What is the most difficult thing about being a programmer? JavaRush graduates and students talk about it

A sedentary lifestyle, working with outdated code and searching for bugs - developers, like people in other professions, face difficulties in their work. You can have a long discussion about what is the most difficult thing for a programmer, or you can simply ask the developers for their opinion. We were interested in finding out what makes developers angry, so we conducted a survey and compiled the results in this text. Our survey involved students and graduates of JavaRush - both those who are still taking the course and those who have already got a job. This is important to understand because the perception of work difficulties differs for these categories. For example, these are the problems highlighted by JavaRush students who are still on the way to their first job: Working programmers think differently: when they gain real experience, developers’ opinions about the difficulties in development change. For example, the first problem for working programmers is the lack of specifications, while for students it is working with legacy code. For background, let’s also add that among working JavaRush graduates, most of them are those who got a job in a product company, outsourced developers are in second place, and only 3.8% of developers work in the field of freelancing. Let's look at the difficulties in the work in more detail - with comments from the developers. At the same time, we’ll find out what developers like most about their work and how their relationship with remote work developed.

Lack of specifications

The lack of specifications, that is, descriptions of the behavior of the program that needs to be developed, is the first problem on the list of difficulties for working programmers (it was noted by 69.2% of developers). As we mentioned above, what's interesting is that students and job seekers have a slightly different idea of ​​what the top programming problem will be. For this category, this is working with legacy code ( outdated code - ed. ) - 45.5% of respondents voted for it. This difference in answers suggests that students do not fully understand the problems they will encounter in practice. Among students, the problem of lack of specifications is in second place (36.4% of people voted for it).

Here’s what the programmers said about the lack of specifications: “I’m new to working, and I don’t yet understand how the application works,” says Denis. “Without understanding the nuances of the product and without proper specification, it is difficult to make changes or refactor old/specific code,” says Andrey. “It’s difficult to switch from task to task in the absence of documentation or specifications,” notes Roman. “Due to inaccurate technical specifications, [you have to] come up with a solution, which is then criticized and requires rework,” says Veronica. “Lack of clear terms of reference in 90% of cases,” says Denis. “There are no clear technical specifications; customers themselves don’t know what they want. Already at the development stage, the task can change dramatically,” adds Andrey.

Estimating task deadlines and working with legacy code

Unclear deadlines were in second place on the list of difficulties of being a programmer. 42.3% of working IT workers voted for them. At the same time, students ranked this problem only in fifth place (18.2% of votes). Most often, programmers complain that the employer incorrectly estimates the deadlines for completing tasks or that, having little experience, they themselves cannot calculate the correct deadlines. “Sometimes I’m not sure of the time frame within which I’ll complete a task and I set a higher estimate (estimate - ed.), although I complete it faster. Sometimes this stresses out clients,” says Igor. “Deadlines are set out of thin air and by other people, often not related to the development,” says Denis. “The time for a task in which there is no experience is difficult to determine,” adds Nikolay. Working with outdated code received as many votes among working programmers as vague deadlines - 42.3%. Let us remind you that the students put her in first place (45.5% of the votes).

Too many rallies

Perhaps the problem with rallies in the field of IT development has worsened during the pandemic. There were already a lot of rallies. But the online format has made it even more difficult to get to the heart of conversations. 38.5% of working developers noted that meetings make their work more difficult. At the same time, students gave 18.2% of votes for them, probably because they had not yet encountered this problem in reality. “A lot of time is spent on empty communication, and no one canceled the deadlines,” says Peter.

Passive lifestyle

Constantly sitting at a computer was ranked fifth among the difficulties in the work of programmers (34.6% of the votes of working developers). Students and job seekers ranked this difficulty in fourth place with 36.4% of the votes. The programmers noted that due to their sedentary lifestyle they had health problems: cervical osteochondrosis, “bad back,” and excess weight.

Communicate with other people and find bugs

The need to communicate with other people and look for errors received the same number of votes - 23.1% each among working programmers and took fifth place in the ranking of difficulties. Interestingly, no one among the students voted for communication problems. This is most likely due to the fact that newcomers have not yet had time to work in IT teams. At the same time, 36.4% of students and job seekers voted for finding bugs.

Office or remote work: which is more difficult?

Although at the beginning of quarantine many were happy about working remotely, according to our survey, there were quite a lot of people dissatisfied with this format of work. Those surveyed note that it is difficult for them to concentrate at home, the boundaries between work and rest are blurred, and it is difficult to maintain a work-life balance. There are also those who are dissatisfied with the office: they are mainly bothered by the fact that they have to spend several hours getting to work and home. “The disadvantage of an office is travel time. The disadvantage of remote work is that there are many temptations that can distract and the fact that the house gradually turns into an office,” says Igor. “There is a lot of unnecessary communication in the office,” notes Denis. “The office is worse because I'm an introvert. It’s easier for me to communicate with people virtually,” adds Alexander. “Remote work is definitely [more difficult]. Overcomplicated communications, lack of contact with the team. Remote communication tools do not allow me to solve assigned tasks as productively as I do in the office,” says Denis. “Working in an office is more difficult if the office is far away, because it takes a long time to get there. I don't want to waste time. But if the office is right next to my nose, then I will definitely choose the office. There is a working environment there,” says Vladislav.

Bonuses of working as a programmer: high salary, creativity and career growth

For balance, we asked survey participants about the benefits of working as a programmer. Most often, developers noted high salaries, good working conditions, interest in work, career prospects, and the possibility of relocation to other countries. “Constant logic puzzles, comfortable conditions and good salaries,” says Igor. “High salary in exchange for the opportunity to solve interesting problems. Very serious opportunities for growth,” says Denis. “Creative, calm, measured, and most importantly interesting work,” Roman. “I feel the joy of creating something new or fixing something old. Programming is an eternal puzzle with a thousand solutions, the dopamine addict in me is happy. At the moment, this is probably the simplest creative activity after frying eggs,” Denis. “Interesting tasks, good working conditions (salary, culture and working atmosphere in IT companies), opportunities for constant development and training,” Alexey.

“You can work 24 hours a day, or you can work with your head. The profession of a programmer is just about this. You yourself (depending on the task) determine what you need to do, when and to what extent. All you need is a computer, a head and this very task,” Arthur. What do you think is the most difficult thing about being a programmer? What's the best part? We are waiting for your opinion in the comments ;)