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tacostakohashi commented on Ask HN: What is wrong with modern software development    · Posted by u/fzeindl
tacostakohashi · 4 days ago
Bosses assigned higher level projects or goals, but to a larger extent developers were expected to have some domain and product knowledge, and to figure out and have opinions on the individual tasks for improving the product for themselves.

Now, the "product manager", "product owner" and "scrum master" roles have been created, so that developers are more like interchangeable / replaceable cogs in the machine.

This all works well for quickly adding new buttons to existing apps, but its pretty useless for innovating new products or architectures, especially since inevitably no one person ends up with a good understanding over the overall product or architecture.

tacostakohashi commented on Ask HN: Do you think programming as a job will end soon and if so, how soon?    · Posted by u/akkad33
muzani · 9 days ago
It's evolving into engineering. Look at a real engineer (the ones who need to get certified). What do they do? They review plans and calculations. They verify the plan complies with relevant engineering standards. They verify the solution is safe and fit for its intended purpose. They stamp it and accept legal and professional responsibility for whatever happens.

There's going to be less 'hacking' and more verifying that you've got E2E encryption and meet the privacy standards required... or justifying that this problem does not require E2E.

tacostakohashi · 8 days ago
I can see that happening. Just like there is a distinction between a pilot and a flight attendant, or a doctor and a nurse, there could be stratification between a "professional software engineer" that is more of an oversight/responsibility role than hands on, that supervises a bunch of vibe coding / AI slop and makes sure nothing bad happens.
tacostakohashi commented on Ask HN: Do you think programming as a job will end soon and if so, how soon?    · Posted by u/akkad33
butterlettuce · 8 days ago
I think so, I’d say by 2030. By that time, I plan on visiting my local Boot Barn to buy some work boots and then apply for an apprenticeship as a land surveyor.
tacostakohashi · 8 days ago
Good choice! Land surveying is a pretty interesting and underserved/in demand field, although the earning potential doesn't seem ton fully reflect that for whatever reason.
tacostakohashi commented on Ask HN: Why is Usenet not coming back?    · Posted by u/Fabeltjeskrant
tacostakohashi · 20 days ago
Because it became full of spam, obscene and illegal material.

For all their faults, big tech do mostly moderate their sites to the extent you won't find illegal things there.

tacostakohashi commented on Ask HN: Is being employed like renting out your brain for eight hours a day?    · Posted by u/amichail
tacostakohashi · 24 days ago
Is it actually possible to rent out your brain for _only_ eight hours a day? Or does stuff inevitably spill over into the other 16?
tacostakohashi commented on Rethinking devtools: Escaping the Cloud and SaaS trap    · Posted by u/kiselitza
tacostakohashi · 24 days ago
There were (and still are) a lot of advantages to being able to develop software on your own machine, disconnected from a network. Chiefly, that the only one who could break the setup was you, and if you improved your setup by making your build faster, etc., you got to reap the benefits.
tacostakohashi commented on Ask HN: What are your eye fatigue symptoms? What has worked to heal your eyes?    · Posted by u/jMyles
codingdave · 24 days ago
This is the kind of question where asking for anecdotes on HN is inferior to just looking up the answers. Just one example: https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-eye-strain

Searching or asking AI will give you more answers, and they will all sound quite similar, because this is a known problem with known solutions.

tacostakohashi · 24 days ago
Or, if one does want to just ask about it instead of looking up the answers, ask an ophthalmologist with access to diagnostic equipment, professional standards, etc.
tacostakohashi commented on Why doctors hate their computers (2018)   newyorker.com/magazine/20... · Posted by u/mitchbob
golem14 · a month ago
I wish schools would stick to paper and pencil homework. Getting kids to stay on task using a computer is neigh impossible.
tacostakohashi · a month ago
I bet it would be fine if they stuck to Windows 3.1 and MS Word 6, or DOS + Wordperfect 5.1 (with no network connectivity) which was approximately what I used for my homework.

The problem isn't "computers", its the internet, and ads, and the fact that all "modern" stuff is just a thin wrapper around that.

tacostakohashi commented on Ask HN: Want to leave my job with nothing lined up    · Posted by u/bsjak
tacostakohashi · a month ago
A boring as it sounds, your friends and colleagues are right, the conventional advice of not quitting without an offer is correct.

That is the advice can result in unemployment benefits, severance, being a more appealing candidate, and not ending up with a resume gap / weird transition to explain for the rest of your career, as well as obvious benefits like additional/ongoing income.

I suggest doing your best to tackle and overcome issues with being burned out and mental energy while you are still employed. Some of these issues will be down to your job, but a lot of it is also down to you, how you deal with things, setting boundaries, etc, so its a good opportunity to learn skills that will be useful in future workplaces too. I can assure you, this is not the only "very toxic environment" you will encounter.

tacostakohashi commented on Ask HN: Want to leave my job with nothing lined up    · Posted by u/bsjak
add-sub-mul-div · a month ago
After a 25 year software dev career I quit my toxic job 18 months ago and haven't worked since. I haven't even tried looking for a job. I've become too disgusted with and mismatched with the industry.

My savings won't take me to social security age but I'm damn tempted to live only another ten years on my own terms rather than work for 20 more and live for 15 more after that in failing health.

tacostakohashi · a month ago
I am yet to quit / still grinding it out, but this is kind of me, the industry is not really what I signed up for, or even really recognizable. I have no interest in 90% of the jobs out there, and all the AI, agile, etc. nonsense. Very possible that this is my last job in this area, for better or worse.

u/tacostakohashi

KarmaCake day2560November 22, 2014View Original