[JimtheCoder]

Go find the HN equivalent of physics or "real" engineering and listen to people complain about their work? /s

Or just use your current skillset to work together with others on side projects or simulations related to those areas?

Eg. I am a programmer, but I love fighter jets, missiles, guided bombs and such. I will never get a job in those fields, can't pursue war and destruction as a hobby, so I do things like learn how missile/bomb guidance systems work - laser, GPS, radiation, heat seeking, etc and try to build mini, super low fidelity versions of those systems in my spare time. Think off the shelf microcontrollers and components on model rockets and projectiles dropped from consumer drones...

This has sort of scratched my itch for these things...see if you can find something similar that works for you?

[infamousclyde]

Funnily enough, I am a Combat Systems Engineering Officer in the military, but I daydream about becoming a full-time SWE once my obligatory service commitments are complete. Maybe we should job-swap when nobody's looking.

[frankbreetz]

The F-35 in famously has 8 million lines of codes[0]. The DoD employes 1000s of SWEs directly and as contractors.

A ton of software goes into "fighter jets, missles, guided bombs, and such".

Why don't you get one of those jobs?

[0]https://m-cacm.acm.org/news/250302-f-35s-buggy-software-prom...

[CoastalCoder]

Doing software engineering within the DoD bureaucracy and security posture can be deeply frustrating.

For an ambitious software developer to thrive there, I think they need a deep commitment to the purpose, or lack exposure to how quickly things can move in more nimble shops.

Not saying it's a bad career, but some people are better suited to it than others.

[lazyasciiart]

They said they "can't pursue war and destruction as a hobby".

[lambdatronics]

>HN equivalent of physics or "real" engineering

Where's that? :D

[abhayhegde]

Curious enough to know what's the HN equivalent of Physics? Maybe r/Physics?