If Being A Programmer Were Like Being An Air Traffic Controller

Andrew Wulf

• 1 min read
  • Every time your software crashed, 300 people would die
  • You get new tools every 30 years, whether you need them or not
  • Everyone has to use the same language
  • A good day is coming home and not seeing your work on the news
  • A bad day is coming home and seeing your work at the top of every news program being dissected in detail by experts
  • If you sneak a peek at Digg or Reddit while you work, everyone knows it
  • No matter how much work comes your way you have to deliver in the time allotted
  • After just a few minor bugs you would be fired
  • If your tools stopped working for any reason, you then have to work blind and from memory
  • The video game you play has only 1 life
  • The project manager is the government
  • When you use someone else's software, you need to know the programmer personally and how long they've been on duty
  • If you do your job well, no one will notice

Have a nice day being a programmer!