| The world of programming has a multitude of | | | | stores. They write programs that deal with huge |
| specialties, giving us a wide range of areas in which to | | | | amounts of data, like processing millions and millions of |
| focus our careers. | | | | customer's information. This stuff needs huge |
| The 2 main choices to make are: | | | | computers to run, called 'mainframes'. A large |
| * which technology to get involved in. | | | | proportion of programmers fall into this range. Typical |
| * which work environment would suit you best? | | | | languages used are COBOL, DB2 or CICS. A lot of |
| Let's get an overview of technologies out there. | | | | these programs are usually 'back-end' programs that |
| PC Programmers | | | | do processing behind the scenes, as opposed to |
| These are the guys that write your mainstream | | | | 'front-end' programs that are interactive with a person |
| programs that are generally Windows driven, | | | | behind the screen. |
| interactive and user friendly. You find them in the | | | | Database Specialists |
| shops behind the counter, at the movie ticket sales, the | | | | Larger companies that have a massive database |
| tellers at the banks, the video store ect. They write | | | | infrastructure, employ specialists to look after these |
| programs that generally run on your desktop or laptop, | | | | databases. After all, this is where all the data is stored. |
| and are built for easy interaction with the user. These | | | | The folks are called Database Administrators (DBA's), |
| programs are built to run small businesses or are | | | | and have been trained to handle the 'ins' and 'outs' of |
| combined with many other programs to help run larger | | | | storing and accessing data easily. They play a huge |
| businesses. Typically used languages are JAVA, C, | | | | role in the organization as without the data, we can |
| DELPHI, .NET and Visual Basic. | | | | shut the systems down. |
| Internet Programmers | | | | SAP Programmers |
| Internet programmers are the guys that write the | | | | Large businesses have many different areas requiring |
| fancy stuff on the Internet. I am not talking about the | | | | their own processes (sales, accounts, marketing, |
| fancy graphics, links and displayed information (which is | | | | human resources, stock). The challenge has always |
| built by 'web designers'). I am talking about the involved | | | | been getting these different processes to 'talk' to one |
| processes that go on behind the scenes like sending | | | | another. SAP came along with one HUGE application, |
| information from the web page to a database and | | | | incorporating all these areas, using the same |
| back. These guys generally use .NET, ASP, PHP or | | | | technology . The 2 main languages used to build this |
| Coldfusion. These guys not only have to know how to | | | | application are ABAP and JAVA. This is not a place to |
| program but also how to incorporate programs into a | | | | start a programming career as it requires a few years |
| web site - exciting stuff. | | | | exposure to systems, but definitely where more |
| Mainframe Programmers | | | | experienced folk are aiming toward. |
| These guys work for the large companies like banks, | | | | You need to match the type of programming to your |
| insurance companies, mining houses and huge retail | | | | own personality type. |