Computer Careers Book
Friday, August 13, 2004
Computer Programmers
This is an update of my article at:
Computer Programmers for Not Yet Techies
The real news on this subject is the gradual erosion of
the position of computer programmers as the kings of IT.
They are still the ones who tell computers what do to,
but it is no longer seen as the pinnacle of the field. I've
read that in some places even the term "programmer"
is now seen as at least slightly insulting. No, you want to
be a "developer."
This is a bigger picture version of programming. You don't
just write line after line of code, you organize the entire
piece of software. You assemble code from pre-written
libraries. In object oriented languages such as C++ and
Java, you plug in the "object" -- which is a blackbox of
code -- that performs the function you need, such as
finding a number's square root or alphabeticizing by
customer last name.
Computer programming is one of those skills that is
difficult enough that only a relatively small percentage
of the population can learn to do it well -- but not so
difficult that only rare geniuses can do it. It falls in
between driving a car and writing a science fiction bestseller.
So computer programmers tend to feel far smarter
than average -- which they are -- but at the same
time underestimate the number of people out of the
six billion total alive in the world today who can also
program well given the training.
Even if only 1% of people can be good programmers,
that's still 10,000,000 potential good programmers
in India alone. Even after you adjust for the ones who
are too young, too old, too uneducated, of the wrong
caste etc, that still leaves a lot of Indians who can do
much the same work as the average US coder.
Such smart people who are professionally familiar with
the capabilities of computers and networks should
have have been so surprised to find so much basic
computer coding work being sent to India, China
and other countries.
But it has turned into a political controversy, a way
for John Kerry to attack President Bush.
I've talked enough about outsourcing in other blog
entries. I'll just say here that if he is elected, John
Kerry will not stop outsourcing. I don't care how
many speeches he gives. The poverty in India is
too deep.
Go to eLance, the site which is a go between for
people to hire freelancers for temporary projects.
You'll find individual Indians and Indian companies
bidding on all kinds of work from web design to
writing web site content.
According to Charles Simonyi, computer programming
is on the verge of what he called "mechanization."He
doesn't define that term, so I am assume he means
that the donkey work of coding line by line will
become largely automated and developers will
simply design the interface between the flow and
processing of data and the hardware.
Making computers do the programming has been a
vision for decades, beginning with "Computer Aided
Software Engineering (CASE) which I believe goes
back at least to the 1980s, but has yet to put masses of
programmers out of work, as originally promised.
Still, there is no reason why computers will not someday
be able to write their own code on the fly. You'll tell
them what you want: "Download the first page of every
Brittney Spears site on the Internet." -- and it will
do that without needing detailed instructions.
However, it seems that from a security standpoint
we'll still need someone capable of looking at
uncompiled code and understanding its
implications.Just so we are sure that those black
boxes are doing only what we want them to.
Computer Certifications
This updates my article at:
Computer Certifications for Not Yet Techies
In the past 3-4 years, computer certifications have
boomed.Every new company and every new product
and every new technology demands its own certification
or four.
Of course, not all survive. If Baan's certifications survived
its buyout by another company, that company has
successfully hidden them on its website - and refused
to answer my enquiry by email. The JCert initiative
to promote Java certifications failed.
The advantage to companies is strong. The first
biggie -- Novell's Certified Networking Engineer
(CNE) was started as training for its salespeople
but was soon recognized as a way of marketing
its NetWare network operating system by
reassuring potential customers that a pool of
NetWare professionals existed in the labor market.
Microsoft followed suit with its famous Microsoft
Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). Red Hat followed
with one of the first Linux-related certifications, its
Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE). Many more have
followed since then.
Having one of these credentials is a great way for
techies looking for work or a promotion to prove
that they do have the skills they claim. This is of
primary benefit to people with experience working
in their fields, but many computer schools continue to promote the MCSE and others as entry-level credentials even though that was not the
original intent of Microsoft, Novell etc.
Of course, many certifications are as specialized and
obscure as the products they are about. The "hot"
certifications change from year to year.
If you are already an experienced techie, I'd certainly
advise you to get any and all certifications that cover
your field of expertise. Yes, it takes time and money
to study evenings and weekends and then pay $100
or more to take the test, but it will pay off in increased
employment and promotional opportunities - or even
just help you keep your job during layoffs.
If you are looking to get into computer networking,
MCSE is still what to shoot for. The Microsoft
Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) is a
good interim certification that you get after you
take some of the MCSE-required tests and might
help you get a job as a network administrator, thus
giving you that most desireable commodity -- paid
experience. But don't stop studying and test-taking
until you get your MCSE.
Actually, you shouldn't stop there. You then can choose
to stay with networking or advance to database
administration or security etc.
One interesting thing is that I have yet to see any
sign of universal acceptance of an Internet related
certification.
Novell came out with some years ago and so did
Prosoft. I passed the Novell ones -- and they are
probably due for recertifications, but why should I bother?
Still, nobody owns HTML, JavaScript etc. - so no
company has a lock on them. HTML is so easy even
I know enough of it to put up my own websites.
There are a lot of HTML and JavaScript and PHP
etc sources available. And since so many people
are using them to put up their own websites
rather than be hired as a web designer (which
also demands special design skills), there just is a
lot less need for a certification in this area. No
individual decides to design and install a large
network as a hobby, so this is not an issue with
the MCSE.
Overall, I think by now it's safe to say that computer
certifications have proven their value to employees,
employers and technology companies and are here
to stay.
