Contrary to popular belief, programming is not just for nerds or people who are good at math. 🤓
There's also the misconception that programming is a solitary profession, but in reality, collaboration and teamwork are essential.
Another common fallacy is that programming is a monotonous task, but there are many specializations and technologies to explore.
What other misconceptions and errors in judgment have you come across with regards to programming careers? Help us break down the stereotypes and encourage more diversity in tech!
Top comments (11)
When I tell people what I do, they assume a developer means I'm an expert at using Microsoft Office/G Suite or I know how to fix their computers when they run into.
The other misconception I've encountered is that people expects developers to have a computer science degree. I often am dealing with pressure from others not in tech to get a computer science degree so I can get hired.
Dear god I am tired of being asked to fix electronics. I do mostly backend web development work. Like, --yes--, I can probably fix your phone being "slow", but that's not because I'm an engineer... I just know you have 5000 tabs open, a million apps running in the background that you never use, and haven't done any software updates since you bought the thing 3.5 years ago.
The fixing computers thing is a real pain sometimes. Especially when that gets twisted into "hey can you troubleshoot my printer?"
Printers are evil little buggers and I went into this field to AVOID them! 😄
I get this everytime! Last time I said I was a developer, they asked me to fix a laptop lol
My uncle alway make me fix his printer when I visit him -_-
collaboration and teamwork are required in my case, I cannot build my code without having checked it with multiple people.
Before I started programming I got one of the lowest ranking scores in everything because school was more fun in the time I 8-12 years old.
Then I had climbed my way up the ladder to where I am now 🤗
And even we have a 50/50 split with women and men on our working floor with Java backend development. So yes everyone can do this 💪🏻
I think you are right . Developers spend considersble time collaborating. But ot is a solo job where you spend most of work time in face of a computer without talking. By contrast other jobs like salesman doctor ...
Ha! Something that still surprises me after having been in the industry nearly 20 years, is the (mis) perception of developers in the minds of the business folks, as "feature pushers" or "techies that don't need to know about business stuff" or "Google can do these amazing feats of tech, why can't you?". 😀
It certainly is not only coding, which a lot of folks may enjoy most. I also found it to be demanding in terms of selling ideas to others. Convince them why something may be good, better or worse. So it requires diplomacy and negotiation skills too.
If you are a senior developer you write code 200% fast then a Junior, eg. Typingspeed.
It's not about my career and me but a lot of parents and people in my country thinks programming = tons of money, and the reality here is the opposite lol