| The first time I dabbled in programming was making modifications to QBASIC files in DOS. I wanted multiple lives in Nibbles, and I wanted to make nuclear bananas in Gorilla. I continued programming as a hobby, usually as part of some other project: making video games, websites, tools, or visualizations for school. Sometimes for pranks. I ended up working as a developer for about 12 years, mostly in Javascript and Python, but also Ruby, Lua, and Java for a couple years. During that time, I was also learning design, and I've since switched to doing that. I take the weird position that design is not all that different from engineering, it's just working on another part of the process. What I like about programming and design is that they're about problem solving, and you are given a set of requirements and goals, and your job is to find a best-fit solution. What I don't like about programming (the kind of programming I was doing) is negotiating a rat's nest of dependencies: these 15 poorly documented libraries, this hip new framework, and this methodology we're using now because someone wrote a persuasive Medium article. The constant churn of fashion-based engineering got to be a drag. I still like programming, I just don't do it for money these days! I've never taken a CS or SE class: my degrees are in English and Library Science! My knowledge has been cobbled together on an as-needed basis. So, there are major holes in what I know, and I sometimes feel like a guy who knows a few tricks and uses them for everything. If I'd known what my career would be, I probably would have studied those subjects instead. On the other hand, the best programmers I've ever met did not even go to college, they were self-taught. So, it's clear that you don't need a degree if you are motivated to learn. |