Somewhat true. I author software mostly in Unity these days using state machines and I am developing the deepest, most rich and robust applications of my 30+ year career in software development absolutely code free. If you are still churning out lines of application code I highly recommend learning about the excellent x-platform tools like Unity that are available today. If you are writing device drivers or native utilities in C or Assembly, then my hat is off to you for actually practicing programming. Scripting, no matter how sophisticated, is somewhat banal when you think about it. Applying endless standards and APIs to recreate what has already be done before. There just isn't enough risk in it for it to be actually innovative. I'm not pointing fingers, the game engine centric development I do these days is even higher abstraction from the machine, but there is a sense of freedom working in simulated space and time. It's not really programming, it's more like experience design.
And for the grossly divisive posts below, imagine a world where people are not judged by the color of their skin or the country they came from. Isn't it a better place?
Is that like when the CEO creates an unrealistic deadline out of thin air and I spend the weekend coding a hack to make it look like a feature kinda sorta works? Surely this study isn't suggesting that people are spending their weekends writing programs in obscure languages just for fun?!?!?
I'm in my 40s and I'm working on innovative stuff every day. At my company the younger guys all look to me for help and mentoring. The company looks to me for technical leadership. I agree that there are a lot of really talented young technologists out there, but very few of them can do what I do or bring the type of value I bring to the organization. Give them 20 years experience and maybe they will do the job better than I can, but for now I think my "relevance" is very safe and secure.
I'm always amazed at how *intolerant* leftists can be. I live in a rural "redneck" community and we have very little crime, pollution, racism and unemployment here. Our schools are ranked some of the highest in the nation and just about everyone I know graduated college. Maybe we're not as dumb as the stereotype you submit to says we are.
Yes, consult with headhunting firms in your area (as long as you are in an area with tech jobs, SF/Bay, RTP, or major metro area). I predict you'll be working again as a programmer within 30 days. Of course half the money you earn will go to the headhunting firm and they won't give you many benefits or anything, but you'll have a job and make decent money.
Intelligent liberals are actually pretty rare. I know tons of educated, successful liberals, but they are all hacks and con artists. Much like our President.
When I was under 30, I thought everyone over 30 was a dinosaur and I was right from a certain point of view. Now that I'm well over 30 I think everyone under 30 is a punk ass and I'm usually right about that too. Fact is, good programmers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. I suppose the same can be said about bad programmers. Being a game developer I've been turned down for jobs because I'm "too old". I wonder if the "enlightened ones" who make those decisions realize they are discriminating on a level similar to discrimination of race or gender? Pretty low mentality for such "smart" people. Anyway, I figure as long a Metallica or Iron Maiden can still tour, I can still make games.
Once devs see a way to monetize their efforts they will adopt the platform. Heck, Apple created an army of Objective C developers once the appstore took off.
...and I make loads of money with it because it all works. You should focus your interview questions on the company's design and quality culture. I do appreciate clean, elegant, standards conforming codebases, but that's all academic exercise for the programmer. Users could care less as long as their software works the way the need/expect it to. Maintainability is important, but not as important as user experience. If the software does what users need it to do it will require *less* maintenance. Also, forget newer technologies because that just isn't important at all. Good projects use the *right* tool for the job despite current trends. Yeah, the stuff we have now is boatloads better than last decade's stuff, but you can still create useful software in FORTRAN or C. I stopped caring about code style when Sun first opened sourced Java. That codebase was barely readable but millions of people were happily using it. The fact is sausage tastes great, but the consumer *never* needs or wants to know how it's made.
Ok, one step further here and some advice from a 25 year software trenches veteran: learn to appreciate and admire bad code. Learn to view it as a challenge presented to you so you have something to do to earn a living. Adversity is the avenue to opportunity.
Wrong. The space shuttle had a horrific safety record. 2 accidents costing human life in 135 flight cycles is much worse than any production airplane used for air transport. Actually, by an exponential margin. Nobody would get on a 747 if 2 out of 135 or even 2 out of 135,000 flights resulted in a fatality.
...who realizes that flying a modified 747 in landing configuration carrying a 75 ton payload on its back with wheels up at low altitudes over populated areas is extremely dangerous, totally irresponsible, and completely illegal if anyone other than NASA did it? Thanks for risking hundreds of lives to show off Mr. Biden. Your incompetence is only outweighed by your arrogance. BTW, I love the space program, and I want people to learn about its history, but this really was a questionable stunt that has me worried about the complacency of our leadership.
Sounds like you want a job where you get to do more meaningful work than what you do now. You don't need an advanced degree to do that. Just figure out how to make a significant contribution to humanity and then go do it. Working as a researcher at Google or Microsoft would be cool, granted, but you can also get there by being super innovative and sharing your output with the world. Academia has its place, and I'm 100% for continuing education throughout life, but it also has a way of teaching you more about what you can't do than what you can do. If you choose to get a PhD, don't be one of those "Doctors" who becomes so smart that they can point out 100 different reasons why something won't work. Be one that can think of 100 reasons why it can work.
As a software engineer I use math all the time, but maybe not the way we think of traditionally using math academically with chalkboards full of scribbled formulas and equations. Numerical analysis, discrete math, cryptography, linear algebra, statistics are all post-calculus subjects that are fundamental in software engineering. Having a solid education in these subjects will allow you to be a *better* software engineer and problem solver. At the code level it's mostly operator precedence and other trivial math fundamentals, but at the algorithmic analysis level understanding advanced math concepts certainly helps and is even necessary in many circumstances.
Privacy, much like security, are largely illusions we use to fool ourselves into thinking nobody will learn our secrets or cause us harm. I'd gladly give up privacy because I already assume I have no true privacy. Add financial/social incentives and the deal just gets sweeter. The only people who need privacy are people who have things to hide or are embarrassed about who they are and what they do.
Been a Software Engineer for over 20 years and I couldn't agree more. I can't complain about the money or general lifestyle other than the stress of dealing with people who know very little about software development somehow always being in control. Then the stress doubles when they sell expectations that are unrealistic and expect us to work miracles. Then when we work the miracle and ship, they make a zillion dollars and outsource maintenance and enhancements leaving us broke, beat, and just a little jaded towards the next "employer". I am happy to have broken this cycle and now work in a very solid situation, but I feel for the cubical dwellers who have to play that tired old game.
In my 20+ year career as a software engineer I made the most money writing Visual Basic code. Of course it was more professionally rewarding to do C, C++, ObjC, Java, etc... But, I definately got paid the most for VB applications in the financial sector. Funny, because I probably spent a lot more time mastering the other languages and their development tools than I did learning BASIC and VB.
Great post. It is a complex issue, but I think what I was trying to express in my original post is that the law does prohibit the copying of protected material, and I think that linking, uploading, etc., is a form of redistribution. I have no problem with people being able to produce something and then sell it without being forced to give it away for free by the proliferation of services, like YouTube, that make billions of dollars off of other's work without renumeration. On the flip side, they provide an outlet for people who'd never get their content published everywhere else. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
All of your arguments here are good ones, and you do a pretty good job of intellectually justifying pirating. But, I can go to YouTube right now and listen to an audiobook that was written by a friend of mine. Yeah, people aren't breaking into his house and stealing his book, but they are using it for entertainment while not paying for it while it is protected under copyright law. Maybe it's not classical theft, but it is a violation of copyright which can be a felony crime. DMCA's provisions are a load of crap and don't provide remuneration for violations. YouTube is only "legal" because the system has failed. Most criminals cook up elaborate justifications for their crimes, but no twisting of words will ever trump the truth. The truth here is that if someone works to create something entertaining or useful, and chooses to copyright it, the copyright should be respected and protected. Otherwise, why pretend that we have copyrights, patents, trademarks, individual identities, personal property, etc.? I know, let's just let the government own everything! That would magically make everyone equal right? Yeah, that's a society I want to live in. One where everything is free yet there is no freedom.
Actually, copyright law sets the precedent that publishing someone else's copyrighted material is indeed stealing and many people have spent time behind bars getting their asses pounded because they thought (stupidly) as you do.
Your post is derived from a highly twisted sense of ethics. Knock-offs are a form of stealing. What your friend is doing is different because he's replicating something unobtainable as an homage, not making a knock-off cars to sell to his friends. For example, Gibson Guitars are overpriced so Chinese factories make cheap knock offs of Les Pauls and sell them for 10% what Gibson does. That is copying and it is stealing. So you're just plain wrong in your thinking.
If I buy a DVD and copy it for a friend that is stealing. It's making two copies out of one when the publisher is selling *copies*. Yes, the technology allows us to pirate easily, but that doesn't mean we should. We also have the technology to copy people's identities online, should we do that simply because we can?
The bigger problem is companies that profit from providing copies of other's work without permission. YouTube is an illegal business. If you or I were to try to do what YouTube does we'd be shut down, sued, fined, and possibly jailed as pirates.
Why the personal attack? You can't debate an issue without name calling? Grow up and learn that there are many views of the world beyond your own limited perception of it.
Slashdot Mirror
Somewhat true. I author software mostly in Unity these days using state machines and I am developing the deepest, most rich and robust applications of my 30+ year career in software development absolutely code free. If you are still churning out lines of application code I highly recommend learning about the excellent x-platform tools like Unity that are available today. If you are writing device drivers or native utilities in C or Assembly, then my hat is off to you for actually practicing programming. Scripting, no matter how sophisticated, is somewhat banal when you think about it. Applying endless standards and APIs to recreate what has already be done before. There just isn't enough risk in it for it to be actually innovative. I'm not pointing fingers, the game engine centric development I do these days is even higher abstraction from the machine, but there is a sense of freedom working in simulated space and time. It's not really programming, it's more like experience design. And for the grossly divisive posts below, imagine a world where people are not judged by the color of their skin or the country they came from. Isn't it a better place?
Is that like when the CEO creates an unrealistic deadline out of thin air and I spend the weekend coding a hack to make it look like a feature kinda sorta works? Surely this study isn't suggesting that people are spending their weekends writing programs in obscure languages just for fun?!?!?
I'm in my 40s and I'm working on innovative stuff every day. At my company the younger guys all look to me for help and mentoring. The company looks to me for technical leadership. I agree that there are a lot of really talented young technologists out there, but very few of them can do what I do or bring the type of value I bring to the organization. Give them 20 years experience and maybe they will do the job better than I can, but for now I think my "relevance" is very safe and secure.
I'm always amazed at how *intolerant* leftists can be. I live in a rural "redneck" community and we have very little crime, pollution, racism and unemployment here. Our schools are ranked some of the highest in the nation and just about everyone I know graduated college. Maybe we're not as dumb as the stereotype you submit to says we are.
...you wouldn't be asking this question.
Yes, consult with headhunting firms in your area (as long as you are in an area with tech jobs, SF/Bay, RTP, or major metro area). I predict you'll be working again as a programmer within 30 days. Of course half the money you earn will go to the headhunting firm and they won't give you many benefits or anything, but you'll have a job and make decent money.
Intelligent liberals are actually pretty rare. I know tons of educated, successful liberals, but they are all hacks and con artists. Much like our President.
When I was under 30, I thought everyone over 30 was a dinosaur and I was right from a certain point of view. Now that I'm well over 30 I think everyone under 30 is a punk ass and I'm usually right about that too. Fact is, good programmers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. I suppose the same can be said about bad programmers. Being a game developer I've been turned down for jobs because I'm "too old". I wonder if the "enlightened ones" who make those decisions realize they are discriminating on a level similar to discrimination of race or gender? Pretty low mentality for such "smart" people. Anyway, I figure as long a Metallica or Iron Maiden can still tour, I can still make games.
Once devs see a way to monetize their efforts they will adopt the platform. Heck, Apple created an army of Objective C developers once the appstore took off.
...and I make loads of money with it because it all works. You should focus your interview questions on the company's design and quality culture. I do appreciate clean, elegant, standards conforming codebases, but that's all academic exercise for the programmer. Users could care less as long as their software works the way the need/expect it to. Maintainability is important, but not as important as user experience. If the software does what users need it to do it will require *less* maintenance. Also, forget newer technologies because that just isn't important at all. Good projects use the *right* tool for the job despite current trends. Yeah, the stuff we have now is boatloads better than last decade's stuff, but you can still create useful software in FORTRAN or C. I stopped caring about code style when Sun first opened sourced Java. That codebase was barely readable but millions of people were happily using it. The fact is sausage tastes great, but the consumer *never* needs or wants to know how it's made. Ok, one step further here and some advice from a 25 year software trenches veteran: learn to appreciate and admire bad code. Learn to view it as a challenge presented to you so you have something to do to earn a living. Adversity is the avenue to opportunity.
...they dominate U.S. politics!
I wear a different outfit everyday and I still don't think about it.
Wrong. The space shuttle had a horrific safety record. 2 accidents costing human life in 135 flight cycles is much worse than any production airplane used for air transport. Actually, by an exponential margin. Nobody would get on a 747 if 2 out of 135 or even 2 out of 135,000 flights resulted in a fatality.
...who realizes that flying a modified 747 in landing configuration carrying a 75 ton payload on its back with wheels up at low altitudes over populated areas is extremely dangerous, totally irresponsible, and completely illegal if anyone other than NASA did it? Thanks for risking hundreds of lives to show off Mr. Biden. Your incompetence is only outweighed by your arrogance. BTW, I love the space program, and I want people to learn about its history, but this really was a questionable stunt that has me worried about the complacency of our leadership.
The only "logical thinking skill" required to be a programmer is being able to ask the question "what happens next?"
Also know Unix.
Sounds like you want a job where you get to do more meaningful work than what you do now. You don't need an advanced degree to do that. Just figure out how to make a significant contribution to humanity and then go do it. Working as a researcher at Google or Microsoft would be cool, granted, but you can also get there by being super innovative and sharing your output with the world. Academia has its place, and I'm 100% for continuing education throughout life, but it also has a way of teaching you more about what you can't do than what you can do. If you choose to get a PhD, don't be one of those "Doctors" who becomes so smart that they can point out 100 different reasons why something won't work. Be one that can think of 100 reasons why it can work.
As a software engineer I use math all the time, but maybe not the way we think of traditionally using math academically with chalkboards full of scribbled formulas and equations. Numerical analysis, discrete math, cryptography, linear algebra, statistics are all post-calculus subjects that are fundamental in software engineering. Having a solid education in these subjects will allow you to be a *better* software engineer and problem solver. At the code level it's mostly operator precedence and other trivial math fundamentals, but at the algorithmic analysis level understanding advanced math concepts certainly helps and is even necessary in many circumstances.
Privacy, much like security, are largely illusions we use to fool ourselves into thinking nobody will learn our secrets or cause us harm. I'd gladly give up privacy because I already assume I have no true privacy. Add financial/social incentives and the deal just gets sweeter. The only people who need privacy are people who have things to hide or are embarrassed about who they are and what they do.
Been a Software Engineer for over 20 years and I couldn't agree more. I can't complain about the money or general lifestyle other than the stress of dealing with people who know very little about software development somehow always being in control. Then the stress doubles when they sell expectations that are unrealistic and expect us to work miracles. Then when we work the miracle and ship, they make a zillion dollars and outsource maintenance and enhancements leaving us broke, beat, and just a little jaded towards the next "employer". I am happy to have broken this cycle and now work in a very solid situation, but I feel for the cubical dwellers who have to play that tired old game.
In my 20+ year career as a software engineer I made the most money writing Visual Basic code. Of course it was more professionally rewarding to do C, C++, ObjC, Java, etc... But, I definately got paid the most for VB applications in the financial sector. Funny, because I probably spent a lot more time mastering the other languages and their development tools than I did learning BASIC and VB.
Great post. It is a complex issue, but I think what I was trying to express in my original post is that the law does prohibit the copying of protected material, and I think that linking, uploading, etc., is a form of redistribution. I have no problem with people being able to produce something and then sell it without being forced to give it away for free by the proliferation of services, like YouTube, that make billions of dollars off of other's work without renumeration. On the flip side, they provide an outlet for people who'd never get their content published everywhere else. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
All of your arguments here are good ones, and you do a pretty good job of intellectually justifying pirating. But, I can go to YouTube right now and listen to an audiobook that was written by a friend of mine. Yeah, people aren't breaking into his house and stealing his book, but they are using it for entertainment while not paying for it while it is protected under copyright law. Maybe it's not classical theft, but it is a violation of copyright which can be a felony crime. DMCA's provisions are a load of crap and don't provide remuneration for violations. YouTube is only "legal" because the system has failed. Most criminals cook up elaborate justifications for their crimes, but no twisting of words will ever trump the truth. The truth here is that if someone works to create something entertaining or useful, and chooses to copyright it, the copyright should be respected and protected. Otherwise, why pretend that we have copyrights, patents, trademarks, individual identities, personal property, etc.? I know, let's just let the government own everything! That would magically make everyone equal right? Yeah, that's a society I want to live in. One where everything is free yet there is no freedom.
Actually, copyright law sets the precedent that publishing someone else's copyrighted material is indeed stealing and many people have spent time behind bars getting their asses pounded because they thought (stupidly) as you do.
Your post is derived from a highly twisted sense of ethics. Knock-offs are a form of stealing. What your friend is doing is different because he's replicating something unobtainable as an homage, not making a knock-off cars to sell to his friends. For example, Gibson Guitars are overpriced so Chinese factories make cheap knock offs of Les Pauls and sell them for 10% what Gibson does. That is copying and it is stealing. So you're just plain wrong in your thinking.
If I buy a DVD and copy it for a friend that is stealing. It's making two copies out of one when the publisher is selling *copies*. Yes, the technology allows us to pirate easily, but that doesn't mean we should. We also have the technology to copy people's identities online, should we do that simply because we can?
The bigger problem is companies that profit from providing copies of other's work without permission. YouTube is an illegal business. If you or I were to try to do what YouTube does we'd be shut down, sued, fined, and possibly jailed as pirates.
Why the personal attack? You can't debate an issue without name calling? Grow up and learn that there are many views of the world beyond your own limited perception of it.