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
Since 2009, after being laid off from a segement of the auto industry in January ofthat year, I have been through 3 consulting assigments and 2 employee positions. Recently my current contract was cut yet again due tio mismanagement and I am now looking for my 6th gig. I have been in the field 38 years. I still very much enjoy working with technology but I no longer have the emotional strength to put up with all the bad management I have encountered in my career. I have had some interesting work over the years but the management people have just drained me. For me, its now getting a major e-commerce site up and running for my wife's new jewelry business, which we are hopeful will do well. Hopefully, I'll finally be able to say good-bye to the corporate world. I've had enough... :-(
Steve Naidamast Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@ix.netcom.com
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Recently I've been asking myself this question too often, for two reasons: 1 - I can't keep up with it anymore 2 - I don't want to do it in my free time anymore. It's just not as much fun anymore and I wonder if it's time for me to take a different path...
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
I too am at 26 yrs of it and have wondered a lot lately how the cobol programmers felt because our PC tech was new and different and they were so stuck with their tech. Now, I'm finding I'm like them where the tech is changing and I'm stuck with the existing. Another big change is that this new younger breed of ambitious people rising in the management ranks (not techie's either) believe they know tech or at least like to protray it and are willing to make decisions based upon their own limited and bias knowledge of tech. Their disdain for us techies seems to be a basic requirement for them because they don't want anyone knowing they don't know what they're talking about. Plus, they like to make all the decisions and not defer to the techies. Plus, they hate us when they see us get paid better than them and think that its an injustice to them. The world doesn't respect us anymore. They feel technically empowered (self sufficient) and don't depend upon us for knowledge and understanding of it. They're all iphone experts.
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I too am at 26 yrs of it and have wondered a lot lately how the cobol programmers felt because our PC tech was new and different and they were so stuck with their tech. Now, I'm finding I'm like them where the tech is changing and I'm stuck with the existing. Another big change is that this new younger breed of ambitious people rising in the management ranks (not techie's either) believe they know tech or at least like to protray it and are willing to make decisions based upon their own limited and bias knowledge of tech. Their disdain for us techies seems to be a basic requirement for them because they don't want anyone knowing they don't know what they're talking about. Plus, they like to make all the decisions and not defer to the techies. Plus, they hate us when they see us get paid better than them and think that its an injustice to them. The world doesn't respect us anymore. They feel technically empowered (self sufficient) and don't depend upon us for knowledge and understanding of it. They're all iphone experts.
donedge wrote:
They're all iphone experts.
You said it all there...
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
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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 right there with you. Back then we engineered software. C was (and still is) the king of system-level development, without having to drop to assembler (much). Many could do it, but few could do it well. Now? I'm being hounded daily about how some new javascript library is going to change the world. How this or that CSS "revolutionizes" the web. Blah, blah, blah. Add to that the corporate politics where sysadmin scripters will argue that Ruby on Rails is better than any compiled language simply because it's "easy". You know the ones, they're the people who attach themselves to management and give hourly/daily updates about how clever they are. Technology is useless unless it makes life better for us somehow. Yet it seems many are just in love with the technology for it's own sake. Fanboys, zealots all. In the end, I did 2 things:
- Started my own company as a side venue. I don't want it growing like crazy because I'm not willing to take much time away from my family. It's just an outlet where I can do things using all my experience and creativity, and make a little money to boot.
- Accepted a job with a great company where there appears to be room for me to stretch my other skills, yet still develop.
I have to admit, the political side still disgusts me. And I still haven't regained my hunger. But software pays the bills.
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Recently I've been asking myself this question too often, for two reasons: 1 - I can't keep up with it anymore 2 - I don't want to do it in my free time anymore. It's just not as much fun anymore and I wonder if it's time for me to take a different path...
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson ---- Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
Fabio Franco wrote:
2 - I don't want to do it in my free time anymore
My amount of 'free time' has changed over the years. When I started over 12 years ago, it was not uncommon for me to work past midnight. It was challenging and exciting and the time seemed to fly by. Anymore, wifey complains when I need to work/study after hours, or there's always some family/friends obligation. I can still get 'caught up' in the moment, but only for brief periods, before something interrupts me...like my cell phone...again...'free time' is fleeting!
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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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
There is still fun stuff to do out there. But it's harder than it used to be. There are a lot more 10-year-old code bases today than there were in 1995. The skills employers value have shifted from the ability to design clean interfaces (for new code bases) to the ability to rapidly make point changes (in old creaky code bases). If you work for a big, established company, you get to work on big, established code bases. Somebody else had the fun of designing these dinosaurs 10 years ago. You've got several choices Suicide. Sounds like you pretty much don't care any more. Waste of talent though. Retire on your stock options (if you were lucky in the past). Or work part-time as a grocery clerk and accept "voluntary simplification" of your lifestyle. Or go on welfare, visit your neighborhood food bank, and maybe beg for change with a sign around your neck that says, "Will write VB6 apps for food." Chuck it all and go manage a gluten-free vegan bakery (I know a CTO who did this). Do consulting work, where you frequently get to look at new horrible old code bases so at least there is some change in your life. Employers have low expectations for consultants, so it's easier to be outstanding. Actually, you get to do a surprising amount of new coding as a consultant. Start your own company where you get to be the pointy-haired boss. Make some other schlub turn out the code, or do it yourself. Unfortunately, this path requires you to mortgage your whole personal life savings and make a bet that you are smarter and more organized than the average guy. Your family may not be so enthusiastic about this bet if they secretly do not share your optimism. Limit your job searches to places doing a substantial amount of new coding. Such places exist. Take a job at a startup where, by definition, they're doing green field coding. Or look for companies with a difficult problem to solve. Of course, your skills have to be very up-to-date to do this. If you have not invested in staying current, then either start doing your homework, accept a very limited pool of possible employers, or pick one of the previous options.
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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 in the same boat. If I'm a commodity to the company, the job is a commodity to me as well. If they don't like my approach, I'll just go get another one. Let's be clear; this is not to say I don't care about performance. I get here, I work pretty hard, I try to build solid, reliable applications and solve the business problems we're faced with. I'm not just throwing together things and walking away. (In fact, a lot of what I do is repair that approach). I just don't care when people try to stress deadlines, et cetera. Nobody is going to die if we don't have something done today. If there are real production problems, I'm on it until it's solved. The things for the next release, I'll work on diligently to try to complete them. But, if I'm given an unreasonable deadline, I'll point that out instead of working tons of overtime to try to reach the deadline. I think a couple of things happen once you've been out there this long. You realize there's more to life than solving business problems and solving those problems isn't nearly as exciting as it once was.
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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.
I still have an old programming I keep for the nostalgia. "Programming the OS/2 Presentation Manager" - Written by Charles Petzold and Published by Microsoft Press. I show the younger programmers that at one point in time Microsoft and IBM used to be "friends" and actually worked on an OS together. Microsoft did the PM and IBM I believe did the Kernel. That book I believe is now over just over 20 years (maybe my math is off) but we were doing C++ and I don't recall it being the "new" thing.
as if the facebook, twitter and message boards weren't enough - blogged
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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
Reading all the replies to this thread scares the hell out of me..about can the same happen to me after 23 years more in field of programming :( .. its only been 1.5 years since I've started my career as a Software Engineer, but I'm sad to say I'm not happy how things happen at the job. I'm very much interested in software design and architecture and I was very proud about my skills back in the days at university. Hoping to further sharpen my skills I've secured a job offer until now , just to find out that I've no longer been able to get the self satisfaction by designing a software system and see it running as expected...its because at the office all I have to do is to use a third party framework and features to get the work done.. I even asked with the superiors.. and they told me that the project needs to be completed quickly hence they have to use the framework...damn its very boring to use some code while we can design a better one which is more suited for our case.I feel that because of all the competition to secure the clients its very hard to evolve as a very good software engineering person. I think I'm in need of a life changing decision :):)
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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
You are not alone. I may be a young Software Engineer just in college but I have done so much coding. Right now I have millions of unfinished projects because I just can't complete them as I lose the mojo whenever I leave the keyboard. I'll gladly do a project and finish it if I'm freelancing. I'd say there has to be some sort of motivation behind it. For me it seems like coding for someone (challenge) motivates me. It's not so much about the money I get afterwards as this is my passion, but it seems like when I start doing my own projects, challenging myself, I give up easily. In other words, I'll code and finish if someone challenges me. If I don't get as much challenges, I'll be base raping some noobs on Battlefield 3 until my PS3 controller breaks. Maybe that might be the issue with you too somewhere in you. ;)