Comment by cue_the_strings | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cue_the_strings | Hacker News Reader

cue_the_strings

As a recovering embedded engineer (though I am a CS grad), I strongly suggest noone enter the field: the pay is miserable, the job market is saturated with EE grads who wouldn't be able to do regular development without a major time investment.

I'm switching to full-time C++ backend and GUI development (so far it was 70% embedded and 30% this. I find that there is much more complexity in developing server-client systems, which optionally integrate with other systems, than it is to write low level code (maybe I'm just good at writing low level code). It's more intelectually rewarding, and you get to use higher level concepts. There's always room for advancement and computer programming is deep in a way that embedded engineering never will be. I've worked on embedded systems for 6 years and I've tried pretty much everything there is to try, from the lowest level to graphics from scratch, RTOS development and networking.

I agree, I've done decades of embedded and more think client scientific computing, going back and forth between the two.

Embedded pay isn't worth the pain of fighting hardware and working with people that don't know how to write code, writing code.

What would you suggest they study in order to learn how to write code properly? I've been working in chip design for a few years (writing verilog code instead of software code) but I'm thinking of trying to make a move into the software world

> the job market is saturated with EE grads

Can confirm, I'm one of the only two CS grads at our robotics company and I'm vaguely in charge of all the web and GUI related stuff that EE grads don't know much about.

Wages in other fields aren't that much higher here in Europe though.

I think the issue is that there are a lack of companies that are competing for talent.

Basically the job market consists of Apple, Lab126 and perhaps Logitech in the US. The rest of the job market is either in Asia or in niche industrial markets or early stage robotics companies.

That said - I do think having an embedded background - particularly embedded Linux - can actually improve your systems level knowledge - since you have to get into Linux drivers, the networking stack, package managers, etc.

I'd read a blog about your experience

Do you have some info on C++ backend development? What is there to look for? I’ve been looking to get into a more low level development job.

IIRC C++ backend dev is mostly used in HFT (think of the stock market) so it's a relatively niche, if well paying, market (NY, London, Chicago, Amsterdam)

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