Professional Developers or Coders here??

[NJL]

woo hoo!!! you better be serious!!!!!



i'd wear that shirt and post a pic online here.

 

[WorkinOnIt]

I used to support mainframe systems back in the 80s and 90s. I really enjoyed it. As a support programmer/analyst, my clients were end-users who were easily impressed and gave you lots of kudos when you fixed their issues or made enhancements to save them some time. I don't think the guys in new development got that type of quick gratification, but of course they could flex their creative coding skills more than us in support. On the downside, wearing the beeper and getting calls in the wee-hours when a batch job would fail was never much fun, but each job has it's downside...

Don't want to be a pooper, but since nobody has mentioned it, I am going to just inject some advice for you to be aware of the changing environment you are getting into and it will depend on what 'kind' of coder you might want to be.

- If you are just wanting to be a hired gun and have talent/skills, then go for it. Lots of dough can be made in contracting/consulting work. Like others have mentioned, lots of webwork out there.

- If you are looking for a long-term stable job as a coder at a corporation (a corp that does not produce software that is), then just be aware that globalization has hit this particular job category. The few shops I have worked in - (large oil and gas companies), the coding is no longer done in-house. Basically, my old coder buddies that survived the various downsizes now just write specs which get sent to "cost-advantaged locations" to be actually coded.

I can't speak for other companies I have not worked at, but I don't think this is news. Smaller and mid-size companies may not be as prone for this movement and perhaps this is not what you are after anyways. I just would not want any prospective newbie coder to be unaware of this activity. It seems like the media only talk about 'call-center' workers, when in fact all kinds of back-office functions are affected including coders. Competition from the visa guys right here in the States can be intense as well.

Best of luck to you in your endeavors.

 

[NJL]

Thanks, my fellow Texan

 

[Eric Perry]

Watch Office Space before you make any rash decisions.

 

[B.C.]

I agree with most of what is said here except to try coding by ones self. Learning how to code by yourself is incredibly hard. I tried C++ on my own to start but failed miserably because in reading the book, I was not taught how to think. Yet, as soon as I started taking a class in the subject of CS, it clicked because I learned how to think in these languages. If you can learn it by yourself, fantastic and I tip my hat to you, but if not, I wouldn't say give up yet. Its when you are forced, by an instructor or what not, that you really learn what is behind the code IMHO and IME.

I'd suggest Python as a first language. Object oriented, easier syntax, and very useful

 

[NJL]

Watch Office Space before you make any rash decisions.

I own it and a red stapler.