>Companies that attempt to cram 60 hours of productivity into 40 hour weeks suffer for it:
Sorry for not being clear. I'm not talking about burning 60+ hours for the company.
I'm talking about the attraction to programming personalities that truly enjoy programming on their own time. E.g... The programmer spends exactly 40 hours for Google/Facebook/Microsoft and another 20 on his weekend programming side project because he enjoys it.
On the other hand... if you're a Peoplesoft/SAP programmer, no hiring manager cares that you don't write that code "for fun" on your own time as a hobby.
Plenty of seriously hardcore people do not spend 20 hours on their weekends writing more code. Obviously, there are lots of programmers who do, but I think what's happening here is pretty simple: the people who have "writing more computer code" as their personal hobby are excited to feel superior to those who don't.
>I think what's happening here is pretty simple: the people who have "writing more computer code" as their personal hobby are excited to feel superior to those who don't.
Maybe some of that sentiment is happening. That's orthogonal to the point that programmers who enjoy programming as a passion (that's a dangerous word) naturally will prefer hiring programmers who enjoy it beyond the boundaries of a 40-hour job.
It's just human affinity. Think of rock bands starting up in a garage. The singer + bass player + drummer are looking to add a guitarist. If they interview a guitarist and he says, "well, I'll just strum whatever and it don't matter if I play with you guys or on a cruise ship or a Las Vegas lounge bar -- guitar is just a job", he won't get an offer to join. For the band members, music is their life.
Since programming is often "fun" and software engineering is similar to "artistry", it's natural for programmers who enjoy coding for fun to want to hang around other programmers who enjoy it in a similar degree. This culture is especially true for startups. As the company matures, it becomes less important.
I'm a new parent who codes, and it is difficult, but not impossible. I would note that you keep attempting to analyse (or rather, guess) the emotions of people you disagree with, and it might be better to stay logical and systematic in order to communicate effectively.
> I think what's happening here is pretty simple: the people who have "writing more computer code" as their personal hobby are excited to feel superior to those who don't.
Wait, all of them? That's a pretty sweeping generalization. I think you should allow for the possibility that a substantial fraction of them do it because they enjoy it.
Also, often the sentiment goes the other way. Like:
- So, how was the weekend?
- Awesome! I've learned about this cool algorithm...
- Hey, what's wrong with you? Get a life, like, go see some movies or something...
Whoah. I'm not saying that people who write code for fun all do this. I write code for fun and so does my wife. I'm saying that people who claim that writing code for fun makes them superior developers do this.
Good. Because the way I interpreted your comment is that you are opposed to the whole notion.
> people who claim that writing code for fun makes them superior developers do this
What is "this" in this sentence? If "this" = "excited to feel superior" (from your previous comment), then the sentence reads almost like a tautology. If you simply mean that bragging and feeling smug about writing code for fun is kinda pathetic, then I agree. But that's true for bragging and feeling smug about, well, almost anything.
Sorry for not being clear. I'm not talking about burning 60+ hours for the company.
I'm talking about the attraction to programming personalities that truly enjoy programming on their own time. E.g... The programmer spends exactly 40 hours for Google/Facebook/Microsoft and another 20 on his weekend programming side project because he enjoys it.
On the other hand... if you're a Peoplesoft/SAP programmer, no hiring manager cares that you don't write that code "for fun" on your own time as a hobby.