A software life

Imagine you are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. In each chamber, you discover clues that help you to piece together the secret code of that chamber, allowing you pass from it to the next chamber.

In this way, you progress through a large complex, one chamber at a time, having revelations and setbacks along the way.

But this never ends! There are small triumphs and defeats, but ultimately, you just keep navigating this or that set of passages forever. Frequently, you have to repeat almost exactly what you’ve done before, with minor but critical differences.

Such is a career in software engineering. It goes a little something like this:

Hazard Pay

A lot of movies and TV shows emphasize how difficult life is for the families and loved ones of police. Commissioner Gordon’s family in Batman: The Dark Knight Whatever is tormented by one of Batman’s villains. Tom Selleck is even in some show about a whole family of cops. (I think that’s what it’s about. I’ve only seen the commercials.) Everyone knows the emotional drama of having a loved one who’s always in harm’s way.

But I think it’s time we also recognized the hardships faced by the families of software engineers. They have to live with the uncertainty of never knowing when (or if!) their loved ones are coming home. Every day, they face the torment of knowing their loved ones confront spammers, scammers, hackers and product managers. And, of course, there’s constant anxiety about the ever-present dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.

But on top of all this, families of software developers must deal with a much greater challenge than any faced by police families. When their loved ones do come home, they have to live with them!