• HStone32@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    the more i learn about software development, the more i feel I’ve dodged a bullet by changing my major to electrical engineering.

    • dalakkin@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Well, if you learn about software development from reddit and Lemmy, that’s one thing. Not always representative of the real world.

      • HStone32@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        its the things I hear from real software developers that concern me:

        • You will spend your entire career chasing trends.
        • The market is volatile. People are constantly getting abruptly laid off. SD has never been very stable, so you should plan on getting a new job every few years.
        • Software companies are constantly looking for ways to make SD easier. As a result, your value will decrease over time, in preference for bootcampers and 2 year degree graduates.
        • Nobody listens to developers. Your manager’s beliefs about SD come entirely from consultants, magazines, and Elon Musk tweets.
        • Nobody cares about quality software. If you take the time to make your code efficient and lightweight, all your manager sees is you taking longer to make something than your peers. After all, we can just raise hardware requirements if the software is slow.
        • FrostyCaveman@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          Seems pretty accurate to me. After a decade doing it, I’m pretty damn jaded though so YMMV.

          The last two points hurt the most tbh. what keeps me going is the feeling of catching a glimpse of that ephemeral sublime beauty which is a well architected system

        • witx@lemmy.sdf.org
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          2 months ago
          • You will spend your entire career chasing trends.

          Depends on the language, that’s mostly a JavaScript/typescript issue.

          • The market is volatile. People are constantly getting abruptly laid off. SD has never been very stable, so you should plan on getting a new job every few years.

          Depends on the country, where I’m from there has been very few layoffs.

          • Software companies are constantly looking for ways to make SD easier. As a result, your value will decrease over time, in preference for bootcampers and 2 year degree graduates.

          Not sure what to say, I haven’t felt my value decrease. All I see are bubbles saying they will replace me… and then they burst.

          Nobody listens to developers. Your manager’s beliefs about SD come entirely from consultants, magazines, and Elon Musk tweets.

          Agree but that’s more of an engineering wide problem, specially when you get managers with very few engineering experience. Take the Apollo landings as an opposite example: great managers that were great engineers.

          • Nobody cares about quality software. If you take the time to make your code efficient and lightweight, all your manager sees is you taking longer to make something than your peers. After all, we can just raise hardware requirements if the software is slow.

          This is a bit too generic to argue against. You can get that in electrical engineering no? If you take more time designing that PCB because you want to better place the components to improve heat dissipation, will your manager care in the end?