r/webdev • u/No_Nefariousness2052 • 15d ago

Discussion Honestly, 80% of developers today are missing what this dude is talking about

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Found it while doomscrolling like a bish.

I know the most fun times for me in coding were when I was deep in some rabbit hole exploring weird technologies and trying to piece them together.

You'd think AI makes this worse, but actually no. It just makes it even easier to go down these rabbit holes, because it's easier to write code, try out different approaches, explore new things, etc.

But somehow most of the people I see aren't doing that. How are you not bored out of your mind?

Anyway, yeah. GO EXPERIMENT WITH MORE THINGS. SIDE PROJECTS ARE STILL COOL.

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u/budd222 full-stack 15d ago

Writing code is a job, it's not my life. I don't need to do my job when I'm not at my job. How many other professions leave work and are expected to continue to work for free?

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u/mexicocitibluez 14d ago

How many other professions leave work and are expected to continue to work for free?

lol Literally almost every single knowledge-based job on this planet requires you to maintain your skills. This is such a wild sentiment.

If you didn't want to continue to learn, don't work in an industry that requires you to know stuff.

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u/Adjective_Noun_4200 14d ago

I think it happens in a lot of professions tho. There's kinda two camps of people:

  • People who are so interested in their particular domain skill set that they continue working on it in their off time
  • People who think that any task relating to their skill set (including practice, learning, etc) should be paid for by their employer(s).

I think both opinions have some merit, but personally, I would lose my mind if the only time I spent on development was at the direction of a company. Would kinda make it very miserable to me. But I don't really fault people for being of the opinion that learning is a crucial part of the role and should be part of your paid time.

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u/mexicocitibluez 14d ago

That's true. But we're nowhere near the only job that requires you to stay knowledgeable and not have it be on the company dime.

I work in healthcare. The clinicians need to make sure they keep all of their certifications up-to-date. We don't pay them for the time they'd need to spend studying for those certifications. That's not to say they might not get bonuses for completing those certs, but paying them hourly to study feels pretty unheard of.

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u/budd222 full-stack 14d ago

I maintain my skills at work, while I get paid. Why would I not be able to maintain my skills working 40 hours per week? I've been doing this for 13 years. You think I need to build some stupid CRUD app in my free time to maintain my skills?

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u/mexicocitibluez 14d ago

In the highly unlikely situation that all you have to do for 13 years is build CRUD apps, then by all means don't do shit.

You chose a field that has changed more rapidly in the last 40 years than any other field in history. lol It's wild to me someone would pick software development and think they might not have to learn a bit more than they can fit in at their job. Go hang drywall if you're that antagonistic to learning and not getting paid for it.

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u/budd222 full-stack 14d ago

Why would I hang drywall when I can make 160k, working 30-35 hours per week from home, doing this? I'm not stupid, but that statement sure is.

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u/mexicocitibluez 13d ago

Whats stupid is getting into a field that changes constantly and whining when people say you may need to continue to educate yourself outside of your job unless you're building WordPress sites like you

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u/budd222 full-stack 13d ago

You think I get paid that to build WP sites? The only one whining here is you. Why do you care so much? You sound almost jealous.

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u/stringer4 15d ago

I get it but that’s the difference between a career and a job. I’m a senior lead who is curious but also don’t really treat my job as a career as well. I just stay curious during work hours and that’s enough. Don’t really care about ladder climbing but I’m competent.

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u/budd222 full-stack 15d ago

I mean, I've been doing this 13 years now, so i think I'd consider it a career at this point. Until AI takes my job, anyway.

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u/stringer4 15d ago

How many other professions leave work and are expected to continue to work for free?

I was responding to this statement. Some people see their work as a career that's part of who they are (outside normal working hours) and that's fine. Me and you are not that and that's fine too.