- Pressure – A major client needs an update installed, they can’t conduct any business without it, your technical director is close to tears, you are the only developer around, you need to churn out code which you know absolutely nothing about, and asap! OMG OMG OMG! Welcome to the wonderful world of software dev.
- Stress – Imagine the scenario painted above happening every week, I dare you not to be stressed out
- Brain fatigue – software dev is akin to seating at a desk trying to solve the geometrical meaning of the central extension of the algebra of diffeomorphisms of the circle (just in case you are wondering, I got that from googling “most difficult math problem”) every single working day of the week, what do u get? brain fatigue.
- Your social life, relationship, sex life might suffer – why? Because you are busy trying to debug the damned code that you broke and finish off what you were working on in the first place before you broke the damned code.
- Its not a job, its way a life – ever seen a doctor stare lustily at a new ultra powerful high tech stethoscope? Nope. Seen a plumber saying sweet nothings into the holes of a new super strength carbon fibre pipe? Nope. Seen a software developer professing his love for his computer? Yep! Why? Software developers live for tech.
- Work hours are not fixed - software developers only rest when the client is happy, and everybody know clients are never happy. Do the maths
- Pay is.. not so good – with all I’ve mentioned above you‘d think the pay is super, WRONG!!! Because software developers come a dime a dozen these days, the pay is terrible.
- You become everybody’s tech support –when dad can’t print his document because the paper is jammed in the printer, guess who they’ll call from wherever the hell he is on the country? Yep you guessed it, the guy who practically lives with computers, the software developer.
- You might get a bad back – if you r unlucky enough to get a bad chair then the long sitting hours will almost inevitably mean a bad back.
- You might get fat - forget the might, you will get fat, it’s simple, sit on your ass for 8 hours a day, get home and do the same, what do u get? A very rotund, socially dead, sexually inept, lifeless, soulless individual sitting in front of computers.
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Ok ok, it’s not all bad, there are some perks to a life dedicated to software dev, in my next blog post I will highlight some of the VERY FEW advantages.
Hi Abiola,
ReplyDeletePretty interesting read here. However, I guess this was more of an attempt at humor than complaining. The truth is there's no job that doesnt have its downsides (ask Doctors what its like to be on call after working all day) but I believe the perks actually spur us to keep 'keeping-on'.
However, I'm not exactly sure that the major reason the pay isn't fantastic is that there are a lot of developers around. Have you tried googling C# jobs and looking through the results? Why aren't these positions taken? Even in Nigeria, there is still need an ongoing need for skilled developers. Just that most of these are not publicly advertised. They're usually filled by personal referrals :)
Regards.
Hi Dami,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, the points I listed in the post are mostly exaggerated and do need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
However they certainly highlight (albeit in a exaggerated manner) some of the difficulties I as a developer personally go through on a daily basis and yes there are developer jobs available but most times the pay is not spectacular.
All in all, I will try and even things out with a post listing the perks of a being a software developer.
Thanks for the comment
Nice list. Your social life, relationship, sex life might suffer for real. I could remember one day when i was so busy with Netbeans...my lady told me that whenever am hungry, i should just eat the BEANS in the NET..Imagine that!
ReplyDeleteAgainst all odds, I hope to become a professional developer soonest.
LOL!!! Priceless!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for comment Jide and good luck on your software dev aspirations
..eat net beans on the net ..lol