This question is for those of you who have a job where you work extensively with computers; especially software engineering/development (read: programming), also research, design, or whatever else - not cashier type jobs though :P.

1. What's more important to you in such a job - fun, or profit?
2. What do you have more of in your job - fun, or profit?

(Gogo post your thoughts about the 1st question even if you don't have that job)

[quote author=Yoni link=topic=11205.msg107643#msg107643 date=1112808370]
This question is for those of you who have a job where you work extensively with computers; especially software engineering/development (read: programming), also research, design, or whatever else - not cashier type jobs though :P.

1. What's more important to you in such a job - fun, or profit?
2. What do you have more of in your job - fun, or profit?

(Gogo post your thoughts about the 1st question even if you don't have that job)
[/quote]


I don't have that job, however.. I think profit is really important, but fun isn't very far behind. Because you're not going to do well at a job that you don't enjoy, but making a profit is pretty fun. :)

[quote]1. What's more important to you in such a job - fun, or profit?[/quote]

[list]
Well, in the past I've done programming jobs for people here and there, mainly POS Systems ( Point of Sale Systems ). I didn't consider them "fun" so I was doing it for the money. Recently, I've been doing design work for clients of my design company ( bunkmedia.net ). I consider the illustrations and design aspect more "fun" than the coding and construction of the websites. I feel a combination of both fun and profit are important factors of each job.
[/list]

[quote]2. What do you have more of in your job - fun, or profit?[/quote]

[list]
When it comes to the design and illustration projects, for sure its the fun because I really enjoy doing it. When it comes to the coding end of each project, it has to be worth it ( money wise ) in order for me to be willing to do it. So, its a mix of both, if the money isn't there, it isn't much fun.
[/list]

[quote author=Yoni link=topic=11205.msg107643#msg107643 date=1112808370]
This question is for those of you who have a job where you work extensively with computers; especially software engineering/development (read: programming), also research, design, or whatever else - not cashier type jobs though :P.

1. What's more important to you in such a job - fun, or profit?
2. What do you have more of in your job - fun, or profit?
[/quote]

To me, there's a minimum profit required, to be able to do what you want outside work. If pay is large enough to cover that, then fun is what matters. Currently I have more profit than fun in my work though.

I see programming/computers more of a hobby then a job (personally, not for everyone), I have sworn never work as a programmer so I don't have to be infront of a computer all day, come home and stare at it again.
I like to get out from time to time. :)

[quote author=Snake link=topic=11205.msg107650#msg107650 date=1112811427]
I see programming/computers more of a hobby then a job (personally, not for everyone), I have sworn never work as a programmer so I don't have to be infront of a computer all day, come home and stare at it again.
I like to get out from time to time. :)
[/quote]

Which is why I divide my time.... Skating & Computing..  :)

I don't have a "job" in that field, one would say, but outside of school, church, and sleeping, I'm on the computer a good 99% of the time. I don't get paid anything, because frankly I have nothing to pay to myself. The only reason I'm here right now is because I was bored one day and accepted an old computer from a friend, looked arround and stumbled upon a fun game called WarCraft I.

I eventually saw all the fun things that can be done so easily, and started learning VB on my own, and eventually ended up here, learning Java. I don't make money, but I indend to program for a living, as Java is turning out to be the language everything is written in.

[quote author=Joe[x86] link=topic=11205.msg107657#msg107657 date=1112815278]
I don't have a "job" in that field, one would say, but outside of school, church, and sleeping, I'm on the computer a good 99% of the time. I don't get paid anything, because frankly I have nothing to pay to myself. The only reason I'm here right now is because I was bored one day and accepted an old computer from a friend, looked arround and stumbled upon a fun game called WarCraft I.

I eventually saw all the fun things that can be done so easily, and started learning VB on my own, and eventually ended up here, learning Java. I don't make money, but I indend to program for a living, as Java is turning out to be the language everything is written in.
[/quote]
I can see as people demand cross-platform more and more that Java would become more popular but beyond that I think it's only going to achieve secondary status to the C family.

Fun, definately.  If I make enough to live comfortably (which isn't all that expensive with what I consider comfort), I'd rather enjoy what I'm doing.

Right now for me, it's mostly about experience;  I need something to put on my resume so I can hopefully find a job after I graduate. And the fact that it pays pretty well for a part time job doesn't hurt.

But it's definently about fun as well. If I desperately needed a job I wouldn't restrict myself to a programming job, but if it's there I'll take it.

I don't work with computers for anything more than fun/studies, and I don't plan to ever work with them professionally. In a job, I think I'd be more interested in profit - you can always have fun during your retirement.

[quote author=hismajesty[yL] link=topic=11205.msg107671#msg107671 date=1112820438]
you can always have fun during your retirement.
[/quote]

That's not necessarily true. You may die before you retire. I wouldn't recommend postponing everything fun til you're old or dead or too weak to have fun.

Fun.  I only care about money to the extent that I must in order to survive.

[quote author=Snake link=topic=11205.msg107659#msg107659 date=1112815401]
[quote author=Joe[x86] link=topic=11205.msg107657#msg107657 date=1112815278]
I don't have a "job" in that field, one would say, but outside of school, church, and sleeping, I'm on the computer a good 99% of the time. I don't get paid anything, because frankly I have nothing to pay to myself. The only reason I'm here right now is because I was bored one day and accepted an old computer from a friend, looked arround and stumbled upon a fun game called WarCraft I.

I eventually saw all the fun things that can be done so easily, and started learning VB on my own, and eventually ended up here, learning Java. I don't make money, but I indend to program for a living, as Java is turning out to be the language everything is written in.
[/quote]
I can see as people demand cross-platform more and more that Java would become more popular but beyond that I think it's only going to achieve secondary status to the C family.
[/quote]

Actually, C is cross-platform, and Java is part of the C family.

I'm rather surprised no one has mentioned job security yet.  I think we all know how bad off shoring is getting...
Computer work is becoming a blue-collar job.  The profit side is sort of decreasing...

Although most of us work with computers for some form of fun and enjoyment, could most of us make a decent living of it?

Because I'm assuming most of us aspire to enjoy life...Would you rather enjoy your work or work to enjoy when you don't work...

It depends.  As I was explaining to someone the other day, I do most of my computer work (programming specifically) at my job which has absolutely nothing to do with programming.  It just happens to give me a lot of free time.  :)  I love my job.  <3

[quote author=Joe[x86] link=topic=11205.msg107675#msg107675 date=1112820970]
Actually, C is cross-platform, and Java is part of the C family.
[/quote]
C is cross-platform at the source-code level, and only if you use the same libraries.  Example: C code that uses the Win32 API is not portable to Linux without other dependencies (WINE), or C code that uses the KDE windowing system is not portable.  C that uses wxWidgets is cross-platform compatible, though.  But even this C code requires compilation on the target system.

I'm hesitant to say that Java is "part of the C family," because there are a LOT of things that Java doesn't do that C does (I'm hesitant to say that C# is truly part of the C family as well), but there are certainly language elements in Java that come from C/++.  However, Java IS cross platform at the binary level, because on any system that is going to run the Java program, you're going to have all of the same libraries (version-dependent, of course).

[quote author=Adron link=topic=11205.msg107672#msg107672 date=1112820556]
[quote author=hismajesty[yL] link=topic=11205.msg107671#msg107671 date=1112820438]
you can always have fun during your retirement.
[/quote]

That's not necessarily true. You may die before you retire. I wouldn't recommend postponing everything fun til you're old or dead or too weak to have fun.
[/quote]

If I reach retirement, I'll have fun. I'm sort of hoping to not retire though, and eventually start my own legal practice that will be passed down through the family. Hmm, I'll have fun when I'm old most likely though.

[quote author=MyndFyre link=topic=11205.msg107684#msg107684 date=1112826871]
It depends.  As I was explaining to someone the other day, I do most of my computer work (programming specifically) at my job which has absolutely nothing to do with programming.  It just happens to give me a lot of free time.  :)  I love my job.  <3

[quote author=Joe[x86] link=topic=11205.msg107675#msg107675 date=1112820970]
Actually, C is cross-platform, and Java is part of the C family.
[/quote]
C is cross-platform at the source-code level, and only if you use the same libraries.  Example: C code that uses the Win32 API is not portable to Linux without other dependencies (WINE), or C code that uses the KDE windowing system is not portable.  C that uses wxWidgets is cross-platform compatible, though.  But even this C code requires compilation on the target system.

I'm hesitant to say that Java is "part of the C family," because there are a LOT of things that Java doesn't do that C does (I'm hesitant to say that C# is truly part of the C family as well), but there are certainly language elements in Java that come from C/++.  However, Java IS cross platform at the binary level, because on any system that is going to run the Java program, you're going to have all of the same libraries (version-dependent, of course).
[/quote]

Thank you.

I do spyware cleanup and general computer help/troubleshooting, undercutting the hell out of the area services who charge around $100 an hour. Good profit and good fun -- I've run across many challenging problems in my work so far.