Is there any joy left in this industry?

[jack-rp9/bkPP+cDYtjvyW6yDsg at public.gmane.org (Jack Coats)]

as a grey hair that has experienced both the joys of programming as a
profession,
and hobbiest, and one that enjoys it as an artform as well, I have
seen the joy leaving
for many people for a long time.

Software was one of the easiest things to 'outsource' before the term
'outsource' was cool.
At the term it was the 'build vs buy' decision.? But that was back
when software was not a
commodity found on the shelf at Wal-Mart, and there was still the
'priesthood of programmers'.

But times have changed.? For me, there IS JOY in software still.? I
love using and sharing
how to use software (open source please, but I still can be bought to
do Winders for $$).
I would like to write again, but re-training after years away is
intimidating at best.

Spending long hours going over core dumps (back when it was core and
not 'solid state memory')
did let me get into the zen of programming.

Today, the API's that are to make life easy just further obfuscate the
solutions and the problems.
So for the joy, I am moving to smaller computers (PIC, Arduino, 8051
and derivatives), learning
their in's and out's again (my first home computer was an Altair 8800
with 256 bytes of memory
and a front panel with switches).? There are still 'billions served'
each year of small processors,
more like McDonald's frys than burgers.? And every time people declare
them dead, they are
put in more and more things (how about the kids shoes with the LED's?
... yep, processors in there too)

Oh, I still long for the days of dong ALC or Fortran on IBM 360's, but
C and assembler isn't bad,
and even for the micro's the 'development environments' are getting
more complicated.? So I go
back to the KISS method.

I don't expect anyone to follow me into the 'long night', and if
someone tells me they wanted
to go into software development these days, I advise against it.? I
suggest go into the 'problem area'
and use 'software as a screwdriver' to build the solution.? The market
for pure computer programmers
or computer scientists is getting smaller.? But the market for people
that can solve problems, especially
those the problems that people that have money and want their 'problem
to go away' is there and growing.

We have a whole micro-industry of 'telephone application builders'
(i-phone developers, et al) that are
solving problems.? Some of the problems don't need to be solved (who
needs ANOTHER pacman
emulator, or 'fart measurement' program?), but those that find real or
perceived problems they they can
help solve for others (where is the nearest bath room?? How many
calories in this burger vs those tofu dogs?)

There are still big problems to solve, but most big problems need good
developers, funding, and facilities
to work on them.? Places like DARPA, Labs like IBM, Bell, Fermi,
Sandia, and other industrial and governmental labs)
still have a need for software development.? But lots of that is NOT
being done by computer geeks, but by
engineers and technicians that are really amateur software geeks, but
understand their problem intimately.
Over the years I have had the fortune to work with some and turn their
'almost working' code into solid,
maintainable, and modifiable code, that was usually much smaller and
ran faster.

That did provide a thrill for me.? But much of the code I have seen
basically got used as part of the
specifications (like a black box) that defined the inputs, outputs,
and a process to get between them,
while allowing me the option to reuse, rewrite, or even re-design what
was in the 'black box' so it would
be 'production worthy'.

Enough rambling, ... So like the story that goes 'Yes, Virginia, there
is a Santa Claus', yes, there is joy
left in this industry, it just isn't where it was for the last generation.

Now, your assignment is: Go find where the joy is for you.

><> ... Jack
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart... Colossians 3:23

PS.  If you have found 'the joy', let us know here! ... My son has
found it in building and manufacturing a new
version of a coffee maker. http://luminairecoffee.com/