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I want to write application code, I'm not interested in writing build systems

4 points by hoodoof ↗ HN
Unfortunately it seems that most programming jobs these days include a large component of doing non application programming - writing code that supports the build process.

Essentially meta-development - writing software to support writing software.

But I'm just not interested in this, which apparently makes me unsuitable for most jobs.

I love writing applications but don't want to get bogged down in all that stuff.

I'm thinking I need to do some other line of work and program for a hobby.

4 comments

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iamdave
Just curious, why the aversion?
hoodoof
Writing code to get software builds to work feels like pointless busy work.

I feel like something has gone wrong with software development that the task of making software requires so much meta programming.

thepapanoob
and this is where youre wrong :D by your logic compilers are wrong because they keep you from writing raw MC
caymanjim
Every job includes a large amount of secondary work that needs to be done in support of the primary work. Sometimes the primary work is fun and the secondary work is a chore. Sometimes it's all fun. Sometimes it's all a chore.

I write software for a living, and occasionally I get sick of all the secondary work and politics, and wish I'd found another career and kept software as a hobby. Then I realize that working doesn't leave much time for hobbies, and I get paid well to do something I enjoy, and the secondary work is a small burden to get paid for the parts I still like.

There's also the simple fact that if you want to work on any sufficiently complex software, even as a hobby, you're still going to have to work on build scripts and tooling, unless you like repeating yourself and doing things the hard way.

I'm sure artists, auto mechanics, writers, and surfers all have plenty of chores to do, whether they're professionals or hobbyists.