Who here is not working on web apps/server code?
I feel like reading HN sometimes there is the assumption that everyone who is a programmer by default works on web stuff (front end/back end).
I'm curious to hear about what other jobs/domains exist outside of this and how it is working on non-web stuff.
I haven't made a website of any kind since a C&C: Red Alert fan site somewhere on GeoCities in the late 90s.
I work on graphics drivers. They're hard write and even harder to debug. You have to be a huge nerd about graphics to get very far. It's a relatively rare skill set, but new, younger, nerdier people keep on coming. Most people in graphics are quiet and are just keeping the industry functioning (me). It's applied computer architecture in a combination of continuous learning and intuition from experience.
I build audio software engines mostly. This is highly enjoyable to me, because I get to create new sounds and new audio effects with results being near instant. Upgrading old Amiga ProTracker .MOD file playback to not sound so 8-bit and low samplerate is a fun challenge too.
Compressing Lamport Signatures is a side-project of mine too.
I don’t work on web apps at all. Most of my time goes into security tooling and analysis pipelines.
A lot of it is closer to systems work than application development: parsing large datasets, automating analysis, dealing with flaky inputs, and building things that are mostly run headless.
The feedback loop is slower than web work, but the problems tend to be deeper and longer-lived. You spend less time on UX and more time thinking about correctness, edge cases, and failure modes.
I suspect there are many people here doing similar non-web work, it’s just less visible because there’s no UI to screenshot or product to demo.
I did do web work for a long time, but I grew tired of it, so these days I just do contract work on legacy systems and platform modernizations. Some of those systems may have a web UX, some do not. But the work is more about refactoring architectures to get off brittle tech that nobody knows anymore, and move on to tech stacks where you can actually find talent to run it.
It is a different experience to be sure - I work on stuff that nobody likes and where most people are surprised it still exists. And my goals tend to be about shutting down, not growing. I succeed with every server we kill, every product we turn off, every customer we get rid of.
I am not working on web or server stuff.
I'm building a better primitive for infrastructure via microvm's (think virtual machine but fast and easy to use).
I am about to launch a complete rewrite of this: https://github.com/BinSquare/ERA
I work on industrial automation software (SCADA/HMI, MES, PLC comms protocols, etc.).