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I have programmed for 23 years in the domains desktop, server and web. In the desktop domain, I feel at home, especially when working with WPF, whereas I consider server and web interesting challenges, but nothing more. In my last 2 jobs, I was working as an ASP.NET web developer, trying to get used to the thought that desktop programming is out of fashion and I will not find a job where I can do it anyway. But that didn't work out. I was so discontent that I had to find a new job both of the times.
Now I found a job as a WPF desktop developer, and I feel much better now. So my recommendation: Go find a new job. That's not as big a deal as you might think, even if you're already older. The software developer market is currently very employee-friendly.
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Do you change your job/ wait for another job oppotunity or do you force yourself to work in that environment anyway?
i would try to switch the job immediately and will work for minimal wage it the case were my job is what i do in my spare time.
in case where i cannot find a job that also suits me as a hobby, i have no problem in doing a dull mechanical job for an average salary especially if it has some spare time to wonder your thoughts.
anything is better that programming what you don't like in an environment where you have opposite philosophies and culture.
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You can try to bend the current job to your preferences: I once took a VB.NET job because I was working in C++ with no prospect of getting any real hands on experience of .NET. Within 18 months, my new employer switched to C#, partly because of relentless promotion of C# on my part  I've always found that the key thing isn't to say how awful you think the work you're doing right now is, but to just get on and find a way to make it better. Build test tools using your preferred tech. Demonstrate to other people on the team how much less tedious their jobs are with your funky new tools. This also breaks up the grind a bit too. Bored with that dull or tricky problem? Go and hack your tooling for half an hour to break things up a bit.
Or, you just wait it out until the right job comes along: I moved from the job above to my current employer after being touted as an ecommerce expert (no, just no) and railroaded into using a product called Actinic, which at the time was a dinosaur and a train wreck of a product. I hated that 3 month project so much that I left at the first opportunity when a contact from a previous job got in touch.
Generally though, if it's programming with a decent toolset, in a C like language, then it's all good. Apart from when there's a toxic office environment, but that's another dimension entirely!
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Find the fun in what you're doing or lower your expectations.
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You grin and bear it.
They don't pay you because it is fun, they pay you to come back and do it again tomorrow.
Pragmatism is a necessary survival tool.
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It's not just some environment/language you don't like. Sometimes idiotic new management comes in, the company moves to a new location, whatever.
Don't stay at a place which you hate to go to. Life's too short, jobs are disposable. Just go get another one where you're more likely to be happy.
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I immediately thought of the Crosby, Still, and Nash song, “Love the One You’re With”
Having a job - paying the bills - is obviously a priority for most people.
However, if the task you’re assigned is so onerous that you’re repulsed to your core, or the job is so far off from your career path that it’s just not worth it: find a different job.
If, however, you can bear down, and just do the job, perhaps you can find something in those technologies that you can learn to appreciate, and perhaps learn some useful techniques.
Life is learning, sometimes learning about things outside yourself, sometimes about yourself in particular.
Good luck!
Time is the differentiation of eternity devised by man to measure the passage of human events.
- Manly P. Hall
Mark
Just another cog in the wheel
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wow that's me.
I used to do a bit of embedded professionally in one of my past jobs, I loved it so much that I was looking for a new job to just be doing that, and keeping it as a home hobby also. But couldn't find work nearby for that, and not in a position to move either.
Now I'm doing Web Development, it pays well and has great benefits but I miss the days of hooking up a jtag debugger to an embedded device and stepping through the instructions and figuring out how much data I can pack into a single int for flags and such, and where every byte and every instruction counted.
Web dev is okay, and I'm helping people directly which is nice, but it's not just as interesting to me as embedded work. This might be my last career move, at my age I'm more concerned about bulking up my retirement and making sure I have great healthcare for my family. But once or twice a year I still build something for myself in the embedded area, to kind of keep track on what's going on there and not completely loose those skills
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If it's just a change for the duration of the project I'll stay. If it's going to be what I'll be doing for the rest of my carreer I'll start looking for a new place to work.
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I basically love programming. And paycheck dollars spend the same if they are from embedded development or web programming. Also, since C++ is my tool of choice, it tends to point me toward interesting jobs.
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Sorry for the late reply but I was busy studying. This is actually what I was wondering... If there are, let say 1000 jobs for a java developer and few for c++, do you only look for jobs where c++ is used or you start to learn a language that you never used and don't like?
modified 3-Jun-21 21:01pm.
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Yeah, I have a few things to say about that.
If it's Java versus C++ today, it's 1,000 Java jobs to 400 C++ jobs. If you're any good at C++, you can specialize on the tool you like, even if it is not the most popular tool.
But if it's Java versus FORTRAN, perl, or haskell, there are 1,000 Java jobs and just a few perl jobs. You have to recognize that the world has moved on, and most people think your favorite tool is no longer useful, even if you are deeply in love with that tool. In this case, it is your love for an obsolete, obscure, or highly specialized tool that is the problem. It's holding you back, and you need to learn one of the two or three most popular tools, and keep working with it until you come to love it.
The trick is telling these two cases apart when your own mind may be clouded. I guess one way is to look at the TIOBE index of most popular programming languages. If your favorite tool is in the top 5, don't worry. If it's down around 15, and there are languages on the list that are more popular than your favorite, and that you have never heard of, or maybe think are dumb tools, then maybe it's time to move on.
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You are right. I started to be aware of that. I think learning basics of c++ has widen my horizons and helped me progess in my java programming but I understand why java took over. I wanted to learn how to program GUI but in c++ it's a nightmare. The other thing is memory managamenet. I didn't even touch it yet... Otherwise I wouldn't write a single line in c++. Thank's for your insights. I focus on my java now. I'm just frustrated by the java books. They are so badly written, but I got a nice advice from another forum user to read oracle documentation and it really helped me a lot. I regained my faith back 
modified 3-Jun-21 21:01pm.
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I have yet to be able to work on an interesting project with the languages and tools I would like. I have been programming since 1972. Business programming is deadly dull, however people are willing to pay for it. So I do the best work I can for them. My home programming projects are what I use to satisfy my itch for interesting things to do with the languages and tools I want to use.
TLDR; If you are being paid to program, do your best. You can have fun at home.
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As Yahoo Mail subscribers probably know by now, Yahoo has started abusing its Mail subscribers by putting up modal dialogs that hinder its use. So I am looking to change over to another provider, and I'd like to have a number of accounts (e.g., one for only personal E-mails, one for business, one for stupid subscriptions, etc.), so I'd like to get a provider that makes it easy to switch over from one to the other. I have multiple Yahoo accounts now, but I accommodate it by having the different accounts logged in via different browsers.
I suppose Google is the default choice, but I am but concerned with privacy there.
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swampwiz wrote: I accommodate it by having the different accounts logged in via different browsers
If you're using Firefox, try the multi account containers[^] plugin. It makes it much easier to log in to the same site with different accounts in different tabs.
swampwiz wrote: Now that Yahoo Mail is becoming unbearable ...
Welcome to 2005! 
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Richard Deeming wrote: If you're using Firefox, try the multi account containers[^] plugin. It makes it much easier to log in to the same site with different accounts in different tabs.
Actually, this is possible in Chrome without any plugin.
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devenv.exe wrote: Actually, this is possible in Chrome without any plugin.
How so?
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Oh, but that's only for google apps. I was thinking you meant for all apps, which is what the firefox add-in allows.
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Free != Good
If you choose a free service, you must put up with whatever they give you. All free services will eventually deteriorate into advert servers and/or data abusers.
Solution: Own domain, own mail server.
Yes, more work, but manageable. Static IP or VPS needed, of course.
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I am on PlusNet and they give you a free email address with the service. But it is UK only.
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Make sure you've got a good backup of your email though. My parents are with PlusNet, and all of their stored email disappeared a couple of years ago.
It was almost as if someone connected using POP3 without the "leave on server" option, but they only ever connect using IMAP.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Of course ...
Richard Deeming wrote: Make sure you've got a good backup of ...
... everything that is important.
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