Pros
1. Good Pay: As compared to other jobs and professions, software programming job's pay is high. 2. Portable Skills: You learn a lot of things like programming language, software tools etc. in one company and can apply that knowledge in another company. When you switch from one company to another, you also get a good salary hike. 3. Work Anywhere: You can work from anywhere. All you need is one laptop and the internet connection. Work From Home is a very good facility in this field. 4. Comfortable Working Environment: You work in a very comfortable environment. You always have access to fast internet connection. You always have air condition office, nice comfortable chair. You don't have to worry about the harsh weather conditions outside. Heavy rainfall, hailstorm, cold snow, hot or cold weather cannot affect your work. 5. Continuous Learning Curve in all directions: You always keep on learning new things in your office, in your project. Your knowledge continuously increases with your experience. You always remain updated with the new technologies and inventions.
Cons
1. Global Competition and Outsourcing: We live in a very well connected world. Every body in any corner of the world is well connected with each other through emails, messengers etc. There is great IT workforce in India which can do the same job in less money as compared to the developers in USA and Europe. Almost every IT company outsources its lot of work to India to reap benefits by utilising the talent of India and saves a lot of money. So, the competition in this field is global and you have to be very perfect to cope this. 2. You have to upgrade your skills continuously: Technology is changing every day. Everyday, there are new enhancements, everyday there is new invention. You have to keep yourself very active and updated otherwise you will be left behind in the race. You have to learn new thing everyday. You should learn to adapt with new things. Standing rigid with the old things will make you lose the competition. Keep on learning new programming languages and always add new thing to your resume. 3. Sitting Job: You have to sit tight to your desk and stare at your computer continuously. If this is not fine for you, you should not come to this profession. But today, other jobs are also becoming like this. So you will find this kind of scenario in each and every job. It can make you unhealthy very easily. 4. Age Discrimination: There is a lot of age discrimination in the software programming field. Many people think that a person above 40 would not be able to perform well. Preference is given to the young developers because it is assumed that they have fresh mind and would be able to solve the programming puzzles and tricks easily as compared to the old brains. Also young developers will cost less to the companies. 5. Long hours, Tight deadlines and no personal and social life: In IT field, you are bound to the tight deadlines and have to work for long hours and on weekends to meet the deadlines. Most of the Software developers have to sacrifice their personal and social life to make the deliveries on time.