Do you really want to earn so much at 50?

Do you really want to do this at 50?

Well, I didn't really want to do this when I was 20. I do this for the money. And while there is money in programming, I will most likely continue.

What else would you like to do at 50? Name a profession that is at least approximately similar to programming in the following:

• The requirements for formal education are basic or absent
• Good compensation, even for mediocre employees
• Millions of jobs
• No physical effort
• No health or legal risks

Programming is money for nothing. Starting programming is very simple, but extremely difficult to quit. What else would you do?

I work with three lawyers - two became programmers, and the third - a project manager. I have not met programmers who have become lawyers. But I know an engineer - not a programmer - who became a patent attorney (with his words: “once, you begin to resent that your manager is the same age as your children”). Would you like to become a patent attorney at 50?

I had a manager who decided that he would be a better school teacher, thinking that this occupation is more useful to society. He quit after 8 months, saying in his farewell interview to a famous newspaper: “Sometimes I just want to go into class with a machine gun and open fire.” Now he works at Samsung and feels that his contribution to the creation of visualizers for smartphones brings quite significant benefits to society.

One of my colleagues at work has long been studying a whole bunch of things. He has a degree in psychology and something called Visual Theater. He has been part-time programming all this time to fund his studies. Programming is part of his visual representations (in which computer music is involved). Most likely, he will program to provide his art classes. I don’t think he has a plan to quit programming at any given moment.

I saw a lot of people who “quit” to start learning anything from physics to philosophy, but returning back to programming. Money is addictive. Of course, there are many other sources of satisfaction — which is why I keep this blog for free — but a significant part of this satisfaction isdemand , directly or indirectly, and therefore very closely associated with money. “Create something useful” and “make money” are close relatives.

Of course, you could earn so much as not to need work. But, most likely, you will not earn money, and therefore programming is your plan B. In addition, material goods have one quality - they are easy to take away. I am from Soviet Russia, therefore, I tend to exaggerate the likelihood of this, but in reality, property is easy to confiscate and today paper money may become paper tomorrow. And CCCP is not unique in this; US confiscated goldtheir citizens at about the same time as the USSR. However, professional skills cannot be confiscated. Therefore, a prudent programmer (paranoid?) Will make some effort to continue to stay in good shape, even if provided so that he can afford not to work.

Professional programming is said to be stressful. But then again, compared to what? The work of a doctor? The work of a lawyer? Respond to calls from furious customers while your responses are recorded for later verification?

What kind of stress? Programmers who are somehow able to program - for example, can correctly print a binary tree - are in great shortage. This deficit does not make it so easy to command programmers. You may try to intimidate them into unsupervised overtime, but they quickly realize that this is the sellers market and that you are essentially bluffing. You have no one to replace them with.

With demand exceeding supply, there is enough room for programming in everyone. This leads to a less competitive environment than, say, in financial / investment services. Also, programmers are usually protected from customers and senior management - people are always right-handed, which makes communication with them a little tedious.

Dates? Of course, we have them, like everyone else. But let's admit - we have a tendency to violate them, and this is not so stressful for us, unless we ourselves take a steam bath. If you have been given unrealistic deadlines, and you are trying your best, and do not have time, you can suffer deeply or remain in harmony with yourself. The fact is that your material well-being is rarely at risk due to the fact that you did not make it on time, so your reaction depends entirely on you.

They say that programmers cannot fully understand what is happening with all these APIs and layers and more. And if you do not understand the environment in which you work, then this causes stress and is simply not fun. It is quite fair; but again - whounderstands his environment better than a programmer? A doctor delving into the insides of a patient? Lawyer shoveling legal documents? Derivative Securities Investor? A manager controlling the work of 10 or 20 programmers? With all the self-contributed complexity, we are still in a better position than most.

The fact is that there are quite a few fifty-year-old programmers around. But does this mean that people do not survive in this industry? It is more likely that this is simply the result of growth. 30 years ago there were few 20-year-old programmers, when compared with the situation 10 years ago. Therefore, today there are fewer 50-year-old programmers than 30-year-olds. After 20 years, the situation will be different, in proportion to the slowdown in programming.

Therefore, I do not plan to quit programming, not because it is such a huge source of happiness in itself, but because it looks so good against almost everything else. Perhaps not the most “passionate” statement, but passion burns out, while greed is steady. And if you plan to quit programming, I wonder what you have chosen as an alternative, and I won’t be surprised if you return to programming in a few years.