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Discussion on: I don't code outside of work

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jasperhorn profile image
JasperHorn

I think the expectation also largely depends on your situation.

Personally, I have been programming since I was young. I dislike it when I don't get around to doing programming in my free time. That's not because of expectations of employers (or anyone else, for that matter) but because I like doing it and I want to do more of the programming where I'm free to choose what I want to do.

The thing is, though, that when I'm able to find the time to do programming, it often feels like I'm one of the people at the company who does more of it than most. I mean, I don't talk about it too often, but when I do, I can often tell about the nice thing that I'm working on and why I like it. Most others don't really talk about such things at all, or if they do, are much vaguer about that. This has been the case at multiple different employers.

Maybe that's because of where I live. Maybe it's because of the employers I seem to pick. I don't know. But there definitely seem to be factors at play here.

I should also note that my projects often don't involve "keeping with the latest technologies". Sometimes, I work with things that happen to be new. Other times, I work with something that isn't new at all, but is new to me. Often, my hobby projects have a definite distance from what I do at work (e.g. I don't really use my main programming language at work in my personal projects).

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devdrake0 profile image
Si

And that's perfectly fine.

If you want to do stuff in your own time, and have the time to do so, it's only ever going to help you.

Perhaps others around you are vague because they don't have the time to do it in their own time, but think that admitting it will make them seem less committed.

Continue doing what you like doing, perhaps just be mindful that others might feel guilty/bad/inadequate so don't push them for further clarity as it might make them feel worse.

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jasperhorn profile image
JasperHorn

Agreed. I don't really push. I'll be excited about my ePaper-based project instead (until my progress runs into the ground and I abandon that project ;) )

It's indeed a good idea not to push (and I'd like to think that I don't). And I'd never say other have to do something like what I'm doing. I was simply describing what I do as the context to a situation where I do not experience pressure to code outside work (and I don't think others do - not too much anyway - either).

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devdrake0 profile image
Si

I was simply describing what I do as the context to a situation where I do not experience pressure to code outside work (and I don't think others do - not too much anyway - either).

I wasn't inferring you do put pressure on others, my apologies if it came across like that. I was just making an observation based on your reply :-)