How Do I Get Back a Passion For Programming?

bigsexyjoe writes "I am a somewhat experienced software developer who is pretty much an office drone. I used to enjoy writing code. I even enjoyed writing routine code before it became routine. But now I just come in day in and day out. I work for manipulative jerks. I don't care about the product I create. I don't enjoy coding anymore. I'm not great at interviewing. I don't have an impressive resume. I stick in more advanced stuff into my code when I can, but that is always on the sly. So my question is how do I get back the enjoyment I used to have writing code?"

Comments

Projects

[Bucky24]

Start your own projects on the side. Or if you don't have any ideas, join an open source project. Unless you're amazingly good at programming you'll probably learn something either way, and, at least for me, that's what makes it fun.

But like anyone else I can only really give you suggestions that would work for me or I know worked for someone else. you have to really discover it again on your own.

Retrain

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Do like I did: retrain and start a new career. I used to be an overworked software project manager with the love of coding drained out of me, and now I'm a happy gunsmith.

It's never too late to go back to school. No sense in living a life you don't like, you only have one life and you need to enjoy it to the fullest.

Re:Good advice .. but check your contract

[CelticWhisper]

I really don't mean to derail the discussion, but as a netadmin who generally doesn't code very much (beyond basic scripting for automation) I've always wondered about the "we own all your code" thing. Has it ever been tested in court whether an employer can lay claim to work done off company time on non-company resources, assuming the program has nothing to do with the company's operations (or even if it does)? Failing all else, can't the coder just release the program anonymously?