{"id":15491,"date":"2011-09-12T10:37:34","date_gmt":"2011-09-12T08:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/?p=15491"},"modified":"2011-09-12T10:37:34","modified_gmt":"2011-09-12T08:37:34","slug":"what-people-dont-get-about-my-job-programmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2011\/09\/12\/what-people-dont-get-about-my-job-programmer\/","title":{"rendered":"What people don’t get about my job : Programmer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I came across this<\/a> rather lengthy, but definitely worth a read, article about different professions and misconceptions people have about them. \u00a0Some of the stories are surprising, some – less so. \u00a0Given that there is not one from a computer programmer, I decided to share here my view of it.<\/p>\n

It’s too tough to choose a single misconception, so I’m going to limit myself to the top three. \u00a0These three are the ones I have to deal with most often. \u00a0They vary from person to person, of course. \u00a0But I’ve heard the same from a few of my colleagues. \u00a0So here it comes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Firstly, being a computer programmer, doesn’t mean that I can solve each and every computer related problem. \u00a0These days, there is a great variety in hardware and software and there is not a single person who can cover all of it. \u00a0All of my colleagues – with no exception – are constantly asked for help with all sorts of computer problems just because they are programmers. \u00a0Of course we often listen to the problem and really try to help. \u00a0But don’t be too surprised if we can’t. \u00a0For the variety of problems we have a variety of specialists – technicians, system administrators, network administrators, database administrators, front-end and back-end engineers, testers, programmers in a number of languages, support personnel for a number of platforms and applications, and so on and so forth. \u00a0Each one of those\u00a0specialties\u00a0covers a particular set of knowledge and skills which are not necessarily applicable in other areas.<\/p>\n

Secondly, computer programmers (and other IT folks) are often seen as some kind of genius wizards or some such. \u00a0While there are indeed a lot of really smart people working in IT, it’s not that different from any other industry. \u00a0Nobody is born a programmer. \u00a0It’s just yet another profession with its own set of skills, knowledge and terminology. \u00a0Anybody can be a programmer. And I do mean anybody. \u00a0All you need to do is study and practice. \u00a0We don’t do magic, we don’t do tricks. \u00a0We learn the rules one by one, we learn to apply them. We get better at it. \u00a0Much like learning another language – Chinese or Greek or German. \u00a0Start with an alphabet and a few simple words, learn the grammar, practice, read books and watch movies, get introduced into the culture, realize different accents, practice more. \u00a0We do the same.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, computer programmers are not working an assembly line. \u00a0Not most of the time at least. \u00a0This misconception mostly has to deal with the managerial perception. \u00a0IT is a new industry and I can understand how it is difficult to see it different. \u00a0Most other office people can start work at 9 and finish at 5. \u00a0If the work they do is procedural and doesn’t vary by that much, that’s easy. \u00a0Software development is not like that. \u00a0It requires a certain state of the mind. \u00a0Think of it as mood. \u00a0 One needs to be in a specific mood to write code. \u00a0And even though with practice one can command his own moods better, it still doesn’t really work from 9 to 5. \u00a0It doesn’t switch on at 9. \u00a0Some people wake up earlier, some later. \u00a0Some need breakfast and coffee in the morning, others need nothing. \u00a0Each has his own path. \u00a0The same with the 5pm. \u00a0And doesn’t just switch off. \u00a0Especially when you are in the middle of something, a problem that you’ve spent a few days solving and finally the solution is shaping up. \u00a0You don’t just stop. \u00a0You think it through until it’s over. \u00a0It doesn’t matter if you are in the office or at home or en route. It doesn’t matter what time it is. \u00a0Many do work outside the hours, even if it’s only only in their heads. \u00a0So having a strict set of hours like 9 to 5 is really counter productive for programmers. \u00a0If you, as a boss, force them into such a time frame, you are not getting the best out of them.<\/p>\n

That’s about it. \u00a0What is your job and what don’t people get about it?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n

I came across this rather lengthy, but definitely worth a read, article about different professions and misconceptions people have about them. \u00a0Some of the stories are surprising, some – less so. \u00a0Given that there is not one from a computer programmer, I decided to share here my view of it. It’s too tough to choose … Continue reading What people don’t get about my job : Programmer<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,18,62],"tags":[17],"keyring_services":[],"class_list":["post-15491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-programming","category-technology","tag-work"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27980,"url":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2017\/09\/09\/every-programmer-should-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":15491,"position":0},"title":"Every Programmer Should Know","author":"Leonid Mamchenkov","date":"September 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Every Programmer Should Know\" is a collection of subjects and resources that every programmer should know. \u00a0It is not specific to any technology stack, and it's rich enough to offer something to programmer of any level or experience. 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