Why I Love Being A Programmer
A Sincere Open Letter From a Software Engineer
How it started
It all started when I did not know which course to enroll in and decided to do Computer Science. It was the course that many people my age were taking. It was also a recommendation from my brother.
The first year was terrible. I had no clue what I was doing in a Computer Science course. If you were like me who had never been exposed to code and you see it for the first time, you would think that it was something out of the Matrix.
I remember the first project assigned to us. It was about bank account management where you would simulate an ATM where people would see their balance, withdraw money, deposit money, etc.
Things that now seem pretty straightforward, but back then, using C to do the project was like a herculean task.
As expected, I failed C in the first semester. I mean, my solution to any problem I had in my code was to delete everything and try again. Debug? Sounded too complicated and a waste of time.
Show me your friends and I will show you your future.
Since I sucked at programming and most of my colleagues did as well and they seemed not to care, I decided that a better approach was to hang out with the smartest guys in the class.
Best decision ever.
I joined a group with 2 other classmates. We were not friends yet, but they accepted me in the group (Lord knows why).
“It is useful to take your place at the bottom of a hierarchy. It can aid in the development of gratitude and humility.” —Jordan Peterson
They introduced me to Python and Git (which were not as popular as they are now), and the concept of brainstorming in every project to come up with ideas. These two dudes would go the extra mile in every project, small or not.
I would just sit there listening, wanting to share some ideas, but what can you say when people like that surround you and you are far behind them? Listen carefully and learn.
That’s exactly what I did.
“Humility: It’s better to presume ignorance and invite learning than to assume sufficient knowledge and risk consequent blindness.” —Jordan Peterson
Although my contributions to projects were small, I always tried to show my effort, and if they stayed up late, I would also stay up late with them.
“Gratitude: There are people whose expertise exceeds your own, and you should be wisely pleased about that.”—Jordan Peterson
During the project presentations, the teacher would always go for the weakest link — me, like a predator smelling fear.
As the years passed, I started to connect the dots, and my contributions increased gradually. I became more confident about sharing my ideas when we brainstormed.
Bugs after bug, I started to enjoy being a programmer. I've been working professionally for the last 7 years and here are the 3 things I love the most about our field:
1. Ability To Work In Different Fields
In case you don't know, I'm from a small country called Cape Verde. After getting my degree, I was presented with an opportunity to move to Portugal and work in a big telecommunications company.
And this is where we start to see why I love being a programmer. I don't see many other courses that I could have taken that would give me the flexibility to just move to another country and have my course recognized and accepted like Computer Science.
I was asked once during an interview if I would mind working for a pharma company and, worse, for an adult content company.
Being able to work in different sectors such as e-commerce, finance, energy, etc. is one of the things that I enjoy the most about being a programmer.
This allows you to learn about new things. Things that you never thought existed in the first place. Of course, you won't be an expert in those fields, but still.
My experience working in a finance company opened my eyes to how credits work and how to get the many papers I need today when trying to buy a house, for instance.
Working in telecommunications taught me how a company knows whether they can install their service in a building or not, and how they negotiate between them if a different company has the service in a building where a customer is requesting their services.
2. Getting to know people from across the world
Never in a million years would I imagine working with people from Asia, South America, Europe, Africa, etc., all in one team.
No joking. I was on a team where I worked with people from Egypt, Romania, Spain, Argentina, Pakistan, and India. Looks like a football team with such diversity.
3. See your job have a real impact on people’s life
One of the most rewarding aspects of being a programmer is seeing how your work affects people's lives. Whether it's a small internal tool or a large-scale application, the software you build has real-world consequences.
I've worked on projects that made processes more efficient, saved companies money, and improved user experiences. Something is fulfilling about knowing that the code you write isn't just lines on a screen—it's making a difference.
Final Thoughts
This writing is not a promotion or an incentive for anyone who wants to pursue a career in Computer Science. Being a programmer is something that I learned to love, but there were days when I had to pay attention to my mental health, and I found out that working out keeps me from going nuts.
I often see people pursuing or being incentivized to pursue this path based on salary and the possibility of working from anywhere in the world. I'm not saying that you cannot have both, but like in everything, it takes time and hard work.
I'm still trying to get rich coding. Let's see what the future holds for me.