iamacp.com - I Am A Computer Programmer
All about the daily work issues of a Java/J2EE Computer Programmer

I’ve thought about writing this for awhile. Being a computer programmer for a few years really makes you understand how the industry works. It’s not all fun and games.  IT like any industry has it’s fair share of pros and cons.

I’ve dealt with my share of crap including the last company I worked for. I’ve learned many lessons that I think any person thinking about entering IT should be aware of.

Important Lessons

• You are replaceable – No matter how smart you are or how much money you make you will always be seen as an employee. Companies look out for their best interest and best interests only. If they can find someone to do your job and pay them half of what you make they will.

• Low Balled – It’s been my experience contracting that companies will always try to lowball you. They will always try to hire an employee for under the market value. They will claim low cost of living and great benefits. That’s nonsense. Never fall for that crap. Anyone who falls for that is lowering the wages for everyone else. I also have a friend whom they tried to give way under market value because they assumed he was naïve.

• You don’t need your current company – You heard me right. Even if you think your valuable to your current company you’re not. You should think about yourself first. To keep up to date with your skills to advance in your career there’s a point usually around the 1-2 year mark in a job that you must move on. The only way to increase you salary is usually to move to a new position. If you think a company is going to give you a raise when they can have a more productive worker at a low cost you’re dreaming.

• People Are Fake – This applies to basically anywhere you work. People will never really tell you what they mean. If there’s a problem they will usually say there is no problem.

• Shut Up And All Will Be Ok - Odds are if there is a problem and you never say anything usually the problem won’t get worse but it won’t get any better either. It’s only when you potentially confront the issue 50% of the time will it get worse. Choose your battles carefully.

• Don’t Let Your Employer Control You – Employers think that since it workers get paid above average wages that they own them. Employers will also try to meddle in employees business. It’s happened to me and other people whom I’ve know. Keep your mouth shut and only share as much as you as you deem relevant. Remember employers will use any and all information they know about you to their advantage.

• Companies Will Look For A Reason To Get Rid Of You - If the management doesn’t like a certain employee they will wait until they make one critical mistake and they will be gone. That’s all the reason they need to let the employee go.

I’ve had my fair share of debugging Struts related problems over the past few years. I was doing some research awhile back and found this page that discusses some Common Struts Errors. I really think this will be useful to anyone that works with the Struts framework in Java. It really can save a ton of time when you have no idea what some of those sometimes cryptic error messages mean.

Have you ever wondered why the hardest bugs to spot are sometimes the easiest to fix? Me too. I’ve encountered many situations where I knew what I needed to fix but had no idea how to fix broken code. I’d look and look forever in frustration for a solution and finally I would find it. The solution was usually that I would add maybe just one or a few lines of code in the right places and the functionality of the application would work as expected.

It’s crazy to spend hours tracking down a problem and to realize all i had to do was use a few lines of code. I guess that’s just the way it works some time.