drives me nuts. everyones introduction is along the lines of “i LiKe To PrOgRaM aNd My MoSt InTeReStInG fAcT aBoUt Me Is I cOdE iN nOtEpAd BeCuZ iDe’S aRe BlOaTeD” howed this industry attract so many suckers
Because the job is stressful and draining mentally. You are probably in part responsible for a production system that can burn lots of money real quick if things go wrong or have tough deadlines. You have to interact with a bunch of people with low social skills, cutthroat psychopathic power builders, and bullshiting teammates who will take credit for your work if you show weakness. Given you are an engineer your social energy is pretty low to begin with. Add a hour commute and an hour of working out and daily chores and upkeep there isn't a whole lot of energy left to start new hobbies
Because coding is sitting in front a computer 8 hours of the day just to be average at what you do. If you want to become good enough to pass a tech interview , you have to practice leetcode on your off time which gives you less time for hobbies.
Leetcode occupies their time
At least some of us turned a hobby into a career. The coding part of the job is the fun part. I have other hobbies, but I definitely also code on the side just for fun.
Coding was my hobby. Now it’s my career. Now it’s not my hobby anymore
Lots of coders have hobbies, just in my circle I know people interested in boardgames, video games, squash, tennis, building robots, carpentry, painting.
A lot of us grew up with coding as a hobby. That's why we picked this profession. If you are not passionate about coding, you will simply not be very good at it.
I mean, yeah if you don’t practice coding all day, you won’t be good at it but that’s unrelated. I’m saying there are many that coding is all they do and they’re boring.
I think you might be basing your views on low quality people in defense. I noticed most people were extremely dull when I worked in defense swe or other fields. After leaving defense I've had so many more experiences just by other swe inviting me to accompany them on their hobbies like dancing, surfing, snowboarding, HAM radios, horseback riding, camping, fostering puppies and much more. Also a lot of it had to do with me being open to new things. Which was hard to do with a defense company culture.
oncalls, inconsistent work hours, the need to learn outside of work, seattle weather
Because coding doesn't require any real social interaction lol. Doesn't it bother you that software engineers make the same or even more than bankers but can't socialize their way out of a paper bag?
Investment banking used to be cool and paid better than tech. Plus the field is way harder to get into. Usually you need an MBA from a top 5 school, social And networking skills and some swagger. Tech doesn't have that kind of entrance fee. It either attracts lifelong nerds that can't get laid, or coding monkeys that did a bootcamp and spent 6 months practicing leetcode. There's no shortcut like that in banking. Also, TC or you know what to do...
I feel tech is cool. IB never made a real product, just money for the Wall Street. Tech gave world lot of useful things, search engine like Google, order online, stream shows, call a cab, phones, etc.