[hncoder12345]

Sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong choice with software development. Even after getting to a senior role, according to this article, you're still expected to get more education and work on side projects outside of work. Am I supposed to want to code all the time? When can I pursue hobbies, a social life, etc.

[johnfn]

To put it very directly - if you are OK with being good but not exceptional at your job, this is totally fine. If you want to be exceptional you will probably need to put in the extra work. Not everyone is OK with this tradeoff and it's totally fine to "just" be good and care more about having outside hobbies and a social life and etc.

[hncoder12345]

I had a period of time where I really wanted to be exceptional. I spent many hours studying and working on side projects but it just never really clicked. I think I'm decent at what I do for work but more complicated topics (graphics programming, low level memory management, etc.) just seem to not stick, no matter how many hours I put into studying. Sometimes it feels like I'm forcing this career but after this many years it's hard to give it up. I do still enjoy it but I don't think I'll ever really get it.

[tumetab1]

Since you're getting into a senior role, learn the mantra, it depends :D

The usual trade-off of a well paid software development job is lack of job security and always learning - the skill set is always changing in contrast with other jobs.

My suggestion, stop chase trends and start to hear from mature software developers to get better perspective on what's best to invest on.

And why the mantra is always true?

You can find stable job (slow moving company) doing basic software development and just learn something new every 4 years and then change companies.

Or never change company and be the default expert, because everyone else is changing jobs, get job security, work less hours and have time within your job to uplift your skills.

Keep chasing latest high paid jobs/trends by sacrificing off time.

What's the best option for you? Only you know, it's depends on your own goals.

[qsera]

>I made the wrong choice with software development.

If you didn't like working with computers, then you (and another gazillion people who choose it for the $$$) probably made the wrong choice.

But totally depends on what you wanted to get out of it. If you wanted to make $$$ and you are making it, what is the problem? That is assuming you have fun outside of work.

But if you wanted to be the best at what you do, then you gotta love what you are doing. May be there are people who have super human discipline. But for normal people, loving what they goes a long way towards that end.

[_heimdall]

> If you didn't like working with computers, then you probably made the wrong choice.

This doesn't match what I have seen in other industries. Many auto mechanics I know drive old Buicks or Ford's with the 4.6l v8 because the cars are reliable and the last thing they want to do on a day off is have to work on their own car. I know a few people in other trades like plumbers, electricians, and chefs and the pattern holds pretty well for them as well.

You can enjoy working with computers and also enjoy not working in your personal time.

[dysoco]

> If you didn't like working with computers, then you (and another gazillion people who choose it for the $$$) probably made the wrong choice.

The problem is the field is changing, fast. I love writing code... I'm not so sure I love prompting Claude, coordinating agents and reviewing +30k vibe-coded PRs.

[menaerus]

> If you didn't like working with <insert anything>, then you ...

This type of argument can hold for any profession and yet we aren't seeing this pattern much in other white-collar professions. Professors, doctors, economists, mechanical engineers, ... it seems like pretty much everybody made the wrong choice then?

I think this is a wrong way to look at it. OP says that he invested a lot of time into becoming proficient in something that today appears to be very close to part extinction.

I think that the question is legit, and he's likely not the only person asking oneself this question.

My take on the question is ability to adapt and learn new skills. Some will succeed some will fail but staying in status-quo position will certainly more likely lead to a failure rather than the success.

[jimbokun]

AI is making it so that”working with computers” is no longer a viable career path. At least that’s the goal.

As AI allows more and more people to accomplish tasks without a deep understanding of computers, “working with computers“ will be as much of a marketable job skill as “working with pencils” 50 or 100 years ago.

[burningChrome]

This also dovetails with his other point:

Given how quickly models, tools and frameworks rise and fall, betting your career on a single technology stack is risky.

This was something I dealt with a lot when JS frameworks became the newest shiny thing and suddenly the entire industry shifted in a few years from being a front-end developer to being a full stack developer.

This happened to a lot of my friends who went all in on Angular. Then everybody switched to React.

The issue then became, "What should I learn?" because at my company (a large fortune 200 company) they were all in on Angular, and weren't looking for React developers, but I knew companies were moving away from Angular. So do I work to get better and more indispensable with Angular, and risk not knowing React? Or do I learn the new shiny framework betting at some point my company will adopt it or I will be laid off and need to know it?

It feels like half my life as a dev was spent being a degenerate gambler, always trying to hedge my bets in one way or another, constantly thinking about where everything was going. It was the same thing with dozens of other tools as well. It just became so exhausting trying to figure out where to put your effort into to make sure you always knew enough to get that next job.

[ikrenji]

frameworks are irrelevant. if someone can work in angular they can pick up react as they go and vice versa, especially if assisted by AI. the problem is hiring practices where resumes are discarded if the keywords don't much...

[gofreddygo]

No. As junior you feel the pressure to make senior. You can't be junior for too long.

As senior, if you choose, you can coast. By coast I mean you do justice to your job and the salary you are paid. Its a perfectly acceptable choice for someone to be senior for as long as they want.

The biggest bottleneck is going to be what other seniors and higher think of you.

[francisofascii]

>I made the wrong choice with software development.

I wonder what the best decision would have been. What job is AI immune and has a stable 40 hour week, no overtime, with decent pay. Teacher? Nursing?

[Kilenaitor]

Neither teachers nor nurses only work 40 hours and no overtime. :')

Definitely something that requires social/interpersonal skills though will be the thing that winds up being AI immune. Humans are social creatures so I assume there will always be some need for it.

[hncoder12345]

I wasn't thinking AI immune in my comment but it's fair to include it. I wouldn't even mind overtime because that implies pay (in my mind). I'm more so talking about the unpaid time we are expected to put into further education or into side projects.

[encyclopedism]

> Am I supposed to want to code all the time? When can I pursue hobbies, a social life, etc.

I feel you. It's a societal question you're posing. Your employer (most employers) deal in dollars. A business is evaluated by its ability to generate revenue. That is the purpose of a business and the fiduciary duty of the CEO's in charge.

[jedberg]

It's funny you should ask this. When I started out, 30 years ago, here were the answers you'd get from most people:

> Am I supposed to want to code all the time?

Yes.

> When can I pursue hobbies,

Your hobby should be coding fun apps for yourself

> a social life, etc.

You social life should be hanging out with other engineers talking about engineering things.

And the most successful people I know basically did exactly that.

I'm not saying y'all should be doing that now, I'm just saying, that is in fact how it used to be.

[gofreddygo]

Not my experience at all. The very notable engineers I know didn't do their most notable work because of engineering or coding skills. Instead it was finding interesting problems and making a start or thinking a bit differently about something and doing something about it and being approachable and available all along that made a difference.

If all they did was code all the time, write code for fun and interacted mostly with other similar people, they probably wouldn't be the first choice for these projects.

[MyFirstSass]

That's not true at all.

The ones who ace their careers are for the most people that are fun, driven, or psychos, all social traits that make you good in a political game.

Spending lots of time with other socially awkward types talking about hard math problems or whatever will get you nowhere outside of some SF fantasy startup movie.

I'd say it's especially important for the more nerdy (myself included) to be more outgoing, and do other stuff like sales or presentations, design/marketing og workshops - that will make you exceptional because you then got the "whole package" and undestand the process and other people.

[misja111]

> And the most successful people I know basically did exactly that.

Well that depends heavily on how you define successful. Successful in life? I would tend to disagree, unless you believe that career is the only thing that counts. But even when career is concerned: the most successful people I know went on from being developer to some high end management role. The skills that brought them there definitely did not come from hanging out with other engineers talking about engineering things.

[KaiserPro]

> You social life should be hanging out with other engineers talking about engineering things.

Fuck. That.

I worked at a faang, successful people weren't people that did engineering, it was people who did politics.

The most successful people were the ones that joined at the same time as the current VP.

Your hobbies need to be fun, to you. Not support your career. If its just there to support your career, its unpaid career development, not a hobby. Should people not code in their free time? thats not for me to decide. If they enjoy it, and its not hurting anyone, then be my guest.

Engineers are generally useless at understanding whats going on in the real world, they are also quite bad at communicating.

do. fun. things.

[raw_anon_1111]

I also started 30 years ago - mid 1996.

I did not do side projects. I really enjoyed most of my 20s as a single person. I was a part time fitness instructor, I dated, hung out with friends, did some traveling.

The other developers at my job also had plenty of outside hobbies.

[raw_anon_1111]

I have been programming professionally since 1996. I have never once spent one minute on “side projects”.