First letter

My dear friend, Phil,

I am writing you because I am thinking a lot these days about my present and future. I know you will understand me, because you are like me: we are both coders, and we both love creating softwares.

In the past few years I have been thinking about more and more about what I should start with my profession. Where should I work? What should I do?

I am often not enjoying my job at all, and I am not proud of what I am accomplishing at work. I feel my work had no tangible impact on the world. Building complicated systems, maintaining them, writing clean code for someone who is called the almighty customer. I am supposed to create “value” for someone else who wants nothing else, but higher profits in her own business.

After a day at work when I go home to my wife, she asks me how my day was. I usually cannot reply her nothing that would be meaningful to her. Weeks and months are passing, and nothing important is happening to me at work.

I see many people around me who are desperately trying to convince themselves: „I have 15+ years of expertise, I did not start yesterday.”. When I am hearing this, I know they do not know what they should start with their professional life.

Competition is all around. Jobs are outsourced, there is always someone who can do the job for less money. Younger generations work much faster than we do. The business cuts costs all the time. Where will we be in 10 or 20 years?

Anyway, I think this is not the main issue. What I believe is important is to love what we do. Our passion and enthusiasm will help us out in the long-term.

I am full of energy now, because I decided to share my insights and ideas with you from the previous years. I hope you will like it, and you will also share yours with me in the hope that we help each other to find the joy in our recent work, or to find something new that helps us to be passionate about something again.

Guess what! I believe we are lucky, because we are coders. We have the talent and opportunity to change the world with the software we create.

The only question is: for what purpose should we use our talent? Whom should we serve with it?

I think we will find easily some answers together. If you have anything to tell me, do not hesitate to write me!

Yours,
Istvan