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Living Room / Re: questions for programmers
« on: March 14, 2008, 02:21 PM »
Title of job or position held: Contract Programming Consultant
How long have you done this job: 20 years
How did you become interested in this field: A programming course in high school was the start, on an Apple IIe in Apple Pascal. From there, I started programming games in assembler on my Franklin Ace 1000.
What is your favorite and least favorite part of this job: My favorite parts are the continued learning and challenge, and the money of course. My least favorite is that a lot of people don't have a lot of understanding what programming takes and make things harder by trying to manage the programming instead of the project, which usually results in less than optimal project timelines and more hours worked.
What kind of training or education have you had for this field: Formally, I have a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science and a few personalized training courses. Informally, I find that I have to constantly refresh my skills by the use of several resources on the internet.
What is the future outlook for this field?: I think the future is bright for computer programming as a whole. One must be very aware of the state of one's skills and the demand for one's skillset to take advantage of this however. Also, personal skills that are not easily quantifiable such as time management, people skills, and a good work ethic go a long way in distinguishing programmers of similar skill levels.
How many hours (or days) do you spend working each week: It varies according to contract and deadlines. In general I work 40-50 hours a week, though I have worked as many as 80 hours in times when work needed to be done.
If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me.
How long have you done this job: 20 years
How did you become interested in this field: A programming course in high school was the start, on an Apple IIe in Apple Pascal. From there, I started programming games in assembler on my Franklin Ace 1000.
What is your favorite and least favorite part of this job: My favorite parts are the continued learning and challenge, and the money of course. My least favorite is that a lot of people don't have a lot of understanding what programming takes and make things harder by trying to manage the programming instead of the project, which usually results in less than optimal project timelines and more hours worked.
What kind of training or education have you had for this field: Formally, I have a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science and a few personalized training courses. Informally, I find that I have to constantly refresh my skills by the use of several resources on the internet.
What is the future outlook for this field?: I think the future is bright for computer programming as a whole. One must be very aware of the state of one's skills and the demand for one's skillset to take advantage of this however. Also, personal skills that are not easily quantifiable such as time management, people skills, and a good work ethic go a long way in distinguishing programmers of similar skill levels.
How many hours (or days) do you spend working each week: It varies according to contract and deadlines. In general I work 40-50 hours a week, though I have worked as many as 80 hours in times when work needed to be done.
If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me.
