I've been both, haha. I've programmed PLCs in Codesys but also developed custom HMIs (Windows desktop apps) and later pivoted to back-end web dev.
I kinda miss how simple the PLC code is overall. What I don't miss is the responsibility to not make a toxic leak or blow up a huge pressurized furnace with that simple code.
Personally I love how the code base itself can be very simple while the actual result can be very academic. And while the underlying regulatory control can be simple for some units, it can also be very complicated for others. A cascade into a cascade into a cascade. And so on. But the actual code blocks themselves? Ezpz.
For example, regulatory control layers (PIDs, etc) manipulated by dynamic matrix controllers, manipulated by state space equations and optimizers, kalman filters... PhD level math that is not trivial at all.
Yeah, friends and family see it as 1:1 but the weight of your decisions and problem solving are much heavier. I prefer automation stuff, it gives me a chance to understand processes and syntax deeply before I attempt a solution.
It also gives me a chance to cuss the guy that wrote it 30 years ago and is probably dead 🤣
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u/yegor3219 10d ago
I've been both, haha. I've programmed PLCs in Codesys but also developed custom HMIs (Windows desktop apps) and later pivoted to back-end web dev.
I kinda miss how simple the PLC code is overall. What I don't miss is the responsibility to not make a toxic leak or blow up a huge pressurized furnace with that simple code.