The process of producing a set of instructions that tells a computer how to complete a task is known as programming.
A number of computer programming languages, such as JavaScript, Python, and C++, can be used to program.
Now programming is not easy to perform but a few steps here and there can get you on your way to becoming a pro in this field.
Why do programmers get paid so much?
Programmers who are well established in their field of work earn lots of income daily, monthly and hourly from this work due to its slightly complex rules.
In 2019, the average income for a computer programmer was $92,610.
In 2019, comparable positions earned the following average salary: Computer Systems Administrators earned $88,410 per year, while Web Developers earned $82,370.
Quora user Toni Kostelac, who is Full Stack Senior Software Engineer at Independent Software Consultant, broke this question down to the simplest and the most-digestive manner, which any newcomer can understand.
“Unfortunately most of the answers here miss the point of the question,” wrote Toni Kostelac, “Software engineers are paid well because it’s one of the hardest jobs out there.”
He continued: “Here’s just a handful of things we have to do on a daily basis:
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Explore a completely different domain
“I know you’re a programmer, but here, figure out rocket science and then build software that will make this rocket do X”
“Oh you’re a programmer, here, figure out medical science and build us a software package that helps keep outpatients alive”
“Oh so you write code, hm… can you write some code that patches our plane’s autopilot software?”
All of the above can happen to a team of software engineers in a matter of a year. The ability to learn new things, fast, and become proficient enough to do some work in that domain is crucial. Not many people can do it and the mental stress from switching contexts can be heavy. Not to mention that your family won’t have a clue what you are mumbling about half the time.
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Solve complex abstract issues caused by someone else’s code
You come to some code because there is an issue, you now need to “load up” the code in your brain, understand what the original author meant to do and figure out what went wrong, then fix it, in line with what the author generally meant, or find a way to do it your own way and slot it into the original code.
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Estimate the amount of work needed to complete a group of tasks, even if they’ve never completed such tasks
Yes I said estimate, doesn’t sound that hard, but oftentimes this estimate is miss-communicated as a sure deadline, so whether you can do it or not doesn’t matter, over time, sleepless nights, and insane amounts of coffee/energy drinks will occur
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Read minds
I don’t mean that we’re telepathic but what I do mean is that we need to extrapolate what the client wants based on their poor choice of words to describe their requirements. And whatever it is that we build – it’s never what they wanted. So you spend hours, days even weeks and months to present them with something and at the end they go: “well, actually, now that I see it, it’s not what I meant” so you have to scrap all that hard work and start again.
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Skill
A good software engineer loves the job, and ultimately it’s what pushes them to become better and better, until one day they turn around and realize they are a 10x-er. They are able to produce a lot of functionality, in a well-written manner, tested, documented with all the bells and whistles the client wanted in an impressive amount of time.
Given all of the above, and more, it’s no wonder why software engineers get paid well. We are not just coding monkeys, or as the t-shirt says.”
Best-paying cities for computer programmers
The metropolitan areas that pay the highest salary in the computer programmer profession are Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Charlottesville, and Redding. Seattle, Washington Francisco, California, San Jose, California, Charlottesville, Virginia, Redding, and California.
