how many ex programmers are on ET

[prt_systems]

Quote from wincorp:

I've been coding for 25 years and still love it. Just starting to get into trading.

Since my firm has been working with Open Source I can say I like things .... working with $soft technology is something I dont like but I am expert at and if necessary will also execute on .... I also started a trading firm and that is doing well.

IT/Software business is still very viable and lucrative IF you are working in a few, small, cutting edge niches. The business has largley evolved into an outsourcing model with a vast majority of work going overseas.

If you are not working on things that are not yet in the marketplace in any form then you are ultimately waiting to be fired/outsourced. This is a much different situation that even before the Dot Com bust. Most software and even outsourcing deals/markets are now saturated with companies competing on price - much like walmart. Except for a few key unfilled niches its an average return industry .....

 

[biggerfish]

Quote from lescor:

What about a trader who wants to be a programmer?
I'm trying to learn to code,
but alas
the only thing I know how to do is trade...

... but alas [$igh]...

 

[Nana Trader]

Learning programming as trader and not ex-programmer will
be very frustrating

 

[Equalizer]

Quote from fatrat:

snip snip ...

... corporate programmers.

Now there's a highly contradictory juxtaposition of words !

 

[NYSEProTrader]

Quote from lescor:
What about a trader who wants to be a programmer?
I'm trying to learn to code,
but alas
the only thing I know how to do is trade...

Quote from biggerfish:
... but alas [$igh]...

Quote from Nana Trader:
Learning programming as trader and not ex-programmer
will be very frustrating

Yes, but most of us read lescor's lament as having a wink in there somewhere...

In fact, since Biggerfish color-coded you a hint...,
he didn't see a need to specify the wink, we think.

 

[intertrader888]

Quote from fatrat:

Yeah, pretty much.

I was a bright-eyed guy who loved to code. I was a machine, cranking out 6-7 thousand lines of code a day, 16 hours a day. It's all I cared about.

Then, I lost it all when I worked at Intel. First things first -- Intel is not a bad place to work. But, there was one incident that changed my mind about software writing forever --

There was some guy there who gave some asstastic job. They basically lied to me about the job description, and I got some really crappy job. I asked him if I could maybe change it up a little and do something related to what I originally wanted to go there for in the first place. That asshole wrote me up and threatened to fire me unless I did what they asked. So I did what they asked, though I did it pretty sloppily and slowly.

I stopped doing work altogether, except for the bare minimum. I used to do less and less work and just stopped caring. I showed up to work late and left work early. I figured I'd collect paychecks until I got fired. The thing was, ... even though I was working less, my employee review scores were going up. When I realized that I didn't have to do any work or had to do very little work to be seen favorably by management, I pretty much just stopped caring altogether.

Basically, the way to succeed in corporate America is like this:

- Smile a lot
- Never contradict anyone

You will shine in corporate America then. As soon as you open your mouth about anything, you're dead. Shutting your mouth is an extremely tall order for someone who gets obsessed with a project and spends 16 hours a day on it.

But, here's why tech is a joke:

- It's hard to find a company and a project you believe in
- If you do find a product you believe in, your input doesn't really matter as much as management's. This is really tough to swallow for an obsessive coder.

So, really, it all boils down to this: Writing software for other people is just not fun. Or, at least, I don't have the personality for it.

Some people are not born traders. Some people are not born corporate programmers.

Thanks for sharing. Fatrat.

I was very much like you. Hardcore engineer.

I have changed since I figured out
pretty much the same thing although
not as clear as you are.

I came to work just to collect paycheck since bu*t is all management do in big companies.

I am trying to learn to trade on the side and kiss managment ass.