IT/Software career thread: Invert binary trees for dollars.

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
14,163
606
Right now the game is mostly just 3d shapes. Like boxes attacking cylinders. We're slowly adding better models. We have another guy on our team who is pretty good at making assets so he's making them and we just import them into the project. Art is more a polish phase and has very little to do with the gameplay. If you can make a box perform it's AI to seek out a triangle you can make an enemy zergling seek out a nexus.
 

alavaz

Trakanon Raider
2,001
713
Been meaning to get into this myself. Who does graphics? That's one of my biggest concerns is I'm no artist.

Seems like just buying pre-made unity models would be the way to go. They actually have some pretty good looking ones.
 

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
14,163
606
Seems like just buying pre-made unity models would be the way to go. They actually have some pretty good looking ones.

Even the free ones are decent. We just got a bunch of free shit and disassembled it and assembled it how we wanted it.
 

chaos

Buzzfeed Editor
17,324
4,839
Finally (FINALLY) got word that my clearance has processed, due to start the week of Christmas at the new spot. Army red team, super awesome work.... and then right after got a call from another spot with an offer. So, the one I wanted was about a 15% pay cut, but per diem etc and awesome work and good benefits. The other spot is actually a 7% increase on what I make now, comes out to 20% more than the red team job (not counting per diem). But it's work that I don't want to do and requires I downgrade my clearance. I know what the correct choice is, and I know that in 2 years I will be well positioned. But damn man, turning down that cash is hard.
 
  • 1Solidarity
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 users

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
37,961
14,508
I struggle with that a lot. I could make more in Boston but the 2 hour travel time (one way,) just isn't worth it. Tough to make less but I work 20 minutes away now.
 

chaos

Buzzfeed Editor
17,324
4,839
Yeah, this cuts my commute in half as well, when not doing travel. Quality of life will be much better, for sure. 20% is a big number, but it's probably a good decision to value that QoL stuff more. We shall see, as always. Bad part is that I have to withdraw acceptance from 3 other places now. Just sent off my notice team, that is a cathartic feeling.
 

alavaz

Trakanon Raider
2,001
713
I really want to make more money but the handful of interviews I've had elsewhere make me truly appreciate my current working environment. It's laid back, we do cool shit, get TONs of freedom... It's hard to put a price on some of that stuff. I might pivot my strategy towards picking up a higher paying job with the same customer but a different unit. They're supposed to open up our contract for bid here soon too - most people usually dread it but I find it's a good time to get a raise.
 

Jalynfane

Phank 2002
719
563
Turns out my internship is deep into AI/Machine Learning/OCR, lots of keywords that will be great on the resume in a year or two, hope I can stay in it for a while.
 

Jysin

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
6,275
4,027
FoH pals. Need some real advice.

I have 15 years with General Dynamics, IT in an extremely niche field of secure voice communications for the government. Contract work with an SCI clearance. This is so niche that there's about two dozen sites in the entire world. On top of that, this work is on call 24/7 and manned 24/7 with shift work. Currently working in the Middle East to maximize cash.

Long story short.. I have had enough of this shit. I've saved buckets and ready to move on. My heart isn't in this and I have basically stuck around so long because of the golden handcuffs (overseas tax-free pay). I want a semi-normal 9-5 job again. The work I do now has little crossover to the private sector. A lot is old TDM telephony and some basic IP with a Voice over IP gateway connection (DISA manages this, I know little about it). Don't get me wrong, I am extremely good at what I do. I just have very little options for work locations and would make maybe $70k at best in the states. I have lazily pursued IP / Cisco certifications, but I can't get excited about it as it is yet another service based industry. Keeping IP services running for X customer and on-call and crazy shifts is what I would expect. I have really basic certs like A+, Net+, Sec+, CCENT, and ITIL v3 Foundation.

So I am turning 40 next week, and some may call it a mid-life crisis, but I want to move onto something new. I have toyed with the idea of getting into coding / programming. I know the field can be quite lucrative once mastered, but the real appeal is the ability to work from home / freelance in retirement. I know full well I would be starting from the ground-up. So my question to you forum pals is... is this idea crazy? Is it too late to the game? What language should I focus on? What foundation is necessary, and what is the language of the future?

Thanks in advance.
 

Tenks

Bronze Knight of the Realm
14,163
606
May not be super popular of an opinion but honestly being a programmer is more of a young person's game. You have to get in young to get hired and you have to roll that seniority up to better jobs. As a 40+ year old person with no previous experience you won't be an attractive candidate for an entry level job.
 
  • 1Solidarity
Reactions: 1 user

Asshat wormie

2023 Asshat Award Winner
<Gold Donor>
16,820
30,964
FoH pals. Need some real advice.

I have 15 years with General Dynamics, IT in an extremely niche field of secure voice communications for the government. Contract work with an SCI clearance. This is so niche that there's about two dozen sites in the entire world. On top of that, this work is on call 24/7 and manned 24/7 with shift work. Currently working in the Middle East to maximize cash.

Long story short.. I have had enough of this shit. I've saved buckets and ready to move on. My heart isn't in this and I have basically stuck around so long because of the golden handcuffs (overseas tax-free pay). I want a semi-normal 9-5 job again. The work I do now has little crossover to the private sector. A lot is old TDM telephony and some basic IP with a Voice over IP gateway connection (DISA manages this, I know little about it). Don't get me wrong, I am extremely good at what I do. I just have very little options for work locations and would make maybe $70k at best in the states. I have lazily pursued IP / Cisco certifications, but I can't get excited about it as it is yet another service based industry. Keeping IP services running for X customer and on-call and crazy shifts is what I would expect. I have really basic certs like A+, Net+, Sec+, CCENT, and ITIL v3 Foundation.

So I am turning 40 next week, and some may call it a mid-life crisis, but I want to move onto something new. I have toyed with the idea of getting into coding / programming. I know the field can be quite lucrative once mastered, but the real appeal is the ability to work from home / freelance in retirement. I know full well I would be starting from the ground-up. So my question to you forum pals is... is this idea crazy? Is it too late to the game? What language should I focus on? What foundation is necessary, and what is the language of the future?

Thanks in advance.
I dont understand half of the acronyms you used but learn Erlang and leverage your telephony/communication experience to get work in telecommunication field maybe? A lot of telecommunication systems are built on Erlang. Plus its esoteric enough, and rare enough, that age might not be a huge issue. And if that doesnt work, at least you can use erlang knowledge to pick up Elixir and go make CRUD apps (gross).
 

Jysin

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
6,275
4,027
After reading T Tenks post, I blew through a load of articles about programming & age. Pretty disappointing to read, honestly.

Software Developers Are Terrified Of What Happens When They Hit 30
Silicon Valley's obsession with youth, summed up in one chart

Don't think I want to pivot in that direction if it's such a young guns game. I had no idea.

I'm just sick to death of this career. Crazy thing is, I make silly money here. I am up to about $190k. I just hate this mind numbing job and am sick to death of the Middle East. I desperately need a new career and have some semblance of a quality of life balance. I honestly don't really care much about the pay at this point.

*Ranting here now more than anything.
 

chaos

Buzzfeed Editor
17,324
4,839
idk, you have the clearance that you can use as leverage, along with your experience, to get into pretty much any IT role you want. GD will probably help you if you ask, many of those larger companies will. Personally, I wouldn't go for coding but I work with some older devs. One in particular is ancient. If you want it bad enough, you can do it, and have the leverage to get a decent salary while at it. Is there anything else you're into or find interesting?
 

alavaz

Trakanon Raider
2,001
713
Programming in silicon valley or on games is a young mans game - but not government. If you want to stay in defense and program and I guarantee you can do it. Java and C# are probably the two most prevalent but all languages get used. I've been getting hit up to write Go for a project - I've never actually written any Go - but the dude is willing to let me learn on the job. I work for GDIT as well, they'll definitely swing you into something (probably in the DC area) if you can convince them you're willing to learn. Hell, even on the site I work at now, they just promoted a "software tester" (who generally don't write any code) to a developer because she was willing to learn and they can't find cleared people to take the job.