After reading through a zillion number of posts/emails/updates/comments about whats its like to be a software engineer and all that one would otherwise have pursued, I wanted to really read through my own mind and a little bit of others' before I knew whats it actually like - to be a software engineer.
Every other post that I have read would start something like this, an Engineer in the US sitting at office gazing through the window and suddenly nature reminds him of all the life that he spent inking away the code snippets and all, possibly bad things, that they have caused to his/her life. All of them would want to start a business, do something very "innovative".
Believe me, in most cases where one can attain fame in a possibly quicker way! For instance, open a new restaurant, have a VIP doing the opening ceremony while you stand next to him and give a pose for a photograph and then having it published in one of the leading newspapers/dailies, probably talk about some different French cuisine that you are introducing as part of claiming innovation, and the city talks about it for a while and couple years down the line its all long forgotten. And then there are these people who want to direct a short film after they watch some reality show. Overnight they would start writing a script. And the next couple of days, they live in dreams!
For a moment, stopping here and thinking through it - I can only imagine 2 things for such an email from a software engr: 1. one of the many bad days someone is going through! 2. A confused someone who never actually knew what they need in life.
Now, Instead of being a software engineer, if I am asked to do something else, I'm pretty sure I would mess it up worse than what I do with my code everyday! Given all the trial and error that I do, to have a fork statement working in System verilog, I'm quite sure I'm better off with these trial and "errors" than to open a restaurant or a boutique and so on.. I at least stay a bit happy, if not for a bug in the tape out. i'm okay with the ones that I accidentally slip through, they would not cost me much than that extra amount of debug time.
Also that IMHO, when one actually wants to do something innovative and really think they are not able to put in their heart and mind into coding, I do not think we would still have hiring in IT and that whole lot of people out there fighting to crack a software company interview.
And how tough it is to agree to the statement that coding is less innovative! I have heard Singers saying there's no end to learning in Music, Doctors talking about handling a different case each day, teachers, bankers, even politicians talking all great things about their jobs and probably no one other than a software engineer complaining about their jobs. If only I would want to find someone who would know that every construct in C++, undoubtedly I would be left with no one other than Bell labs' Stroustrup! Agreed that the amount of any given language that we already know to do that everyday job is probably enough, but come to think of it why would a musician not just manage with the number of raagas/kritis they already know. Or anyone for that matter.
Bitter truth is - what a software engineer thinks innovative about doing a business has also been a very tough job for a lot of people, otherwise why would we hear about the fraud finance companies and the losses further. Innovation is not about they kind of work we do, its about the way of doing that same work that's done. Its an inside job!
So when someone goes whining around about the cons of IT, I can only be sure that they are unsure of what they are doing (whining around) or what they want to do (in the future). And given a chance, they will be the last to dust off the fact that they get to earn in dollars and travel across the globe in someone else's money! Its not about your work, its about your mind.
On that note, Hail software industry! :D
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