NetNews Offline 2/NetNews Offline Volume 2.iso/news/comp/lang/c++-part2/13669

Internet Message Format | 1996-08-05 | 5.8 KB

Path: news.sprintlink.net!datalytics!usenet
From: Rob Stewart <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: alt.computer.consultants,comp.edu,comp.lang.basic.misc,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.misc,comp.lang.pascal.borland,comp.lang.pascal.delphi.misc,comp.misc,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.os.os2.programmer.misc,comp.programming
Subject: Re: Info on being a Systems Programmer/Analyst?
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 17:01:56 -0500
Organization: Datalytics, Inc
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[e-mail] wrote:
>
>         I am currently a Junior in High School and have been
> considering becoming a Systems Programmer/Analyst.  I've read books
> about it but I would like to get some first hand information from real
> people with experience in this field.  General information, including
> job responsibilities, education needed, and salary would be
> appreciated.  I am specifically wondering about how much math I would
> need.  I don't really like to do math but I am fairly good at it.
> Many people say that to be a programmer, you need a lot of math
> skills, but I wonder if that is true.  I'd like to know specifically
> what type of math is used and how it is applied.
>
>         Anyone who has any information that might be useful to me, no
> matter how little, please respond.  I will greatly appreciate your
> sharing your experience and knowledge with me.
>
>                                 Sincere thanks,
>                                 Stuart Johnston

If you're asking about programming in general, the
responsibilities cover a broad spectrum.  If you want to know
specifically about a Systems Programmer/Analyst, then you have
restricted things significantly.

A SP/A is responsible for low-level (near the hardware)
programming.  This is not work for the faint of heart, but is
fun if you like hardware and software.  There aren't as many
SP/A jobs as there are of the more general types of
programmer/software engineer jobs.  This doesn't mean there
isn't plenty of work, though.  As with any field (and I can't
speak knowledgeably about SP/A today), if there are more jobs
than people available to do them, you have yourself a winner.

Programming in general covers everything from writing utilities
to full applications like, for better or for worse, Microsoft
Word.  Within a product, there are many technical
sub-disciplines including user interface, I/O, computations,
etc.  If you're particularly good at one, and work for a large
company that can afford to let people be specialists, you can
drop yourself in a niche and stay there.

You can choose to be a generalist too.  This means you're not
the world's greatest anything, but you can do many things
(hopefully you can do them well).  This puts you in a position
to work for a smaller company that can't afford specialists and
allows you to work on many, varied challenges.

Math rears its head in programming in many ways.  In most
programming positions, you only need simple mathematics for
most of your work.  Algebra and trigonometry creep in regularly,
and more advanced math is rare.  If you work in specialized
fields dealing with graphics, data analysis, etc., you may use
lots of math on a regular basis.  If you work for a company
developing a product like MathCAD, for example, you might be
called on to implement a very complex mathematical algorithm.
The result is that you don't need a great deal of math for most
programming jobs.

There are also different sorts of software developers.  Some
spend most of their time designing software, its architecture,
and algorithms, while others spend most of their time writing
code the former designed.  The first type is called an analyst
or perhaps a software engineer.  (Watch out, Software
Engineering is used rather loosely.  Arguably, software
development is not yet engineering, so you really can't have
Software Engineers.)  The second type is called, simply, a
programmer.

Other software developers find themselves in the middle ground,
being in the position to design, write, debug, and test their
software.  This gives the greatest variety to your work and
offers the most challenge since you must be good at many skills.

Not everyone is created equal.  Some folks serendipitously find
a wonderful approach to some problem and become famous as a
result.  Others are highly analytical and persistent before
becoming famous.  Most aren't famous, but still vary in their
ability to discern a good solution to a problem.  Some folks are
adept at breaking down a problem into an object-oriented design.
Others just can't seem to get the hang of it.  Some can write
excellent structured code while others can't seem to avoid
spaghetti.  I don't know that anyone knows how to predict who
will be a good software developer.

Finally, let me say that anyone writing code for a living must
learn to be disciplined and must be a good detective.  The
latter may sound strange, but when trying to track down a
difficult bug, you sometimes have to be very inventive to locate
it.  It takes painstaking work and often requires intuition
about likely causes.

Before I go, you asked about salaries too.  EDP, a head hunter,
has an annual salary summary for major cities around the US for
a variety of computer-related jobs.  I don't have one with me,
but software developers can expect salaries from the low 20K's
to 80K and even more in some cases.  The higher salaries
obviously come with experience, but also reflect specific skills
and supervisory responsibilities.

I hope you find this information useful.  Good luck to you.

--
Robert Stewart        | My opinions are usually my own.
Datalytics, Inc.    | [e-mail]