I imagine that this question has been asked many times in Hacker News and elsewhere but I'll throw it out there again. I'm a software developer for a large (Fortune 25) company working on a mature internal application. Basically I'm coding small fixes and enhancements, researching issues, and generally trying not to break anything. I telecommute, have a ton of autonomy, and have quite a bit of credibility so nobody really questions what I'm doing. Plus I'm well paid.<p>However I'm basically making no impact on our company, nor am I growing as a developer. I write probably 20 lines of production code every 3 months and spend the rest of the time unit testing and spinning in my chair.<p>I have a family, a mortgage, and a busy life outside of work so I appreciate the low stress work. But I really miss being challenged and feeling like I'm making a difference in my career. Would the grass be greener at a smaller company where I could write more code, grow as a developer/architect, and feel like I'm making a difference?<p>Thanks, and please post any links to relevant posts.
You should obviously be doing projects on the side to not atrophy. As for the smaller company route: since you have a family, then who cares. Just stay sharp and network. Maybe watch the projects you are on, just in case you need to jump ship. Use the free time to put in motion your own vision for life.