how's it like to be a proffesional programmer

i'm a 16 year old programming freak but i was wondering
i would like to become a programmer later (on university level) but i was wondering how it's like to do it as a job...

are there any people who's job it is to program? and how's it like?

please tell me all about it, anything is fine...

The worst part is when you know it is better to do A - B - and - C, but management demands you do X - Y - and Z instead.

The worst part is when you know it is better to do A - B - and - C, but management demands you do X - Y - and Z instead.
That's not specific to programming jobs... it's likely to happen no matter what job you have.

i'm a 16 year old programming freak but i was wondering
i would like to become a programmer later (on university level) but i was wondering how it's like to do it as a job...

are there any people who's job it is to program? and how's it like?

please tell me all about it, anything is fine...
A good representation of what's it like to work as a software engineer can be found here (http://www.dilbert.com)

On the negative, I'd say some of the worst things are:
Knowing about a problem or a bug in your software, and your manager tells you not to worry about it until the users complain about it.
Sales and/or Marketing making promises about your products that aren't true (like it can read certain file format or that it will definately work on their network) and then coming to you and saying "We just made this sale. Can you patch it so that it can do this? We need to ship it ASAP!"
Non-technical upper management making decisions based on what OEM's and Contractors tell them (I once had to deal with a large system that was completely setup on RAID0 because the OEM swore up and down that they had discovered a way to make RAID0 fault tolerant, and that RAID5 was no longer neccessary)

First off, although I've had second thoughts recently, I enjoy the challanges and at this point don't plan on leaving programming any time in the near future. (I have only been doing it for 4-5 yrs. at this point.)

A lot of it depends on the environment you end up in. As everyone else stated the biggest frustration of being a programmer is usally related to what management tells you to do regardless of what is right, and what the sales team sells regarless of what the product really does.

In my first job I had a boss that actually listened to the programming team and used our input in the decision process. He didn't always listen to us 100%, but we were active in the entire design, development, testing, roll-out and maintainence.

Currently, I'm working for an ex-IBM employee that is 10 years behind the technology we use but he still designs everything the way he wants it and yells at everyone else when it doesn't work. The other 3 managers are all related to the two owners so it is always the programmers fault even if we told them it wouldn't work in the first place.

A good representation of what's it like to work as a software engineer can be found here (www.dilbert.com)
We have 2 months worth of Dilbert comics hanging on the wall currently that describe our office perfectly. (And the owner doesn't understand what's wrong with them.)

But I want to be coding web sites and databases, so I'm still here until I can find somewhere else. (I should be getting an offer in about a week, so I'll be much happier in a month.)

Basically it all boils down to finding the type of programming you want (graphics, database, web, windows apps) in an environment that you like to work in.

The sort of industry you work for makes a huge difference. I have worked several jobs in the telecommunications sector, and it tends to be one of the faster-paced programming environments. Short deadlines, short notice, and frequent changes. If you can't be flexible, want to avoid stress, or enjoy a structured approach where you plan things in advance and expect them to occur in a predictable pattern, it isn't the place to be. Rarely ever boring, though. I did a short stint in the medical field, and found that it was much slower paced, tended toward less homogeneous systems (which could make deployment more of a challenge) and more red tape. A colleague of mine is thrilled to be working for a medical organization now because the stress is so much less and she can actually plan projects before having to throw them into implementation. I also worked for an engineering firm for some years, and projects there spanned the whole spectrum -- some emergency quick-fix ones, and some large-scale, carefully organized ones.

It also makes a big difference whether you're working on solo projects or as a member of a team. Personally I enjoy both, but what I have found that I have trouble with is being the only programmer in an organization, where there are no peers at all to bounce ideas off of, help out, or learn from. I was in just such a situation when I discovered this site, and I credit it for the fact that I stayed sane (well, okay, that may be debatable :p).

Just some insights from my own experience.

The size of the company you work for also has an impact. I'm in a company that has about 300 employees; there are three analysts here, and we each tend to support a functional sub-group of the company. Because there's just three of us, we tend to work with a much wider range of areas than you would encounter in a large company. Even though my title is Senior Systems Analyst, (and I DO perform typical systems analysis tasks) I also involved with the programming, documentation, and training, as well as database design, and do DBA work.

I agree with LEBB... being the only programmer sucks bad... Im 19 i work for Petro Canada... I still go to school... really good job. However the managers are ***** about what they want... and they have no way of explaining it... they change things sooo quickly and i just found out the program i was workin on for the last 3 weeks... needs a complete overhaul because the manager's 15 year old son doesnt think it looks pretty enough. ARGH... other then that fun job...

I agree with LEBB... being the only programmer sucks bad... Im 19 i work for Petro Canada... I still go to school... really good job. However the managers are ***** about what they want... and they have no way of explaining it... they change things sooo quickly and i just found out the program i was workin on for the last 3 weeks... needs a complete overhaul because the manager's 15 year old son doesnt think it looks pretty enough. ARGH... other then that fun job...
He get this a lot where I work. Sales and Marketing get together and decide they want something that sells and give us a vague idea of what they what. We build it and present it and they tell us that's not what they wanted at all, or they constantly come by and say "we need it to do this too" or "it also needs to work this way" as we've working on it.

Now, we get a detailed spec sheet before we start on anything. They must sign and approve of it. If they want anything changed, they must submit a change request with necessary paperwork. A long paperwork trail and everything is documented. So they can't change the specs mid-project without going through the proper channels, and they can't say we didn't build it the way they wanted.

That's probably over-kill for a smaller company, but still get everything in writing. Keep all you e-mails (and sync them to a local copy so no one can pull the good 'ol "sorry the e-mail server crashed and lost all the saved e-mails, for your account only, wink, wink"). When you're getting specs from someone, write them down and then before you leave the meeting, read them back and verify that's what they want. Make sure that no communication is lost on your end, without being a jerk about it - that'll just get you fied for "not being a team player". C.Y.A. is what they call it - Cover Your Assetts ;)

how's it like to be a proffesional programmer

It's great. I'm sure you've heard that programmers get all the hot chicks? :p

But seriously, you have to learn to spell 'professional' before you can be one.

Every job and job site is different depending on the employer and the product. These are some of my experiences. Take em with a grain of salt.

Pro:

1) Working with your mind not your back.
2) Some to a lot of creativity.
3) Usually comfortable working conditions.
4) When you work on programming teams you usually work with intelligent creative people.
5) Enjoying an on going education in the art.
6) Taking outside courses sometimes often.
7) Improving the work day of others by your product.
8) Impressing yourself with your own work.
9) Getting to wear a pointy hat with stars and moons on it. :)

Con:

1) Having to work with your mind even if you don't feel like it.
2) Having to be creative when you aren't
3) Having to take courses that you must understand.
4) Employees and management in your upstream pipeline that think that writing code is A) Easy to do. B) Easy to make massive changes to. C) Can somehow be done in less time just because they say so.

~Tom

But seriously, you have to learn to spell 'professional' before you can be one.

well boohoo , English isn't my native language, but i'm working on my spelling

I agree with LEBB... being the only programmer sucks bad... Im 19 i work for Petro Canada... I still go to school... really good job. However the managers are ***** about what they want... and they have no way of explaining it... they change things sooo quickly and i just found out the program i was workin on for the last 3 weeks... needs a complete overhaul because the manager's 15 year old son doesnt think it looks pretty enough. ARGH... other then that fun job...
Ahaq:
Sounds like more of a GUI problem, not a complete overhaul. In addition to what blindwig advised, you may want to look into using a software prototyping (http://courses.cs.deu.edu.tr/cse531/docs/Specifications/ch2.html) method of developing your applications.

peanutman:
As Lebb said different industries are quite different. I've worked on contract for the military (huge amounts of red tape, different branches have different systems specs, but the time requirements were not too bad). Currently working in the medical field (a much more relaxed environment, and in my case a much wider range of projects (next project involves interfacing with digital pens and handwriting recognition)).

It's great. I'm sure you've heard that programmers get all the hot chicks?
:whoops: *gasp* reboot! *shhhhh!* :-\

The drawback that I always regret is that you rarely get a chance to interact with other people in the company, other than when a project is looming. Everyone thus assumes that you're a bit of a geek! It's a lonely job sometimes :(

Everyone thus assumes that you're a bit of a geek!
Uhh... you say that as though they are mistaken. :p

LOL Laura!

Say there's an opportunity for you. You could publish a book of illistrations.

"The secret life of Geek." -or- "Geek Safari"

Page 1 - Natural Habitat
Page 2 - Foraging for food
Page 3 - Alpha Geek Intimidation
Page 4 - Courship rites
Page 5 - Geek instinctual responses.

The list goes on and on. :chuckle:

Nah, someone already has: http://www.energymech.net/emech/geek.html

Nah, someone already has: http://www.energymech.net/emech/geek.html

Lebb,
That's great! I sware I didn't notice them studying me..... ;) . Seriously though, there were many things in that link that rang true. I guess I am just one of the geek masses. (My wife would agree wholeheartedly...)

Se Habla Geek!

They failed to mention their life span.

60 to 100 yrs??? or in geek, 189216000000 MS to 315360000000 MS ??

Uhh... you say that as though they are mistaken. :p
:o I see I didn't diguise the subject sufficiently :chuckle:

Nah, someone already has: http://www.energymech.net/emech/geek.html

Are you sure? You could be another Jane Goodall. "Geeks in the mist!"

Ah, but Gruff, Jane was not a gorilla herself. :)

Ah, but Gruff, Jane was not a gorilla herself. :)

I had hoped that female Geeks were more evolved. *sigh*
---
As She gazed upon His frito stained fingers clutching His container of Mountain Dew, She realized what a magnificient work of nature was shlumped before Her. "Lunch?" She prodded in the patter of Her kind. "Grunt!" He responded with disinterest.

-Back on topic-

Yep Peanut,

It's all Champagne Fountains, Caviar Hotels, Floor to Floor Limo service, and Rock Star status.

The question is: Can you handle the fame?

Coding...

Sometimes it's fun. Sometimes it's boring as can be. Like, when I have to write "yet another" XML report document. :rolleyes: Those are getting totally old.

Also, having to fix bugs in an old clunky program your company dug up out of some lost ancient world in some language you don't like. (Power builder 6.5 running on SQL 6.5 They need to make this program go away before I loose my mind!)

But like has been mentioned, it's all about the environment you're in. In my case, I work with a great bunch of GeEkS... and have the best boss in the world. That helps.

Oh, and the pay is kinda nice too. ;)

hey its a great job. I wouldnt even call it a job. I love programming and someone pays me to do it. Why not?

bad part?
people, particularly upper management and the sales team, tend to really think that programming is easy. they look at programmers as overpaid employees whom they need to get to work.
and then of course,there are the deadlines.