Hacker News Reader

Comment by gaoshan | Hacker News Reader

I started learning to code in my mid-30's and am now in my mid-40's working as a developer. "Leave the 9 to 5 Job" is not accurate. Most people that follow the path described in the article will still be working regular business hours (frequently longer than 9 to 5 to be honest) sitting at a desk in an office setting, only now they will be writing code for a living.

View on HN

Coding requires quite a bit of physical effort as well. Have you noticed your age getting in the way of it? I'm in my late twenties and have been coding since I was 15. I've developed quite a few chronic issues - both skeletal and gastrointestinal.

I think it's more the lifestyle that coding can lead to, right? e.g. if coding leads to a lifestyle of poor exercise, sleep quality and diet, or a combination of all of those, then that can obviously lead to conditions you've mentioned above.

(note – not trying to diagnose your symptoms, just responding to your comment about coding being physically tolling!)

I've found that happens when you don't get enough physical efforts in your life. Sitting and coding is not good for you. You have to get up and move around.

Not that I want to presume -- you may very well have some specific conditions outside of the norm... but as a general rule, coding requires you to take additional preventive actions to maintain your health. Because if you let it, coding will trash you.

It is unlikely your problems are from coding itself. It might be bad luck or genetics. It might be healthy lifestyle. I assure you that you can code and have healthy livestyle - exercise, sleep, food and even part of life where you don't code. If you want to code long term, you need them.

You however need to value them and not to buy into the "real programmers code whole night and eat only pizza and never exercise" bullshit.

> I've developed quite a few chronic issues - both skeletal and gastrointestinal.

Curious, not trolling. What kind of gastrointestinal issues does one develop from programming / sitting in 1 place? Is it from the cliched "coder diet" - pizza and soda, or is it from the physical aspects - sitting and staring at screen for long hours - and not related to diet, that cause gastrointestinal issues?

I think the lack of exercise made things worse. But I developed IBS from the stress of frequent live-site and odd hours (and of course a bad diet). I've since moved on to a different team and company but the damage has been done. I'm on a very strict diet these days.

Also, bad posture over the years has led to cervical stenosis & herniation. I cannot sit for more than 30mins without developing pain in my shoulder and neck.

In general, I think being if you're an engineer working on services, it is hard to maintain a proper schedule and routine. Add to that strict deadlines, pressure from management, bugs etc and things get worse. It is still a pretty subjective argument though.

But now you have the power and opportunity to "leave the 9 to 5 Job" by creating your little/niche SAAS.

Not at all. Being a developer does not automatically give you better odds at business. These are two very different skillsets.

Creating a little/niche SAAS takes more than writing code. Most business failures from developers that Ive personally talked to is due to not understating how to market and sell. They thought they could hack it and automate it. This part is still very people centric even if you are not constantly interacting with them.

I dont aim to sound mean but this is akin to thinking that every mechanic out there can be be a successful repair garage owner. Different skills. Its very hard and uncommon to have both technical and business skills. Why do you think YC puts so much money into finding people with both?

Edited for spelling

I see your point and agree with it wholeheartedly, however I think you're responding to something that Scarbutt (what a name) didn't actually say. Namely, that being a developer guarantees you business success.

It certainly doesn't. But it's still tremendously advantageous.

And just as programming can be learned, so too can those business skills. It just requires some combination of reading, mentorship, time, practice, and experience. And that's really the whole point behind the interviews on Indie Hackers, and the community forum as well. To help people learn those skills.

This is why Ive supported IH from the very beginning. Its a great resource.

Your comment made me realize that mine came out a bit negative. I certainly agree that business skills may be studied and developed as any others. Maybe Im a little burned out from talking with people who just want a 5 minute solution to a 5 year problem.

I also run a little podcast[0] to help people learn and develop those skills. Its new and very rough around the edges, but the last episode will resonate a lot with software developers who decided to dip their toes on the business end of the pool. :)

[0] http://yelluw.com/podcast

Note: Im setting up https these coming days.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com