (for minimum wage and no perks), but I have been told that's not the only thing out there. I think I've been lied to, though. Someone must still be doing some real programming otherwise there would be no fancy new fifth wheels to glue onto the increasingly-enterprisy crap out there, but the lucky git has filled that position.
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I have been looking. I have had several interviews but they all seem to much the same. Does no-one actually write applications any more. Has software development degenerated into a game of high-tech Lego?
Perhaps you should start your own company to start something new?
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
rarius@rarius.co.uk wrote:
I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years
Me too but I still love it. You need to take a break, perhaps. You may find you miss it so much that you need to get back to it and, if you don't... time to find a new career.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
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I'm still being paid to play for a living - needs to do things the company wants, but then, that's where the money comes into the picture (eating, heating, cooling, and going to Jamaica All-Inclusive Resorts for vacations (with no computer)). Buck up. Kill a manger or two. You'll feel better in no time.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
I've built my own tools and played with the legos other people put out. There are pluses and minuses with each. When work gets annoying I either dust off the resume or pick a new hobby to distract from it. Sometimes it just comes down to the old quote:
“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar.” ~Drew Carey
Play my game Gravity: IOS[^], Android[^], Windows Phone 7[^]
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
My opinion is that this is not a very enjoyable, easy, or rewarding time to be a Windows developer. My reasons are a bit different from yours; in hindsight, WPF was esoteric and unnecessary, and the technology selection guidance emanating from Redmond in the last 5 years or so has been garbage. I don't find anything "too easy" about Windows development right now, though... "too abstract" is a pejorative I would probably agree with. I don't think your boss could wrap his head around WPF Dependency Properties unless he's a real developer, for example. Also, I think that much of Windows development practice, and also Web development practice, has become very checklist-based: "make sure you do this; make sure you don't do that; etc." Some people seem to be blind to just how bad such things are. Development should be about making things work, NOT about dodging metaphorical potholes. The good news is that most of the platforms I work with (Android, PIC microcontrollers, and certain UNIX variants) remain a source of joy to me.
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
rarius@rarius.co.uk wrote:
I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years...
rarius@rarius.co.uk wrote:
When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95...
:doh: I know my math is not the same it use to be, but unless you had a time machine that is under 20 years (17 if you were into it right away)
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
Same here. I'm switching employer this fall. I'm responsible for ~ 1 million lines of code, and my employer gave me a QA 3 years too late. Everytime I hear some idiot talking about new (and most of the time silly!) ideas, I feel like hanging myself, knowing there will be less quality assurance, and more sucking up to customers in the 20-segment of the 80/20 rule (the wrong segment!). My next job will be as a consultant. Sure, customers can be a bit weird, and change specification a quarter to midnight before delivery, but hey, at least I get feedback for what I've done, and appreciation for the quality (unlike my current employer).
-- Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit
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I've been a software engineer for nigh on 25 years and just recently I have come to realise that I just don't give a damn about software anymore. Maybe its because I work for a company that just treats us all like resources not people. Maybe its because all I get to do is customise someone else's badly written software. Or maybe its just that software development has changed so much since I started out that it has left me behind. When I started, I was writing windows controls for Win95, C++ was new and exciting and no-one had heard of a garbage collector. Now all I ever seem to write is glue code sticking other developer's components together. Am I alone in this, or have other people hit this kind of crisis?
Rarius
I had the same problem. But I replaced my mojo with mojito and it's been great ever since. :cool:
Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett
