What do regular people think of programming?

Question

Let me clarify the title first. Most of the people around me are just normal computer users who never heard of C++, Pascal and other programming languages. I've noticed that these people tend to think that programming is just "creating something on the computer", they never bother thinking about what it is really about.

I see it as a kind of ignorance from my point of view. When I meet with a "normal person" and he asks me what do I do and I answer like "I program", he sometimes looks like he doesn't consider programming as a proper job, but when I ask why, he is not able to give me a clear answer.

From what I've experienced, some people think that all we do is just we drag some buttons and stuff from place to place a it all does everything but itself, without any work from our side.

Do you often encounter similar problems?

Answer 1

When people hear you're a programmer, they think you can fix their computer and then never leave you alone.

Answer 2

Well, let me put it to you this way: I'm a doctor of Computer Science. My mother-in-law thinks that this makes me qualified to fix her printer.

Answer 3

It's not a problem if you don't care what other people think.

The usual thinking is anyway along the lines of "how hard can it be, it's just typing after all", and most of the people won't know any better until trying it themselves.

Answer 4

"Hey bro, my wifi doesn't work, fix it pls"
"Hey bro, my AV is going crazy with some new virus, can u have a look?"
"Hey bro, the cam of my laptop is blinking, can't you fix that?"

"Programmer????? You make games?"

Answer 5

Yeah, I can get that from time to time. But the big thing for me is, "who is this regular person to me, and why do I care?"

If this person is my manager or customer, it's important that they understand what they're asking for, so that they have some degree of what to expect from me. If I'm looking to get respect from the ladies at a bar, maybe bringing up the fact that I'm a programmer isn't the best way to do that.

Answer 6

Programming? They don't have any idea at all, I just say Software Developer, so they could have an idea like "Oh he develops software then..."

Answer 7

Often times, they have almost no idea what I do, so they dismiss it as not important. I like to use some of the methods detailed in this answer to explain. Once they kind-of understand I'm like an architect, only for computers, they seem to not dismiss me as much.

Answer 8

I just say a bit more specifically: "I build software" or "I build webapplications". You'll get more "Wow's".

Answer 9

When you tell "normal people" you are "Computer Science" graduate and do programming, they think you can fix every think on their computer! So when they approach you to solve their silly "msn messenger" problem and you told them you don't know about this, they say, DAH you are computer science graduate, don't you supposed to solve this problem! And i find it very frustrating because there is no way i can give them understanding of what really "Computer Science" means.