Oh I would never apply for a programming job, but being in robotics I have worked alongside many, for obvious reasons. Even directed a few to bring a prototype to life for a patent I was lead on a few years ago. Was different for both me and them because on that project the guys had more your background, working with game engines, and I had to adapt them to developing for an embedded environment in a physical device. Reading sensors, using PWM to control brushless motors, controlling the system through a touchscreen(for the demo anyway), stuff like that. Ultimately it was a force feedback device a user wore as a game controller, but received real-time feedback from the game world. For example, if you fired a gun you would feel the kickback, held a sword you could feel it's weight, when it struck something, and so on. Anyway, they were nervous at first, but all I really had to do was tell them it was a lot like what they were used to already, just that instead of only affecting polygons and textures the code, actual code, would also be outputting to a physical device the user wore. Next level haptic stuff. I had them spend a few afternoons with the fella making the circuit-boards and by the next week they were all up in it, having a blast. They loved it once they got over the smaller-than-expected learning curve. They weren't used to seeing their "code" make things move irl. I however only have a general big picture understanding of things, never learned a specific language in detail, so I could not have done what they did. In other words I've hired programmers, and been hired by/with them, but could not and would not ever try to be one. What you do is special in my eyes.
But yeah, I kinda knew "code" was not the right word, I just used it generically in reference to "having to type something and then have that do something.". Not familiar with XML, just some C, C++, C#, Python, some other OOPs, some ROS stuff, robots almost always use some flavor of Linux. But I'm mostly into Assembly level constructs and lower, logic gates, RISC, ZISC, FPGAs, and I really love alternative chip architectures, parallel perceptrons and other chip level neural net stuff is my jam. Do things differently down there and it ripples like a mofo once you get to higher levels. Anyway, I would def get laughed at trying to get a programming job, no doubt, I'd be laughing loudest. My 12 yr old son has done more programming than I have. I design and build the things(typically robots) physically, other peeps, of different talent, bring them to life.
Knock out he stuff supporting it and it'll fall and break. I've done that a few times.
