What Professional Software Engineers ACTUALLY Do

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"as a software engineer, for your most of your life, you're going to be inside, sitting at a computer " me: thats the exact reason why i want to become a software engineer.

"We weren't made to be sitting at a deck" Me after 12 hours of gaming: "What?"

I worked 15 years slaving in a hot factory lifting heavy equipment nonstop all day, finally made the transition to software development and don't mind sitting inside a cool environment in front of a computer all day, don't mind at all.

Something I struggled with initially as a developer was separating out negative comments/feedback about my program from being negative comments about me. I was proud of my solutions, so when someone pokes holes in that beautiful vision and makes me realize how wrong it is, that's hard to face. What helps is to realize that you and the tester working with you are trying to make the best possible product. The end result is a team effort, so get over that insecurity and use it as an opportunity to learn and get better as a programmer.

I work for a major software company as a Software Engineer, and I can tell you the feeling of going to stand up without much progress is one of the worst feelings. When it happens I feel so incompetent and worry if my team thinks I'm unprofessional or not qualified enough for the job. It really does have an impact on my self esteem. People don't talk about it, but the industry can be really detrimental to one's mental health. Being inside all day looking at a computer, trying to solve problems under deadlines that might not be realistic, and constantly having to come up with new ideas every day is taxing. I feel like my brain is mush by the end of the day and I can't even think straight because problems from work are still in my head, and I keep trying to solve them. Maybe I'm not cut out for this industry, I know people who have no issue keeping up, but many of them take PTO and extended breaks to offset the burn out. Coding is fun, working for a software company might not 🤣 but it depends on the company and people you work with. Good luck to everyone on this path, I hope you find a job you enjoy and don't feel like I do. 😁👌

I'm a retired software developer. I started in the mid '80's, and worked steadily until retirement. What you describe is accurate. And for me, the most important part you covered was the frustration. I tell people that if you cannot handle the feeling of being an idiot, you aren't going to make it. If you are given a problem no one in the company has solved yet, until you actually solve it, you are going to feel like an idiot. And let's say you DO solve the problem? It's a great feeling. A triumphant feeling that makes up for the rest. But then, what's the reward for solving a hard problem? They give you another hard problem. So you get 5 minutes of feeling like a genius, and then you are back to not knowing how to solve the problem. If I managed to get something done on a Friday, I tended to pace myself so I could leave for the weekend (if I was able to take the weekend off) with that triumphant feeling. And then Sunday rolls around, and I start thinking about what I'm going to have to hit the ground running with on Monday. Of course, all those plans would be destroyed after two hours at work on Monday, as something else will come up that required my attention. There's always something else that requires your attention. You can get a million things done in a day, but if none of them were the things you planned on doing, you are going to feel like you didn't actually get anything done. I loved my job. I loved the challenges, the continual learning, and especially hanging out with very smart people. But there are certain parts of it that I am very glad to be done with.

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I suffer heavily from imposter syndrome despite being a software developer for over 20 years. I would say the most difficult part is trying to stay ahead of developments with architecture and programming languages. I always feel that there is so much that I don't know and this just feeds into me feeling like an imposter.

In short, it's just like 90% of jobs, there are good days and bad days, like in life.

Having worked as a Software-Developer for 10 years and being a Scrum Master for 4 years now, i get what you mean by "pressure" and "bad feelings" during the standup. Especially when i have tried to solve a bug for more than two or three days. Buts thats exactly the point with standup meerings. They are by no means for reporting to your boss, rather to adress your problems and get help from your colleagues. If you are able to shut down your ego, you can ask for help and then fix things together. Thats much more fun than being anxious about the next daily standup and having nothing to show.

So true about the meetings. One time you feel like a hero, other times you feel like an absolute failure. I'm still learning how to best deal with the imposter syndrome. There's always someone who's light years ahead of you and it does things to your self-confidence.

Here's my opinions on being a software engineer (which I am). Pro: Flexible hours, no fixed location, great being able to problem solve, writing code can be beautiful, great pay. Con: Flexibility implies ups and downs - hours can be so long. Spending a week trying to fix something someone with fresh eyes just answered in two lines of code. Changing requirements 20 minutes before go-live. Nothing comes for free - big salaries expect big results. Also, so many exams and technologies to keep up with. All that said I find it to be a challenging and rewarding role that keeps you humble and allows you to learn on the job. Plus, fixing something you've been struggling with for a few days? No feeling like it.

From about 15 years of age I wanted to be a software developer. And now that I am one, my heart is breaking because in every moment I spend coding stuff that I just don't care about, I feel my passion evaporating. I don't even remember when I last coded anything for fun. It's not fun anymore, it became work.

Gosh couldnt have described it better..that feeling when you are stressed and cant figure shit out and that makes you more stressed and there you are stuck in a cycle

As a new professional dev, this was great. I definitely didn’t realized how rude some employers can be about code whilst also knowing nothing about how difficult it is.

The feeling of having your body fully rested since you technically didn't move a muscule the whole day, but your head is practically dead so simple things like making a salad seem like rocket science.

I sharing this video with my PM and other managers in my company. It lays out very well aspects they dont seem to understand sometimes

One important point is what it is like to "settle in" and become more knowledgeable on the the codebase you are working on. Rarely, does anybody with less than 12 months on a single codebase truly understand what is happening with it.

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