Re: grown out of coding

On Jun 9, 1:16 pm, DennisB <DQBartl...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
here's the thing... I (like so many of you) have been doing this pick
thing for 25 years. I now find I'm really tired of coding - sure, I
like to tinker, but I really don't wake up enthralled to tap away at a
keyboard on something that's going to be superceded in a short while.

I see there is a significant thread here and I'm going to violate a
guideline and respond to your OP before reading the rest of the
thread.

FWIW, I just started a completely new software project and could have
selected Ruby on Rails, PHP, Java, C#, or any number of languages,
with a relational database or even with an MV database. I selected
MV, using mv basic (enhanced for OOP) etc, using Cache'. So, even if
a particular application might be replaced with a package or another
language, the tools themselves are not going away any time soon. New
flavors of Pick are even being added (Cache and OpenQM being two of
the more recent ones). There is still a ton of Fortran out there, by
the way, not to mention COBOL. It isn't easy to kill a language that
has been around for several decades..

So the question is: what does someone do as an alternative?

I'm going the other direction. I have been in "management" in one
form or another since the mid-80's and right now I'm trying to code
again (but way back when I seem to have been a whole lot smarter as it
isn't easy even to focus on coding like I once could)

I have knowledge of every computer system from the Microdata Reality
of then to the AIX / HPUX's of today, I have the ability to design,
and troubleshoot, and all that, and yet I don't find it in me to code
anymore...

I've been doing a lot of things over the past 20+ years, with some
coding, but a small percentage compared to other things. So, while I
attempt to code again, I can think of a bunch of other activities to
do.

I have another 20 years to retirement, and therefore I have to earn an
income...

I have a bunch of questions that pop to mind immediately. These would
be easier to ask interactively by phone or IM (my aim id is my email
addr dwolt at tincat dash group dot com) but some starters are:

1. Do you prefer to work with application software and end-end-users
or systems software or tools where your end-users are developers?
2. Do you prefer to support a company in an IT function or work on
aspects of developing software? In other words, corporate IT or
software company?
3. Do you prefer to do proactive work, including planning or design
or does it sound like a luxury to "just" be able to react as needed?
4. Does sales engineer, where you need to schmooze with customers and
prospects of a s/w company sound good to you, or does it sound
intimidating?
5. Does helpdesk work sound good or would you not want to have to be
tied to a phone too many hours?
6. Does consulting and travel sound good or would you like to be in
an office with other folks like you, or would you prefer to work
primarily from your home?
7. Left to yourself would you have a bunch of new ideas, does your
mind buzz with creative thoughts or are you an unlikely "inventor"?
8. Do you delight in working on the details of the human-computer
interface, tweaking software or web pages in ways that others might
not notice at all, but that will help the user experience, whether in
big or small ways, do you consider such work fluff, or somewhere in
between?
9. Do you like data analysis, such as online analytical processing,
maybe even statistical analysis of data?
10. Do you like to do the data modeling aspects of software
development, along with other design?
11. Do you like to study aspects of the history of computing or the
history of software in a particular vertical industry? You are right,
that doesn't pay actual dollars.
12. Do you like managing people and projects, assessing risk,
removing obstacles in the path of other developers?

These questions and more. There are tons of options. Best wishes. --
dawn

Really just a curious question...

dennis

.

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