Is programming as a job boring?

Miscellaneous Topics
#61

“Is programming as a job boring?”

IMO, it depends on your attitude and what job you take. Programming as a job can be lots of repetition and lots of frustration, since a big chunk of your time you won’t be programming but managing misery. So what do you draw pleasure from? Writing yet another piece of code, or solving problems and making a difference? I hope the latter.

Even then - after 10+ years you know the trick and the programming/engineering itself and it poses little challenge anymore, with the occasional exception. But there is still big fun to be had. I for one take jobs where I get to work directly for a non-IT company so I can work on the software, solutions and tools used for the core business; I don’t work for generic (web) development companies and such. I’ve worked for a cable internet company, a marketing automation company and I’m currently working for an insurance/finance company; fields I knew absolutely nothing about when going in. The fun factor I get from it is learning the hows and whys of the different fields, which means my knowledge pool is quite vast OUTSIDE of programming and I’m learning new things constantly, it never ends. But at every company I’m still doing exactly the same thing programming wise, using exactly the same tools and frameworks. I don’t care, because programming is not the real job. Not anymore anyway!

#62

Never! Other guys play soccer, I’m programming instead. That’s it. :point:

#63

I work in an agile, corporate dev team of around 20 people.

My main language at the moment is Ruby on Rails but we support systems using all sorts of databases and frameworks from VB.Net to Python, MySQL to Oracle.

Some projects are really interesting and bleeding edge others can seem a little more boring but working in an agile environment with daily challenges is fun to me.

I never get up on a Monday and think oh no work! recently learnt a bit about RabbitMQ which was pretty cool and could be used for games maybe?

So “Is programming as a job boring?” is a reasonable question but it really depends on the team you work in and the type of projects you get. Also everyone is different and enjoy different aspects of development.

#64

I’ve had my current job for 7+ years now. It’s still the same job I got when I “finished” uni. I have far more positive experiences than negative. Including satisfied clients and small praising emails, also including some newbie mistakes that took down a few racks of client hardware… which I shouldn’t have access anyway.

Anyway, same work place, 4-5 different projects, current one has been the longest. For me, the project changes and the fact that I was fresh out of uni, have given me plenty of new thing to do and learn. Hardly boring ever.
In the last project, the longest project, however, I felt what it’s like to be totally burned out. I would describe that time as “I wish it would be just boring”. (A few talks with my project lead, who at one point was my roommate in uni days, cool and understanding guy, and about 1 month of totally getting away from programming and coding etc. helped quite a bit)

Basically,I would say everything can happen and I do think that this is true to most professions. Probably more so for office workers. But in general, it feels more like a balance between the “good” and the “bad” times, but mostly slightly good times.

#65

I have been in different programming jobs, and have found some boring, while others are not.

To me, it only gets boring when it becomes routine, that is, when there are no new challenges to keep me on my toes.

It also helps if the job allows for some personal creativity, rather than strict rules dictating everything you do.

Please note that there’s a difference between boring and frustrating. The later happening often if the job requires any skill at all, regardless of how much you may like it.

Then again, in my experience, there are two major types of person:

a) Those who enjoy (like) their job, and thus have the drive to grow, improve, and seek new challenges.

b) Those who do not enjoy their jobs, and are in it for the paycheck exclusively.

I’d say the second group, regardless of what they are working on, will define their job as “boring”, but mostly because they are doing it exclusively for the reward.

Would be the same with game development. If you’re in it just for the paycheck /recognition, then the development process will be a pain in the arse.

Not passing judgement on any of those approaches, mind you. Not everyone has the luxury to choose a job they truly like, and even then, a lot of people simply won’t enjoy work itself no matter what it is.