QA didn't exist in 1999? I hope that was a joke, because that was my exact job description. :)

One Dev made a snide remark, saying why was he there and earn so much when he did not even come with the architecture which he was supposed to Well, well! What I've found being in IT for almost 30 years is that comments like this, though considered bold and edgy at the time (making you a hero among your peers!), they ultimately work against you. You will never know when the people in position above you make an offhand remark, good or bad, to the CIO or an VP about you. They might say they'll cover your @$$ when it hits, but don't count on it. Negative things will happen to you and you'll never even know they happened. If you are tight with the Architect, troll away. If not, suppress the urge to say what you're thinking. With that said, my Dad gave me this advice. He was an Engineer at International Harvester for 30 years. He spoke his mind many times and he knows he was held back because of it. It happens. Understand your risks.

You lost me at step 1

In the late 1990's I worked at ISSC on the Integrion Project (as a QA tester), which was a consortium of banks that banded together to create the base code for what is now your online banking software. It has improved since then, but I assure you the pen-pocket engineers (they did exist) at IBM who were in charge of this also tested what they created. What you should worry about now are those making the improvements as the software has become more decentralized. Sorry this was so serious, I've been reading Trump news this morning and am very sangry.

omg, and I was told _I_ had no sense of humor...

I believe that having a sense of humor and getting programming jokes are mutually exclusive concepts. I don't believe one can have both. And you are exaggerating. I'm pretty sure I've made at least 10 comments here in the last 9 years.

Dr. Benway[^]

For you, I updated my bio. There is a reason "anal" appears in "Artisanal". But I like ice cream, but at my age, you might not enjoy me eating ice cream.

I've been to Wales. The one-and-a-half lane roads frightened me going around curves. Especially when I forgot to drive on the left side.

What happens when you cross the Red and Yellow wires?

Should I still continue in this profession or just quit now?

I hate it because: 1. I didn't invent it 2. My parents keep reminding me that I didn't invent it

Should be an philosopher, not a programmer. This is pure, unadulterated logic.

I know network admin who left my previous employer and turned Amish (yes, you can!) and there is even competition in the butter churning arena. In his case, Amish furniture. He even asked if there was work he could do for us there. But because he didn't have electricity at his house, he would have to go to a neighbor's to use his computer. I didn't question it. At that point you just nod and smile politely.

Love the hexidecimal keypad.

I did all my high school and college papers on a Commodore 64 and printed them out on an Epson dot matrix LQ printer. I learned programming in school on a Radio Shack TR(a)S(h)-80

I just got into C# in the last year after having coded vbscript and vb.net for many years and I would say teach vb.net if you want to teach something and have him catch on to OOP quickly without having to worry about case, semicolons and curly bracket syntax, but C# if you want him to be able to move on easier to other things like Java and C++. From what I see in our area's job market (Midwest), C#.Net and Java skills are in high demand. If this is something he is interested in as a career, that may be a good start. If it's just for fun, take your pick.