I think there's a fundamental complexity and skills-required difference between someone writing kernel code or microcode and someone writing a generic CRUD app.
Meanwhile over in embedded I'm writing highly performant const-correct modern asio C++ applications requiring custom kernel drivers.
Parent comment had the nerve to imply that I'm not even a true programmer. None of this shit makes any sense anymore, I can't wait for the bubble to pop.
That wasn't my intention.
> Fresh grads with experience only in Java at $FANCY_CO outearn me by a factor of 2.5 because they get on the web/app track.
1. In fact, my example of "less complex job" was "web dev".
2. Most fresh grads doing web dev make $55K or so. The $FANCY_CO engineers are an outlier. And, FWIW, within those companies, the low-level C++ people tend to make a lot more than the fresh grad web dev people.
There is merit to the idea that different developers focus on different kinds of problems, but the positioning of the parent comment - that this variance is due to the size/prestige of the org - is incorrect.