Boys should not choose to be coders casually

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When I express this view, I may be opposed by many engineers, which is normal. However, I just want to talk about this matter based on my work experience and the stories of some colleagues I know.

【1】There are many options for learning computer science

I majored in computer science in college. Thanks to the kindness of several teachers, I was one of the best students in the class. Under the guidance of my teachers, I participated in some competitions and won some awards. In the eyes of my classmates, I was a leader in my major.

When I was in school, I didn't think about what career I would choose after graduation, what kind of work I would do, and I didn't have any concept of career planning. What makes me embarrassed to say now is that I rarely pay attention to industry trends, such as the Internet. As the ancients said, one should only read the books of sages and not listen to the outside world. I am a practitioner of ***. The reason is actually very simple. Subconsciously, we think that we will do software development after graduation, and often when we finish writing a program that we think is very ***, we imagine that we will be as successful as Bill Gates in the future and have a bright future.

I later discovered that most students who are good at computer science have this kind of thinking. They have to choose development, thinking that it is a job with technical content, otherwise they will not let down their major. In fact, is it really like this? After graduation, we found that the application of computers is everywhere. We have many choices. It is not a problem if we don’t learn the major very well. If we learn well, we will have more advantages. We can do operations, SEO, products, grow into product managers in the future, do software licensing sales, and do software engineering projects. It is not necessary to be a code farmer. Maybe you now understand that code farmers are the first-level physical work for most people. As far as I know, many development engineers do not have too deep technology. Many underlying technologies have been packaged by excellent companies and engineers. We just use them. Engineers who can use them well and flexibly are all great. It is not an exaggeration to say that those engineers who do not have design patterns and software design ideas do almost the same as physical work.

[2] Coders have many bottlenecks

1. Poor career continuity

After graduation, I worked in the company's R&D center. I did development, led a small team to make products, and worked with classmates to make products. I found that each company's technical solutions are different. The main reason is that there are many options for technical solutions. The choice of technical solution is related to the company's historical background, and the technical director has the final say.

Engineers who do development are not proficient in every language. It is normal to write Java in the last company and use C++ in this company. Because you can't decide, you can only bite the bullet and start to familiarize yourself with C++. I admit that after you master a language, it won't be too difficult to learn other languages. It's just that this won't be too difficult. It may just be a copycat. We can write something with reference to other people's code. Each language has its own unique features. It is not so easy to master these and use them flexibly. For example, as object-oriented languages, Java has single inheritance and C++ has multiple inheritance. There will be many different things in the application of top-level design and design patterns. These can only be understood by mastering a language.

When you arrive at a new company, you may face the risk of starting over, and your previous accumulation cannot be deepened, which is a manifestation of poor career continuity. Before you become a leader, it is others who choose us, not us who choose others.

Another situation is that the technology being developed is updated very quickly, or even completely new. For example, iOS development was born with Apple. You may be a good engineer in the field of iOS development, but Android is also very powerful. With the decline of Apple, iOS is a closed system and faces the risk of falling into decline soon. You may have to switch to being a developer in other fields and learn and accumulate knowledge from scratch. Symbian is a perfect example in this regard.

For example, one of my previous colleagues was a front-end programmer with good skills and a considerable income, but he resigned. He said that he didn't want to do technology anymore. Not having time to spend with his family was one thing, but it was mainly because it was a job for the young. If I were to go to other companies now, the skills I had would be outdated and hard to find. It would take time to learn new skills again, and I would have no experience, and it would also be hard to find a job with such a high salary.

If you study accounting and then work in finance, with five years of experience, no matter what company you go to, the continuity of this experience is very good and you don't have to start from scratch. Your income and position will also get higher and higher. It can be said that the older you get, the more popular you will be.

2. Don’t understand products or operations

Maybe you disagree with this statement right away, and give me many examples to prove it. Ma Huateng is in technology, and QQ was created. Li Yanhong is in technology, and China has its own search engine. Lao Zhou and Lei Jun are both from a technical background. In fact, these are similar to our thoughts when we were in college, imagining that we might become the next Bill Gates. These great dreams are not wrong, but we are too naive. Ma Huateng was already a company manager when he started QQ, and he has earned more than 500,000 yuan. Li Yanhong is an expert with search engine patents. Lao Zhou had already started several companies before he started 360, but he just didn't succeed. Lei Jun is even more so. He has been in Kingsoft for more than ten years and is an Internet veteran. Steve Jobs' Apple also took ten years to sharpen his sword. He dared to say: "I will tell the user what he needs." It can be seen that they are all product masters and operation masters. If you can do this in technology, it's also possible. But in reality, I have come into contact with too many programmers, some who work in game industry, some who work for NetEase, and some who are technical experts with ten years of experience in Tencent, but they can only stay at the level of writing code. How many programmers can reach this level? It is not easy to be like Na Yunfeng, the technical expert of NetEase.

We have to be proficient in products and familiar with operations when we are doing technology. At this time, you are more like a product manager. If you can't make a certain breakthrough in technology and reach the supervisor level, you should switch to product or operation as soon as possible, because before this level, you can only be a coder and can't touch the product. There are too many things in operation.

3. Lack of communication with others

Being a programmer means sitting in front of a computer all day long, using computer language. You communicate with the computer all day long, but rarely with people. This is the reality that programmers have to face. They also have to work overtime frequently. If there is a bug in the program, they may be called up in the middle of the night.

Xiaogang is a former colleague of mine, and he is about to enter his 40s. He is still a programmer, writing code and fixing bugs endlessly. He often works overtime until 9 o'clock in the evening. Sometimes when he encounters a problem, his wife calls him and he gets angry, but he just tries to hold it in at the company. I found that he has a very bad temper and is weird. It is difficult to communicate with colleagues, and he is very sensitive. Sometimes he suddenly makes a very radical statement in the company group, and no one dares to answer. Once, the planner asked to change a small function, and he started to scold as soon as he opened his mouth: "Your planners are not professional at all, and the case is as bad as shit. The changes here are very big and cannot be changed." As a result, the manager came to communicate and reluctantly agreed to change. In fact, it took him less than ten minutes to change it.

I have come into contact with many programmers. Most of them are not good at speaking and have a small social circle. Because they are all programmers, they have nothing else to do except showing off their skills. On weekends, they are either still in the company or at home, still facing the computer, and continue this kind of life on Monday.

【3】Only if you really love development can you become a programmer

It is a blessing to do what you love, and I believe that as long as you persist, you will achieve something. Recently, I have come into contact with some friends who have just changed their careers to become programmers. They originally studied accounting. I asked them why the gap was so big. They said that the salary for developers is high, and many people envy them. I also felt proud when I just graduated. In fact, later I thought that the salary was better at the beginning. After one or two years, it was seven or eight thousand, while others still made four or five thousand. But these are counted as the time you work overtime, and your salary may not be as high as others. In addition, salary cannot measure a person's whole. Those who do product, operation, and sales can access more market information, accumulate broad connections, and exercise social skills. These are intangible wealth, not a difference of one or two thousand yuan. So if you don't love programming, don't choose to do this kind of work casually, and spend 10,000 or 20,000 yuan on training fees. After you are 35, you will be very passive. It is difficult to change careers, and you are not capable enough to start a business. Even if others want to partner with you, you may not have enough technical ability, let alone product and operation.

Don't just choose to be a programmer unless you really love it.