*sigh*

Everyone wants to think that THEY have the hardest job in the world.

Get over yourselves.

^^^+1

was beaten to it. Well said. So many whiney little princesses. Software is a great profession!

There is only choice, no sacrifices. Sacrifices imply that you give up something you own. Giving up social when you don't have one to begin with is not a sacrifice. You can't sacrifice things you don't own.

Being a programmer does not have to sacrifice anything. It's no different than any other types of professions. A lot of programmers don't have social life not because they 'sacrifice' it, because that's their personality type. They don't seek social life, just as much as you don't seek social life and have not had friends for 13 years. That's your choice determined by your personality, not your professions.

And sometimes, I will accidentally add a semi-colon after every sentence;

Ever have nightmares in code? I had memory leak nightmares......

But to be on topic, there's no sacrifices here that you wouldn't find in any other job. At least I don't think there is anything....

Yes I have actually! More than often my brain refuses to rest during sleep - it will ruthlessly calculate nonsensical equations and execute imaginary segments of meaningless code. Results are headaches and feeling under slept.

Well, at least I'm not the only one there....sometimes my own brain has memory leaks these days....

And sometimes, I will accidentally add a semi-colon after every sentence;

Ever have nightmares in code? I had memory leak nightmares......

But to be on topic, there's no sacrifices here that you wouldn't find in any other job. At least I don't think there is anything....

Yes I have actually! More than often my brain refuses to rest during sleep - it will ruthlessly calculate nonsensical equations and execute imaginary segments of meaningless code. Results are headaches and feeling under slept.

Well, at least I'm not the only one there....sometimes my own brain has memory leaks these days....

I had a dream recently where I was a localization string table parser. I hit a string in the table that was formatted incorrectly and started having (in my dream) seizures. I guess that's what hitting an assert feels like.

I thought the first two obvious ones were time with family and friends, but I'm being told by a guy that I'm completely wrong and that there is no sacrifices for being a programmer.

It is not the industry that makes you perform ritual sacrifices, it is the company.

I work in Japan, a country known for 16-hour days in the IT field. And in many cases it is not a matter of personal choice, but the simple fact that everyone else in the company is doing it means you have to do it too (even if feigning it simply not to disrespect the others who are).

Yet still I am working only 8 hours per day plus 1 hour of lunch and holding 2 other jobs on top of it just because I want to (because being an author and being an actor were dreams I had in addition to being a game programmer). In fact, even with 2 extra jobs on top of programming full-time I would have time for family and friends if only I had any. I fill that time with training for Mars One and research (and answering questions on this site).


Even in Japan I found a company of “normal” hourly regulations that gives me more than enough time to spend with family and friends if I had any. Dating? No problem! I am free daily after 3:00 PM when I get off my regular job. Weekends random thanks to acting, but if I want I can reject acting jobs and go on a date instead.



The industry is not what determines your hours and your life. The company you choose does. And the range of options is more vast than in any other profession. In no other profession do I have the option to go to work at 7:00 AM and go home at 3:00 PM, or by my own decision to go to work at 11:00 AM and home at 7:00 PM. No other profession allows this much personal freedom in one’s schedule. And this is in Japan.



My advice: You get what you deserve. I got this kind of schedule because I don’t have the mentality not to have it. When I didn’t have it, I quit and joined another company. It is not about what they want; it only matters what you want. I don’t live to work, I work to live, and I have more dreams to fulfill than just working at the same company for 10 years doing the same job over and over.
If you can’t find the time to do the other things you want to do, such as keeping in touch with friends and family in your case, time to find a new job. But it doesn’t need to be outside of programming; plenty of jobs in the industry give you plenty of time for that and 2 other jobs as well.


L. Spiro

So the ultimate point of this thread is that the OP is trying to compare his very special situation to others' very general situation, then he's drawing his (already made beforehand) conclusion then he's walking away.

okay...

So the ultimate point of this thread is that the OP is trying to compare his very special situation to others' very general situation, then he's drawing his (already made beforehand) conclusion then he's walking away.

I only made the thread because the guy that told me I was wrong at the start of his post and proved the opposite by the end. He claimed he hadn't sacrificed his social life or family for his programming, but then went on about how he worked an 8 hour job, came straight home and did job searches and resumes for an hour, then studied for his masters, then went to programming and did it every day (which according to my math means he has no time for social or family...unless he means he has no friends or family to sacrifice..which then makes him right in some manner). So I wanted to ask to get feedback from others in the field. Also, I didn't come to the conclusion based off my experiences as I've not had to sacrifice anything for programming (mainly because I had sacrificed it because I love my wife and didn't need negative views of her or me for me marrying her), I came to it based off all the game dev videos Sony used to put out on game development for the Playstation Underground CDs during the 90s where most of the interviews had a line about it requiring tons of time and personal sacrifices. I also came to it based off the people I've met online who complain about their programming jobs and work environments (sadly they out number the amount I've met who love it and don't feel they sacrificed anything). Also based on the infamous letter from the wife of the EA employee detailing all the negatives of that company. As for walking away, yeah, I walked away from a company job in the industry as I refuse to give up time with my wife and son, but that doesn't mean I walked away from starting my own dev team to make games.

L. Spiro, thank you for your input. It definitely gives pause for some thought. On a personal note, I used to imagine learning Japanese and working for a company like Square Enix or Capcom and port Japanese games to the US, but couldn't find a way to learn it and too many people told me it was a waste of time.

but couldn't find a way to learn it and too many people told me it was a waste of time.

Their is no waste of time, only gained knowledge.

but couldn't find a way to learn it and too many people told me it was a waste of time.

Their is no waste of time, only gained knowledge.

Only if you're immortal. For the rest of us, something is a waste of time if you could have accomplished more by doing something else with the time allotted to you.

but couldn't find a way to learn it and too many people told me it was a waste of time.

Their is no waste of time, only gained knowledge.

Only if you're immortal. For the rest of us, something is a waste of time if you could have accomplished more by doing something else with the time allotted to you.

I suppose you do gain knowledge even from time wastage, that knowledge might be as basic as this was a waste of time or don't do this again. It might not be some gleaming pearl, but it is something. It might be worthless for the amount of time wasted on it, however.....