Post: #1

A good # of my friends are coders, programmers, developers, software engineers...et cetera.

Most of them don't seem to build stuff for themselves.

I've always thought that was weird. Like being a chef and only eating out.

Do you make your own web products, apps? software?

WIA

Post: #2

Yep and I ended up making a business selling my own stuff. All my programs came out of necessity. While enhancements come from customer feedback, a lot still come from my own needs.

I guess if you are working for someone else programming all day, going home to write more code wouldn't appeal to many.

I will be hiring others to take over this year.

Post: #3

Programmers usually work on pieces of a greater project. There's usually a scope to the project along with some kind of workflow or flow chart.

What I'm saying is you need concept to start with and for some reason they rarely have their own ideas.

Post: #4

(07-30-2013 07:40 AM)Parlay44 Wrote:  Programmers usually work on pieces of a greater project. There's usually a scope to the project along with some kind of workflow or flow chart.

What I'm saying is you need concept to start with and for some reason they rarely have their own ideas.

I would also add most programmers are poor software designers.

Post: #5

(07-30-2013 06:58 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  I've always thought that was weird. Like being a chef and only eating out.

Should mechanical engineers also build their own cars?

Post: #6

(07-30-2013 08:05 AM)The Great Basilisk Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 06:58 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  I've always thought that was weird. Like being a chef and only eating out.

Should mechanical engineers also build their own cars?

That's a stupid analogy. Writing software has a much lower entry barrier than manufacturing (making cars), in terms of capital inputs, time-frame and man-power required. Programming can be an individual activity in contrast to manufacturing.

To the OP: Anyone software developer worth his salt *will* have his own code that he tinkers with, for fun or profit.

Post: #7

Alot probably aren't entrepreneurial, and wouldn't want to be.

My guess is many programmers probably love the problem-solving and engineering but wouldn't want to touch the business world of selling a product to customers.

I know many would shudder at the thought of having to deal with sales, marketing, user interfaces, dealing with customers, etc.

That said, many DO work on opensource projects and contribute to Github etc. Some amazing stuff has been made for free by people who just love their craft.

Making products, marketing and selling is a game in itself though, not everyone wants to tackle it.

Post: #8

(07-30-2013 09:28 AM)capote Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 08:05 AM)The Great Basilisk Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 06:58 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  I've always thought that was weird. Like being a chef and only eating out.

Should mechanical engineers also build their own cars?

That's a stupid analogy. Writing software has a much lower entry barrier than manufacturing (making cars), in terms of capital inputs, time-frame and man-power required.

Not any more stupid than the chef analogy. Any application that i've ever needed has been made already and 99% of the time they are freely available on the internet. Most programmers that i know do some kind of tinkering on their free time, but only those who would list "programming" as a hobby have their personal, bigger projects at home. Even then their apps usually cover a really specific niche or they are planning to make a business out of it.

Post: #9

(07-30-2013 10:46 AM)The Great Basilisk Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 09:28 AM)capote Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 08:05 AM)The Great Basilisk Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 06:58 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  I've always thought that was weird. Like being a chef and only eating out.

Should mechanical engineers also build their own cars?

That's a stupid analogy. Writing software has a much lower entry barrier than manufacturing (making cars), in terms of capital inputs, time-frame and man-power required.

Not any more stupid than the chef analogy. Any application that i've ever needed has been made already and 99% of the time they are freely available on the internet. Most programmers that i know do some kind of tinkering on their free time, but only those who would list "programming" as a hobby have their personal, bigger projects at home. Even then their apps usually cover a really specific niche or they are planning to make a business out of it.

Have a look at this report --> http://www.developereconomics.com/downlo...2013-2016/

"In 2012 the app economy was worth $53Bn and is expected to expand at a 28% CAGR up to 2016, reaching $143Bn"

Tell me that that isn't a tremendous opportunity. Direct apps sold on the App Store/Google Play very rarely make money. The real opportunity lies in the enterprise/B2B space.

Post: #10

(07-30-2013 10:56 AM)capote Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 10:46 AM)The Great Basilisk Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 09:28 AM)capote Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 08:05 AM)The Great Basilisk Wrote:  

(07-30-2013 06:58 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  I've always thought that was weird. Like being a chef and only eating out.

Should mechanical engineers also build their own cars?

That's a stupid analogy. Writing software has a much lower entry barrier than manufacturing (making cars), in terms of capital inputs, time-frame and man-power required.

Not any more stupid than the chef analogy. Any application that i've ever needed has been made already and 99% of the time they are freely available on the internet. Most programmers that i know do some kind of tinkering on their free time, but only those who would list "programming" as a hobby have their personal, bigger projects at home. Even then their apps usually cover a really specific niche or they are planning to make a business out of it.

Have a look at this report --> http://www.developereconomics.com/downlo...2013-2016/

"In 2012 the app economy was worth $53Bn and is expected to expand at a 28% CAGR up to 2016, reaching $143Bn"

Tell me that that isn't a tremendous opportunity. Direct apps sold on the App Store/Google Play very rarely make money. The real opportunity lies in the enterprise/B2B space.

How is this related to "building stuff for themselves"? I'm saying that programming apps for your personal needs(i.e. not business) is retarded.

Post: #11

(07-30-2013 09:28 AM)capote Wrote:  To the OP: Anyone software developer worth his salt *will* have his own code that he tinkers with, for fun or profit.

Nope.

Maybe for novices, or guys who aren't getting well paid yet.

For an established professional with a good hourly rate, the opportunity cost of a side project will nearly always be too high.

Post: #12

About 90 percent of this forum doesnt have a blog or twitter....

Post: #13

Many programmers will build small little scripts to automate repetitive tasks for themselves. Many will contribute to open source projects, and many do build apps that "solve their own problem" and then go on to sell them successfully.

Many also never come close to consumer products or apps because they work on embedded systems or large-scale distributed networks or something else deep in the trenches.

And many wouldn't want to do anything commercial because they're averse to marketing/sales/business/customer interactions.

TL;DR - some do build and sell apps, but of course not all, for a number of reasons.

Not sure what you guys are exactly arguing about, haha.

Post: #14

(07-30-2013 06:58 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:  A good # of my friends are coders, programmers, developers, software engineers...et cetera.

Most of them don't seem to build stuff for themselves.

I've always thought that was weird. Like being a chef and only eating out.

Do you make your own web products, apps? software?

WIA

Outside of videogames, it's really hard to add value to your own life with programming. That's changing a bit now with smartphones and the availability of cheap microcontrollers like the Arduino. But for the vast majority of productivity-type software, it's usually really hard to beat commercial or open source options.

Post: #15

The problem with the chef analogy is that every single meal has to be prepared by someone or something. There is no food that is as easily replicated as software is replicated, and the most easily replicated food has noticeable quality differences.