I usually try to talk young people out of it when they ask me about doing software for a living… unless they say that they’re really passionate about it. If it’s a default career for them, I tell them that there’s passionate, and hungry, people across the pond that will eat their lunch.
@Bill:
It’s not the coding I can’t take or don’t want to do – it’s the endless, mind-numbing bureaucracy surrounding every little nit.
Ding ding ding! For whatever reason, Joel, Jeff (and others) don’t understand that these are the kinds of things what people are complaining about, not programming itself. Passion isn’t going to solve this. (And let’s have a cease-fire on all passion-related arguments, please)
I am a developer for the last +4 years in ASP.Net, C#, AJAX, CSS. Its my job profile and source of living.
After 3 years of my work with my company, I started freelancing. And in my last year, I had earned the double of last year salary.
At this stage I have good profiles on http://Guru.com and http://99desk.com
So there is no sense of : "Programming: Love It or Leave It"
I LOVE IT.
This is very good advice. One should NEVER just do something just for the money. At least if you want to truly shine at what you do, and move past your lack based beliefs. I worked full-on in my last programming job and was quite successful. After almost a year away, I see an interesting opportunity. But, this isn’t for me anymore. It’s best for me to leave behind my tech skill set so I can move into other opportunities where I can truly be of value.
This thread was an interesting read. I believe the main point (love it or leave it) it’s kinda extremist. There is always a middle point where someone may find him/herself comfortable. Some people are passionate about technology and they invest personal time updating or improving their skills (I won’t comment on their personality or social skills). This can not be the case for everyone. IMHO, it is not something companies should expect even if most try to promote. It should be considered a plus reflected in these people’s salary (this is not often the case, at least in some places). It is also true that some working environments, methodologies (not everyone fits in every methodology), projects, lack of documentation, poor training and other reasons may frustrate many employees. After all, it’s not only about technical skills, we are supposed to have the means to do our work.