Choosing a career in computer science can be a transformative decision, offering a wide range of opportunities and benefits. Here are several compelling reasons why pursuing a career in computer science is an excellent choice:

1. High Demand for Computer Science Professionals

The demand for skilled computer scientists continues to grow across various industries. As technology advances and digital transformation becomes a necessity for businesses, the need for computer scientists in software development, data analysis, cybersecurity, and more is increasing. This demand translates to job security and numerous employment opportunities.

2. Diverse Career Paths

A degree in computer science opens doors to a variety of career paths. You can specialize in areas such as software engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, data science, web development, and many others. This diversity allows you to tailor your career to match your interests and strengths.

3. Attractive Salary Prospects

Careers in computer science are among the highest-paying fields. According to various industry reports, professionals in this domain often earn competitive salaries that increase significantly with experience and specialization. This financial incentive makes it an attractive career choice.

4. Opportunities for Innovation

Computer science is at the forefront of innovation. As a computer scientist, you have the chance to work on groundbreaking technologies that can change the world. Whether it’s developing software applications, creating algorithms for artificial intelligence, or designing systems for cybersecurity, you can contribute to solutions that impact society positively.

5. Flexibility and Remote Work Opportunities

Many roles in computer science offer flexibility, including remote work options. This flexibility allows for a better work-life balance and the opportunity to work from anywhere, which is increasingly valuable in today’s job market.

6. Contribution to Society

Computer scientists play a vital role in solving real-world problems. From healthcare to environmental issues, technology is integral to creating solutions. By pursuing a career in computer science, you can contribute to meaningful projects that have a positive impact on communities and the world.

7. Continuous Learning and Growth

The field of computer science is constantly evolving. This dynamic environment ensures that you will always have opportunities to learn new technologies, programming languages, and methodologies. Continuous learning keeps the work engaging and allows you to stay relevant in your career.

8. Global Opportunities

Computer science skills are in demand worldwide. A career in this field can provide opportunities to work internationally, collaborate with diverse teams, and experience different cultures. This global perspective can enrich your personal and professional life.

9. Supportive Community

The tech community is often collaborative and supportive. With numerous forums, conferences, and meetups, you can connect with like-minded individuals, share ideas, and collaborate on projects. This network can be invaluable for personal growth and career advancement.

In summary, a career in computer science offers a unique blend of stability, financial rewards, and the opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation. With diverse career paths, the ability to contribute to meaningful solutions, and the potential for continuous growth, choosing computer science can be a fulfilling and impactful decision. Whether you’re a problem-solver, an innovator, or a tech enthusiast, a career in computer science can provide the platform to thrive and make a difference.

Yes, absolutely. I would choose it to start over, even if I had to start over again, now post retirement age in a time when people think AI is going to steal all jobs and the market is crowded with people who got into computers because they thought it would be easy good money.

Being in computers is not easy. It was never actually easy. It took me 7 years to get my first job in computers. And, yes, there was a time when it seemed to get easier, but that was actually a myth. Even in the 1980s there were downturns in the computer industry and workers got shed, got laid off, got forced out of the industry. But, would I still choose it as a career? Definitely. It is what I love doing. It is what I do with my spare time. Who wouldn’t want a job where you are paid to do what you would do anyway?

Yes, I don’t have complete freedom to work on exactly what I want. But that is the nature of work. One definition of work is doing something someone else wants you to do. It is doing that even when it is hard. But if it is something that you generally find enjoyable to do. You can align those things.

And that’s why I am a software engineer. It is as close as I can find to doing what I want to do and still getting paid for it. If that isn’t you, that isn’t your image of what you want to do, then do something else.. It’s not the only job in the world. It isn’t even the best paying job, myths to the contrary not withstanding. But if it is what you enjoy, then it is a good choice. And if it isn’t, it is not a good choice.

I have a brother who worked as a forest fire tower watch person in one of the forests in Colorado. It was 50 miles to the nearest town and that was only one house and a gas station with a few items like a “convenience store” (not a complete supermarket). The post office was simply a box in that gas station. That was complete isolation from the world, living just in nature. That job was not for everyone. It certainly wasn’t for me (even though I am quite an introvert and could have dealt with the isolation). But for him and his dog it was perfectly fine. Different person, different choices, different job.

So, would I choose computers over again. No question. That doesn’t mean you should choose it. Not even close. Find the path that is right for you. It is your path. Not anyone else’s.

Your story reminds me of a younger version of me.

Almost 20 years ago, I completed my 2-year post-doc research work at UCLA and joined Rockwell Semiconductor Systems at Newport Beach as a process integration engineer. But I wanted to work on circuit design. It was not that I did not like process engineering, just that I liked circuit design better. I felt I was intuitively better in designing an opam than optimizing a silicon dioxide deposition recipe in the fab. So I talked to my manager, Richard Mann, and asked if I could transfer to the design division. He was helpful and suggested that it was easier for GOOD employees to make a transfer. So I worked pretty hard for two years with Rockwell, and the closest that I worked as a designer was on a CMOS imager project when I got a chance to design the read-out circuits.

Shortly before Rockwell split into 5 smaller companies, I resigned and moved to San Jose to join Fujitsu Microelectronics. I chose to join Fujitsu because of two people. One was the human resource head, Mary Parchert. The other was my manager, Tetsu Tanizawa. Mary was the best human resource people I have ever worked with. She was both professional and warm hearted. She remained in close contact with me during my interview arrangement and later during my moving and settling down. The funny thing is, I have never met Mary in person. All my communication with her were with emails and on the phone. But I was so impressed and thought to myself that I was joining a great team. And she resigned before I finally started with Fujitsu and she helped me settling down in San Jose on her own time.

Tetsu was assigned to the Bay area from Japan headquarter. He was uniquely smart and surprisingly diversified in Fujitsu internal design flow. He had more than 100 patents. Joining Tetsu’s team, I got a chance to get exposed to many facets of a typical ASIC design flow. Meanwhile, I registered for a Stanford remote class on Fujitsu campus, RF CMOS design, by Prof. Tom Lee, which enabled me to establish a pretty solid foundation for a more in depth focus on RF CMOS design shortly after.

I was lucky that by the end of 1990’s, RF CMOS design engineers were highly sought after. That was important since engineers even with technical background not exactly related could still have opportunities to work on significant project, which in turn built up capability and experience.

I guess I wrote too much about what had happened with my transition from a process engineer to a circuit designer. Thank you for bearing with me and I now would like to answer your question :).

With a good education background in engineering, it does not take long to pick up a different engineering skill, especially when they are related.

Life is short, spend it working on things you like the best.

Do it, the earlier the better.

Do it, no need to ask anyone.

If you don’t start to do it, you will never be able to tell if you should.

You can only find out if you should, if you can, once you started to do it.

You can always turn around and switch back were the transition not working out.

You have to invest into it first (time and effort) before you can find out if it is for you. Asking on Quora is not really a good/significant enough investment.

Only intention, no action, no decision, you will never know.

No invest, no return.

I am. It’s something I never imagined and it’s taken me fascinating places.

We started college in 1978, in the pre-PC world. I’d seen exactly one computer at that point: an IBM System/7 at a program for “gifted and talented” high schoolers. I played “lunar lander” on it.

I thought I wanted to be an electrical engineer. It took me about half a semester to realize that was a mistake. So I became a math major, because, well, that’s what I felt like I knew the most about. Then I started hanging out with my roommate. I had a sophomore as a roommate, and he was a CS major. I started watching him work on programming projects and talking with him about it and thinking, “Damn, this is cool.”

RPI didn’t have a CS department in those days; it was part of the math department. By the time I decided I really wanted a CS degree, it would have taken me an extra (expensive) semester to get it. And I couldn’t minor in CS because there was a rule that you couldn’t minor in the same department you majored in. So I ended up with a math degree, but I’d started programming as summer jobs and ended up working at IBM as a software developer after graduation.

In those summer jobs, I worked for a small company that made process control equipment for corrugated cardboard plants. It was really low-level stuff. Write code in assembler, burn it to EPROMs, and boot the machine. You want debugging? Write debugging routines in the code, but it’s all got to fit in the space available in the EPROM. And I got to spend a week in a cardboard plant and see how it was made and watch my code controlling a 60-yard-long piece of machinery.

Later I worked at IBM on a group that did special bid work. We did a joint study with Boeing that resulted in a few trips to Seattle where I got to see turbines for 737 engines being machined (under software control) from chunks of titanium. I also got to see, at a different customer, turbines for an M1 Abrams tank engine being machined.

Then I drifted into Unix-land and ended up working on (among other things) kernel development for AIX running native on S/390 mainframes.

But for the last 25 years I haven’t done any serious programming at all. I’ve gone to the dark side, in a sense; I’ve worked as a presales systems engineer for several companies including Sun, Veritas, Symantec, DellEMC, and now Pure Storage. And if anything, that’s been even more of a blast. I call what I do now being an “itinerant explainer” — I visit lots of customers and explain what my company does and how it can help them do what they do. I’ve been involved in things as interesting as the “311” non-emergency help line project for NYC as well as Y2K remediation there. It was fascinating talking to the people in planning there; they said only four agencies absolutely had to be functional on 1/1/2000: NYPD, NYFD, Sanitation, and the Human Resources Administration. Of those, the first three were pretty obvious and of them they said they weren’t really worried about Sanitation because all the drivers knew where to go to pick up the trash without computer assistance. HRA, though was a bit of a surprise until they told me that’s who sent out all the checks to city employees and the public assistance checks.

It’s been an amazing trip. I’ve been places and done things I never imagined I’d do when I was growing up in a paper mill town in western North Carolina in the 1960s. I’ve touched a lot of different sorts of technology. And I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.

Here you are, at the top of the game in your chosen field. And this achieved at a very young age. Congratulations!

Now you look around and see some other area which is growing faster than yours. That is to say, more people are hired in annually, probably either in absolute terms or percentage terms, in CS than in semiconductors.

So you are proposing to abandon the career area where you have achieved top status, to enter a field for which you have no education and no experience, and compete against guys ten years younger than you, for an entry level job which surely pays less than what you are earning now. How does that make any sense at all?

You may see salaries rising more rapidly in CS than in your field. Of course. That is characteristic of any area where demand outstrips supply. Right now floods of guys are getting trained in CS, and in just a few years there will be a glut of people with those skills — and watch what happens to salary levels then.

No, my friend. You have nothing special to offer in another field, and you would be getting a late start. Even if you go get another PhD, in CS, by the time you hit the market you would find it already saturated; and you would be seen as an old guy, who for some reason dropped out (or was he kicked out?) of a hot-ticket area where he had previously triumphed. You might even find it hard to get an entry-level job in CS.

Don’t be envious. All those other guys are not going to do better than you, and you are not going to be left near the bottom of the pile. Semiconductors still has a bright future, and you are in a position where you can change the world with your work and your designs. Continue to innovate, and you will find yourself rewarded far better than most of those who are rushing in to saturate the CS world.

Choosing computer science as a career can be a rewarding path for many reasons. Here are some of the key advantages:

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High demand and job security:

• The tech industry is booming, and the demand for skilled computer science professionals is high and expected to continue growing. This translates to ample job opportunities and good job security.

Lucrative salaries:

• Computer science jobs often offer competitive salaries, with some specializations among the top earners. This makes it attractive for those seeking financial stability and career growth.

Intellectual challenge and constant learning:

• Computer science is a dynamic field that constantly evolves. This means you'll always be challenged to learn new things and stay up-to-date with the latest technologies, keeping your work mentally stimulating and engaging.

Creative problem-solving opportunities:

• Whether it's developing new software, designing algorithms, or tackling cybersecurity challenges, computer science involves plenty of creative problem-solving. This can be a fulfilling aspect for those who enjoy using their brains and coming up with innovative solutions.

Variety of specializations:

• The beauty of computer science lies in its diverse range of specializations. From software development and data science to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, you can choose a path that aligns with your specific interests and skills.

Global career opportunities:

• With the tech industry being global, your computer science skills are valuable worldwide. This opens doors to work in different countries and experience diverse cultures, expanding your professional horizons.

Making a positive impact:

• Technology plays a crucial role in addressing various global challenges. By becoming a computer scientist, you can contribute to developing solutions for healthcare, sustainability, education, and more, leaving a positive impact on the world.

Flexibility and remote work options:

• Many computer science jobs offer remote work possibilities or flexible work arrangements, allowing for a better work-life balance and freedom in managing your schedule.

Continuous learning and growth:

• The tech industry encourages continuous learning and professional development. This allows you to stay relevant, upskill throughout your career, and keep progressing towards your goals.

However, it's important to note that a career in computer science isn't without its challenges. It requires dedication, hard work, and a willingness to constantly learn and adapt.

Ultimately, the decision of whether to pursue computer science depends on your individual personality, interests, and career aspirations. If you enjoy tackling challenges, have a knack for problem-solving, and are passionate about technology, then computer science might be a fulfilling and rewarding career choice for you.

I'm going to take the opportunity you're giving me to be unabashedly candid about my life. It may be vain, but it's honest.
Here we go.
I warned you.

I am paid amounts I cannot begin to justify to do what I would be doing with my time anyway were I not employed. More days are exciting than not, and that's in no small part due to the brilliant, witty, and otherwise generally awesome people I work with. I don't have to wear the stupid and pointlessly expensive penguin costume business and sales people are so fond of, I don't have to pressure anyone into buying stuff I know they don't need, and all the clients I interact with are usually just as passionate about my field as I am. I am doing work that is meaningful to me and to those who use it. I am often consulted for expert advice. My peers value my opinions. And most importantly, I'm a member of a mutually respectful, supportive, and empowering community of people just like me. It's a beautiful thing.

Most people have interests or hobbies -- reading fiction or about some field of study, fixing up your car, World of Warcraft, camping -- that they would eagerly spend hours to weekends to weeks of vacation time immersed in. For me, that's solving problems in code.
Many people seem to think that developing software is boring, tedious, soul-eroding drudgery. That may be true for some people, but it ain't true for me, and neither is it true for most to all of the people I work with.

Was my major worth it? Hell to the yes. So, so very extremely yes. I've basically managed to get paid for simply being myself; I could never have come up with a better con than this. And for those people whose interests are similar to mine, who are enthusiastic about the prospect of engineering beautiful, powerful things, it will also be very worth it.

But if your primary attitude toward software development is that it's this thing you know how to do and can be coerced into doing by a need to pay the bills, you will probably grow to resent it. Even so, it may still be worth it by its ability to fund your actual interests and hobbies.

Indian PC/Computer Market has a low penetration as compared to developed nations and yet it is growing quickly (not considering Tablets or Smartphones even though they are mini-computers).

If you love the hardware and new technological advancements in them, for example, you get pumped with the thought of using DDR5 Ram as soon as it hits the market and is interested in learning why is it so quick, you might build a business out of it.

Obviously, the market is very crowded with small and large businesses offering computer hardware sales, installation, and after-sales services, and margins might be thin, depending on what you will be offering.

However, you just need to target the right set of customers in the right way and you might still be able to start and succeed in a small business related to computer hardware.

Some of the direct/indirect business ideas can be:

• Offering customized PC solutions (hardware, design, functionality, and ergonimics) for gaming purposes, both online and offline.
• Set up computing, POS, Server, and Security (Cameras) systems for small to medium-sized businesses in your city and then expand.
• Starting a PC Gaming Parlour along with snacks (for extra markups).

Sure, these ideas don’t seem fancy but I have seen people making more than decent money building such businesses.

When some people think of computer science, they think of mobile apps, or cubicles, or hipster hackers, or gamer nerds, or server farms. These are all things that exist in the software world, but they're not the point.

Computer science is, in essence, the study of how to make things faster, more powerful, more automated, more efficient, more scalable. How to extract meaning from data so complex a human could never hope to understand it by just reading through it, and how to process that at a massive scale. Programming is merely the means to that end.

Understanding computer science will change the way you approach everything in life. And it's applicable to virtually everything.

Also yeah the jobs are pretty cool.

Yes and no. I’m partway into my 38th year making my living as a programmer of some sort, 35 years since graduating with a CS degree and doing it full-time. As a career, it has been immensely rewarding to me; I have managed to do some very creative things over the years. There is the constant challenge of learning new things, and since I very much prefer small companies, I have done a hundred other jobs along the way too: system wrangling, creating test beds, bringing QA and tech support and documentation staffs up to date on new products and new product lines, interfacing with customers and partners, and even snippets of hardware design and hardware/software interface design over the years.

That said, a career as a software designer, programmer, and architect has it’s toll too. Employers LOVE programmers who have proved they can sit an concentrate on code for hours at a time. Asking anyone whose very good at programming, and they will regale you of tales of 12-hour stints where they barely took bio breaks (or didn’t!) It turns out, being able to do this is just TERRIBLE for your body. But it’s great for productivity!

I think the “kids these days” are somewhat more aware of these sorts of dangers, and more likely to have an app on their phone or their watch that prompts them to get up and move around every so often. Is it worth the tradeoff in lost productivity? I’m going to stick my neck out, tick off all my fellow baby boomers, and just say “you bet your life it is.” And you ARE. Betting your life.

So yes, I am. But frankly I’ve done a moderately terrible job of that whole work-life balance thing, and it’s SO common in the career field.

While I appreciate your candour, I am afraid that you are asking a wrong question. A lot of young graduates (including myself once) thought that money in a particular industry should be the ultimate deciding factor. But you should also consider whether you have the traits and skills necessary to succeed in that particular industry, because whatever industry you are in, none rewards failure. From my knowledge, if I have to single out an industry which offers maximum monetary reward to its titans, I will say finance and investment banking (ever heard of Wall Street?). But before you jump at it, you have to learn about the kind of stuffs they do, the traits and skills they require and whether you have the mettle to be successful there. For example, a brain surgeon is smart enough to know that an investment banker earns more than him. Why does he spend his time cutting into human skulls when the banker changes time zone every few hours in a charter jet? Does he have lesser skill compared to the banker? No, he has different skills.

I am not here to give you saintly advice like money doesn't matter. Rather my advice would be to match your skill set to a specific industry, then look for monetary rewards within that industry, go for the company that pays you the most. When you get some visibility and experience in your own industry, you can open your own business as well. Just because industry X offers great money does not mean that will be the best industry for you.

That's really a great question, let me tell you some points why people choose coding as a career. With coding, you can develop anything. Anything means anything.

• You can develop a website.
• You can develop a mobile application.
• You can develop any software as a service tool that people can use and give you money for using your application.
• You can code any particular application which can solve any real-time problem.

I am sharing some examples to help you understand better why coding is good for the upcoming generation.

1. Food delivery was available in India before Zomato and Swiggy, still, these applications got millions of downloads and millions of uses. They just did one thing to change the complete process. Now you don't need to call at any particular restaurant and have to wait for them to answer. You just have to go to these apps pick the restaurant you want food from, choose your order and processor request, that's it rest all process will be handled by the applications. Your food will be packed, delivered to you and you just have to pay for this.
2. Ola and Uber at the concepts of taxis. Before these applications, taxes were also present but they made the whole process easy, similarly, you can develop anything you want.
3. If you want to build something which is not even in existence yet, still you can make it, For instance, Dream11, this application gives you the freedom to make a team out of both teams playing a match which was not possible before.

So you can do anything with coding and the best parties it doesn't require anything except a good system and internet and more important a will to learn and develop something.

If you have a laptop/desktop and internet and you want to do something with the code, the complete internet is ready to help you.I hope I have answered your question.

Upvote this answer, if you find it useful!

I don't regret chosing the IT Industry. But I regret chosing an IT Services company as my first employer.

The reason being:

• Work done at IT Services is lower tier.
• Learning potential is almost nil.
• Work is not challenging.
• There is just too much crowd and less growth.
• Salaries are peanuts.
• Work is monotonous.

For me, learning comes first. I wish to learn something new every minute. My curiosity level is very high.

I would have definitely gone on the path of entrepreneurship, which I am currently on. So, basically it changes nothing except for the fact that I would have started earlier. Anyways, I am still too young.

The 1st real computers all be it with a single task were used for code breaking during WWII.

I was born in 1964 and computers in those days took up entire buildings.

At school in the 1970 the school had a computer terminal which was basically a teletype unit and an acoustic coupled modem. And in the early 80's there was an explosion of simple basic devices that you could home build and plug into a TV.

In 1982 I joined the Royal Air Force as what was called a flight systems Apprentice later renamed to Avionics. I learned computer logic hardware and software engineering.

I served in two of the RAF top software teams as a software engineer. Military Computers always lag.

The Nimrod MR2 Tornado Jaguar and a few other aircraft used the Elliot 920 Advanced Technology Computer. It was originally designed to work with core store memory which to look at is very odd and looks like an April fool joke but it works. The 920ATC was an 18bit computer yes Eighteen it is not a typing error. It used a 6 word Octal Numbering. It was in many ways a odd machine in that when you hit the midpoint in the memory the top bit got set and you had to use 2's complment maths!

One thing though the computer had only 15 instructions and you could read the memory and translate between assembly code an CORAL66 code in your head; try doing that on a PC with thousands of instruction and C# !

I worked with a flight sim and mission on the AWACS and saw its generated graphics which were a step up from the very old flight sims which were made up of models with a camera that flew over the model.

Now days I am a photographer having taken early retirement. The power in my Windows 10 PC with its 16 core AMD cpu simply cannot be compared to my 1st PC. That was an Apricot with an 8086 chip and two single density single sided 3.5" floppy disks. When I bought it the sales guy said you can get a 10Mb external hard drive but do not bother as you would never fill it.

My current PC has 3 x M2 drives SSD totalling 5TB, 4 x 2TB SSD totalling 8TB and two 6TB hard drives.

My own PC contains more processing power and storage that the entire worlds computers in the year I was born and I use it to process photos and video !

As for games well as a teenager I played pong and space invaders. Again there is simply no comparison between the tech in games like that and say the latest call of duty or any game.

The graphics card in my computer is more powerful than the computers on the RAFs E3D AWACS !

People take the internet and processing capabilities of modern tech for granted without understanding what is actually going on and the amount computers have evolved over recent years and my life time.

The next 100 years computers will simply be amazing with new tech being developed all the time it would be nice to see what they evolve to!

In 1995, during my final year at IIT Kanpur, TCS and Infosys gave job offers to more than 60% of my class. Even the guys who really struggled (the ‘5 point someone’ variety) and had no other job options, easily got software jobs. And it did not matter whether you studied civil engineering or chemical engineering. So what was the point of studying computer science?

Soon enough, IT majors like TCS and Infosys started hiring lakhs from across all campuses across India, and I became even more convinced that software engineering was now a commodity. It was a ticket to a safe but mediocre career.

But I was wrong, at least partly.

Saying that you are a software engineer is like saying you are a writer. One could be JK Rowling or one could be an author of a blog, which nobody reads. Both are technically ‘writers’ but they are a world apart.

So yes, we have an army of software engineers doing low skilled jobs at IT companies, which are surviving on the salary level differences between India and the US. But if that is all that was there to software engineering, why would Google and Facebook employ hordes of super-expensive software engineers in California?

India has millions of software engineers, but where is all the innovation coming from? Has any major software language like Python, Ruby, Perl, or C been created by Indians? What about web frameworks like Rails or Django? What about libraries like Numpy or Pandas? I could go on and on.

Even the US companies outsourcing work to our IT firms often get the critical work done locally by high-skilled programmers in the US. A lot of what gets outsourced is low-skill grunt work. I am obviously generalizing, but this is true for the most part.

The story of software engineering in India is sadly much like our story in most other fields, be it sports, technology or business. At low and mid level skillset, we have an army of people. But at the high end of skillset, we are missing. Our best talent is sucked up by world’s top engineering schools and corporations.

Back in India, many of our young graduates starting off as software engineers are only focused on constantly switching jobs to get that ‘30% pay hike’, rather than becoming really good at what they do. I have seen people from other countries make fun of how poor quality the code written by Indian engineers is, which should make us very sad.

It is not that Indians are not competent. We have the same DNA as everybody else. My guess is that Indians probably constitute about 20% of the MS/PhD student population at many top US engineering schools. But back home excellence is not our priority - we settle for a low level equilibrium.

It may sound harsh. But hiding from reality will not make it go away. It is hurtful, but we need to feel that pain and do something about it.

What does the future hold for computer science?

To foresee the future, let us look at the past. What has changed our lives the most in last 100 or 500 years? We still paint or draw or cook just as well or badly. For example, one could argue that the nawabs of Awadh ate better food than we do today.

What has changed is technology. Everything we do is running on technology - from how we talk to people, how we travel, how we consume entertainment, to how we receive medical care from our doctors. And among all the areas of technology, software is the king.

Software runs our lives 24x7, and it will do so more and more. The rockets launched by NASA or ISRO run on a ton of software. Our planes are sophisticated flying computers. When you fall ill, your blood testing is done by some fancy equipment, which is nothing but a computer at its core. Without software, your cars will not get manufactured, hospitals won’t run, and even your next-door restaurant won’t be able to bill you for food.

The biggest companies in the world are de-facto software companies - Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google… The industrial giants of yesterday are not in the same league anymore.

The next 100 years will also belong to software. From data science to machine learning, from medicine to biotechnology - software will rule. And to win, you have to be at the cutting edge.

The real game is not at the low end. It never was. The world is not very kind to the foot soldiers. Unfortunately, we live in a ‘winner takes all’ world.

If you are at the cutting edge of computer science, you will be the envy of the world. But if we keep switching jobs for that 30% salary hike, sooner or later we will get wiped out by someone with greater hunger for learning and passion for excellence. Make no mistake.

Note: I have HUGE respect for people who build technology. My goal is not to hurt anybody’s sentiments, but to make us ask hard questions.

The first machine I programmed was this puppy:

A Monrobot XI in 1965. No core or RAM memory. Instead it used a magnetic drum memory storing 1024 32 bit words. CPU wa implemented with 383 transistors and 2,300 diodes. My first program was a N-factorial calculator written in machine language (no assembler was available). A few years later I was developing spacecraft command and control software, SCADA systems, database software, EDA software, internet commerce. By the time I retired in 2010, I had been involved with online video for about a dozen years. My name is even on the software patent for edge video delivery over the internet.

Today, this computer is one of my daily drivers:

A lot of differences after 54+ years, huh?

But one thing stayed the same:

No matter what -

That gawd damn piece of shit computer just does whatever you tell it to do.

And if it's wrong, it's always your own damn fault!!

That's how I feel about the changes…

I was fortunate to have gone to a high school (Davenport Central High in Iowa) that had a time-shared minicomputer (a DEC PDP-8 ) in the early 1970s. I was able to indulge my curiosity and start to learn programming early on.

I had not originally committed to software development as a career, thouh. I majored in math and physics in college and computer science in graduate school. I was interested in getting a PhD and becoming an academic. But one day in 1978 a representative from HP came to campus, and the next thing I knew I was interviewing for programming jobs across the country. I was again fortunate to be in that position at a time companies were hiring. Six months later it would have been more difficult to get a job.

So, 40 years later, I’m glad I took that first job but at times I wish I had gone the academic route. I’ve been fortunate (once again) that with the ups and downs in the tech world I’ve not had any periods of unemployment and I’ve been able to make a very good living doing something that, for the most part, I enjoy.

Excellent! I’m one of those guys who flunked out of college after discovering computers in my freshman year, 1972–73. I had already learned enough programming (three courses in three different languages) to get programming jobs on and off campus. After a couple of years of this, and growing up a bit and learning to live with my ADHD, I enrolled in classes part-time and worked full-time as a programmer and sysadmin, and paid my way to a Master’s degree on my own schedule. I was then hired by one of the best tech companies in the Boston area, and I’ve been working nearly continuously since then. I am now 67 and and could retire comfortably, but I’m still working because my company values my work and I enjoy it!

My big caution is: don’t get a CS degree because it pays well. Get a CS degree because you enjoy the work. The field is vast and varied these days, there are very rewarding fields of effort that don’t get external visibility because they’re not coded in Javascript or PHP.

In heath class, I fainted while watching a 16mm film of an open heart surgery. Medicine was out

One summer I worked digging drain ditches and was happy to leave that job. Manual labor in the hot sun was out.

I was head steward at a kitchen for a Boy Scout summer camp. We served 3 meals a day for up to 120 campers and staff. Food service and management were out.

When I had a paper route in the 1970s, I delivered papers to a business called Tymshare. I made friends with some of the people working there. They said if I want to work there someday I would have to take a lot of math classes. I could do that. Also, i like to work where there is air conditioning.

I'm still amazed that with a few keystrokes, a very powerful machine submits to my will. It's magic. All these years, I haven't lost that wonder.

You’d be crazy to shift.

First off, you’re pretty invested in your current field. Getting to a comparable level of knowledge & experience in software engineering would take a comparable level of time, effort, and experience.

Second, you’re in an interesting niche. While there are probably fewer job slots for semiconductor designers, there are also probably fewer qualified people competing for them. I expect that the numbers favor you in your current industry.

Third, the “fast growing Internet industry” does not necessarily translate to growth for individuals. A lot of the growth is financial growth - stemming from low incremental costs. You can run a pretty big software-as-a-service business with a handful of people - lots of growth for the founders/investors - not so much for folks looking for jobs.

Now, if you really want to move into the Internet industry - you’re better advised to look at places where the Internet overlaps semiconductors - such as specialized chips for telecom. switches, or on-demand silicon foundries (“silicon as a service”), or maybe software/services related to chip design.

Leverage your existing skills & experience, don’t throw them away.

Hi,

I am going through a similar situation. I an working at a MNC as a software engineer and don’t get me wrong I am into computers and stuff but I am allocated to SAP BW which is not even remotely close to what actually I studied during my bachelors and my interests.I wanted more of a programming kind of a job but BW is far away from it. I started hating it gradually. In the beginning since it was new I didn’t find it boring and I performed well. I thought I might end up liking it. However, as time passed I started to become more and more frustrated because I never enjoyed working on that technology. This cantankerous behavior of mine started to augment when I got allocated to a support project[before I was in development for 2 years]. But I kept at it because it paid well.
But the real reason I am still working in it is because I need the money to fund my backup plan i.e further education. If I had no intention of studying further I would I left the job a long back.
Working in something that you don’t enjoy is precarious to one’s career and also personal life. I don’t recall enjoying anything for the past 2 3 years. All the joy is short lived as I know I have to get back to the bland job. It has also affected my efficacy at work. I have noticed that my productivity has greatly decreased. Also due to the frustration I have constant outbreaks at my peers but since they are my friends they understand[I had it under control after a few]. I have only 2 months of this life sucking job left and now I am starting to feel the joy and the desire to learn something new and do something good which is what one is supposed to feel at his/her job in order to succeed.

If you hate your job and are not obliged to it due to any reasons just leave it. It doesn’t do anything good. One can survive with less money but surviving with a frustrated mind is a battle bound to be lost.

Hope it helps.

Thanks & regards,

Chinmay S

Both of my parents were computer programmers (and then managers), although my mother retired after she had me. We pretty much always had a desktop computer; even as a small child my parents had a desktop computer and I somehow learned to play video games on it (we had two I can remember, Castles 2: Siege and Conquest and Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant).

Computers (and computer gaming) were just a large part of my childhood, up until I went to sleep away camp. I started programming when I was 10-ish (my dad came into my room and said “We should do something together. We could throw the football around, but I’m not coordinated, you’re not coordinated, and it’s raining. So I’m going to teach you to code in BASIC.” and we put Quick Basic on a desktop and I fiddled around with it for a bit. My parents didn’t exactly push me into computers so much as it was something I was interested in and they were very supportive.

I also played a lot of games, especially multiplayer ones. Basically I was in a circle of people who were going to study computer science from an early age and it just kept me in that area until I got into college. Ironically in college I spent less time with CS folks (outside of class) than I did during the rest of my life. It’s been an interesting transition.

I feel like there’s a lot more I could say here but most of it would be rambly and not particularly interesting, so I’ll stop here.

Regrets…. generally speaking not per se’ , however the the desire to have done something else is certainly a thing. Usually the regret for a chosen profession would come from the company that you either work for ( and all that that entails ) or have taken on yourself without realising how much of your own time and if it is needed to run it successfully. Especially if monetary goal is the overriding factor which can indeed eat away at your love want or desire for your chosen profession that you have studied hard for. In general in life one needs to consider that at least half of your waking hours per week are going to be involved in some form of work either for someone or of your own choosing to better the quality of your life so the people and the company you work with or for need to be tolerable minimally hopefully enjoyable.

The answer to your question depends upon how much you need/want the money and whether you have other options to get the money you need/want. So long as you don’t fall into the trap of raising your livings standards and acquiring debt based upon the money you are earning now, you will have the option of leaving your job for something that may pay less but give you more of what you want - be it good coworkers, more free time, more rewarding work, etc.

It’s better to stay in a well-paying job ( even one you hate) until you have, e.g., paid off your student and/or new car loans, or saved up the deposit on the condo you want, before departing for the lower paying or more satisfying job. Immediately gratifying your internal reward system with a job you like sounds good, but it doesn’t pay the bills. If you have dreams of bettering yourself financially, you’d best stay in the job a while to get yourself a leg up.

You don’t mention whether other people depend upon your income. If the job you hate can provide your family with the things you’d like them to have, you have a much more difficult decision to make. Perhaps you can stick it out a while longer on that basis. Good luck, whatever you decide.

Yes stick with the job, but only as long as it takes to find a better new job, because you have an advantage by being employed. Don't focus on the money, focus on happiness. Get cracking on networking, because most jobs come from this now. Don't rely on resume/job postings alone. It takes time. Most of all it takes motivation. You will be working two jobs, the current one you hate, plus the new job search. Your spirit is the crucial factor and you are already dealing with a spiritual deficit. Find a way to be positive, nobody hires a negative. Whatever you do, don't slag your current employer, anywhere, even in private conversation. Builds bad habits. Insread, develop a habit of putting positive spin on your experiences and accomplishments. Delete any negative posts! Turn everything to a positive view. You are learning what works for you by eliminating what doesn't. You are overcoming severe challenges. You are learning how to deal with difficult people and situations. Best wishes, you will do great things.