Quote: (06-25-2014 07:35 PM)nomansland Wrote:
There is a lot of talk about programming as a valuable skill for both being employed and going the self-employed route.
However, there were a lot of comp sci graduates that graduated during the tech bubble, switched careers, and are now regretting not pursuing it further because there is demand now. I wanted to see some discussion on this, either here or elsewhere.
Granted, there are many other factors to consider.
One, people really overvalued tech stocks, including venture capitalists and the general public. This is what created the bubble.
The other thing is that IT is a huge field, like anything else, so different niches have different demand.
I am trying to learn programming after work, but this was just something on my mind. Either way, I will continue because even if it becomes saturated or devalued, it would be a good skill to have to automate things and make my life easier, which could be potential products to sell and make some money.
It depends what you mean by 'programming'.
Today, there is just a cluster fuck of higher level languages that don't take advantage of the hardware they are running on at all.
And languages will keep getting higher level, and more inefficient. The day of people being able to program by connecting blocks together is a long way off, but what we have right now is a nightmare.
And don't forget that CPU technology has pretty much hit the wall. Processors are not getting faster. They are getting wider. But that means being able to program for concurrency. Not easy at all.
But, you probably don't worry about the beauty of code. Its efficiency. You probably mean: what do I need to know to make it in the market place?
That is another matter.
You have to fall in line anyway, because the APIs that exist for current OS and hardware will bind you.
There needs to be a revolution, but it won't come from you. All the time more and more lowest common denominator.
As a case in point, you can probably make as much money, if not more, by being competent in html and javascript and php, and able to use a bit of photoshop, and therefore being a web designer, than you are by being a pretty good C++ programmer.
It is a lot more difficult to be a good C++ programmer than all of those other things, but it is not rewarded. Then again, don't listen to me, this is just my take, and I might be very wrong.
My point is, if anything, it is not just about being clever, it is about being multi-faceted and versatile. And PHP and Javascript can be damn hard and involved when you get going. Most people that can code Javascript could not code a Renderer in it. But some can.
There isn't really money in coding any more.
Too many people doing it coz they love it and will work for peanuts. Not just talking about the Indians here, some of them are very good, but most of them very bad. It's supply and demand. Too many coders. Not very good and the quality goes down of course, and the better ones will earn even more.
To get that good, you need to be supremely talented and work very very hard for many years.
Do it if you love it, work on pet projects, little apps for android or what not that might earn you a little side line. But work for a big corporate in a cubicle?
Just my thoughts. Don't listen to me.
Edit:
If you are really interested in this subject then check out The Register -
http://www.theregister.co.uk/
Dominic Connor especially - he goes into detail about the market place and what is needed and what you have to do to get hired, and how much you can expect to earn, once you do.
