A funny reality check on what software developers actually do all day, and explaining to relatives that I do not know how to hack their ex's account.
"Neil, marunong ka mag-hack ng Facebook?"
Tuwing may family reunion, ito talaga ang pinaka-kinatatakutan kong marinig.
A random cousin I have literally never met in my life walks up to me with a plate of lumpia, leans in, and whispers: "Neil, diba nagko-computer ka? Can you hack the Facebook account of my ex?"
PinSON, I do not even know what branch of the family you belong to, and honestly I barely survived my midterms last term. I definitely cannot hack Facebook. The only thing I can reliably do is stare at a button for three hours wondering why it is five pixels to the left.
The Hacker Myth vs What We Actually Do
People outside tech always assume programmers are doing some 300 IQ rocket science behind the screen.
The truth is way more embarrassing.
Most of my day is spent sitting in pajama shorts, drinking cold coffee, and typing the exact same error message into Google for the tenth time. If StackOverflow or ChatGPT ever went down for 24 hours, about 90% of the world's software development would immediately grind to a halt. We are all just trying our best to figure things out as we go.
Fighting With My Own Code
The funniest part of this job is that the person causing 100% of my problems is usually me from three days ago.
You open an old file you wrote last week and think: "Who wrote this garbage logic?" Then you check git blame, see your own name, and quietly close the tab in shame.
Then after two hours of arguing with the compiler, you realize you just forgot a comma or misspelled a variable name. The relief is instant, but the humility is permanent.
So What Am I Doing With My Life?
When people ask what I do, I just tell them I build things for the web and try to make sure they do not break when someone clicks them.
It is messy, humbling, and sometimes frustrating, but getting a small project to finally work on your screen makes all the headaches worth it.