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On developer's block, and calling it quits. Being a programmer is hard

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urlwolf:
Hi guys,

I just wanted to bring to your attention a thread that got me thinking.
Vitaly, the developer of spider player, a player that sounds surprisingly good (nobody knows why; it uses BASS and 32-bit processing, which you can find in others that don't sound as good) has decided to switch careers, partly frustrated with how difficult programming is:

thread

I have to admit that programming is hard. I'm right now chasing a bug that has driven me crazy for 3 weeks straight. I have written a 30-page-long paper with results I was suspecting were wrong. Now (IF I catch the bug!) I'll have to rewrite most of it.

There are many ways in which programming can be NOT fun. I wonder if we realize this.

Again, a 'thank you' to Vitaly and to all programmers around the world that make our lives more pleasant with their software.

superboyac:
I have an enormous amount of admiration for programmers, and I still feel like I take it for granted.  You guys make my life so much easier, it's no joke.

mouser:
I am still in the process of experiencing the existentialist heartbreak of realizing that it's not enough in this world to just do good work and be productive.

The aspects of life and making a living can be painful for many programmers, myself included, who somehow grew up believing that if we just focused on being good programmers (or good academics) and weren't interested in being rich, that everything else would just fall into place on it's own.

The shock of having to worry about irrational chaotic business issues, when these are things you really want nothing to do with, can be very frustrating.  And in this economy, with the current trends towards giant-corporations and advertising-based revenues for everything, it can feel like you are all alone out there.

As a programmer there are lots of things we have to work on that aren't fun -- fixing bugs, writing documentation, etc.  These things are worth it in the end if your program proves useful to people and you have the time to spend on them.. But working on such things and feeling like you are just digging yourself a bigger hole can feel paralyzing -- and even then it often feels like you can't stop digging once you start.  In that sense -- maybe the best thing to do sometimes is to put down a project and try to get some perspective.  So perhaps vitaly is taking the a step in a positive direction.

cranioscopical:
The shock of having to worry about irrational chaotic business issues, when these are things you really want nothing to do with, can be very frustrating.
-mouser (March 20, 2009, 06:13 PM)
--- End quote ---

It's not just programming is it?

I always wanted to do whatever it was that I started my businesses to do.
Then I had to devote time and energy to running the damn things.
The trick is to find good people and delegate, which is fine with a healthy revenue stream.

urlwolf:
I wonder how much of most jobs is actually enjoyable. Although research is supposed to be fun, there are healthy amounts of bullshit involved (paperwork, repetitive menial tasks, meetings, dealing with rejections etc). Resistance to boredom is actually useful for research (realizing this was _very_ counterintuitive). Some productive researchers do take their job as something boring the have to do. And they get it done, whereas if you are idealistic and try to work only on the fun stuff, your boring but needed parts will drag you down forever.

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