Which road to take in the computer industry
-
Greetings all, This is a general "advice" question for the veterans out there. I'm a return adult college student just finishing an Associate's in Computer Science with an emphasis in LANs, but I'm not sure if the LAN track is for me (not much of a choice really either programming or lans). So I'm in a bit of a quandry here. Reinventing yourself in the job market, especially in the computer field can be insane to say the least. My concern however is I would like to make right the CHOICE in starting on a new path, and the only two areas I really ever considered were programming and LANs. It seems programming intriques me more...but it doesn't come easy to me...I have only had exposure to one VB5 class and did well in it (but the pace was insane); but I have seen other languages and they look brutal. And when you see job listings, say for instances, on monster.com...the job requirements are pretty rediculous in the programming field...7 or 8 languges/a bachelor's and years in the field. I'm wondering is there such a thing as entry level programmer? Also javascript didn't look too insane and really got my eye from looking at the tutorial on this site...would that be a good place to start to maybe eventually evolve and learn JAVA? Are you valuable if you know javascript well -- or is it look at as grunt stuff. My thinking was would it be a waste of time to try to get a job as a javascript guy?...or do they not even exist? Or do you have to be the Ayatollah of a programming language or languages to even get menial internship? Keep in mind that I'm not looking to make six figures years away...i'd like to see myself in the 40's range eventually...and i'm no spring chicken so time is running out and i'm just concerned about structure and not wasting any more LIFE time. I often see SQL, and Pearl, wanted as experience along with javascript. Do any of you have a down and dirty descriptions of them and what their learning curves are? Any positive comments would be appreciated. And what I mean by that is...I took a program design and development about a year ago and I didn't understanding this one concept; so I asked the instructor about it, and he said, "some people aren't meant to be programmers?" So needless to say, any words like those, I'll pass on...(: Jim San Diego, CA Jimtek@hotmail.com P.S. This is the only post of this kind that i would post here. I fee like I need to put this DISCLAIMER in because I posted a question about where to find a programming tutor once in a VB newsg
-
Greetings all, This is a general "advice" question for the veterans out there. I'm a return adult college student just finishing an Associate's in Computer Science with an emphasis in LANs, but I'm not sure if the LAN track is for me (not much of a choice really either programming or lans). So I'm in a bit of a quandry here. Reinventing yourself in the job market, especially in the computer field can be insane to say the least. My concern however is I would like to make right the CHOICE in starting on a new path, and the only two areas I really ever considered were programming and LANs. It seems programming intriques me more...but it doesn't come easy to me...I have only had exposure to one VB5 class and did well in it (but the pace was insane); but I have seen other languages and they look brutal. And when you see job listings, say for instances, on monster.com...the job requirements are pretty rediculous in the programming field...7 or 8 languges/a bachelor's and years in the field. I'm wondering is there such a thing as entry level programmer? Also javascript didn't look too insane and really got my eye from looking at the tutorial on this site...would that be a good place to start to maybe eventually evolve and learn JAVA? Are you valuable if you know javascript well -- or is it look at as grunt stuff. My thinking was would it be a waste of time to try to get a job as a javascript guy?...or do they not even exist? Or do you have to be the Ayatollah of a programming language or languages to even get menial internship? Keep in mind that I'm not looking to make six figures years away...i'd like to see myself in the 40's range eventually...and i'm no spring chicken so time is running out and i'm just concerned about structure and not wasting any more LIFE time. I often see SQL, and Pearl, wanted as experience along with javascript. Do any of you have a down and dirty descriptions of them and what their learning curves are? Any positive comments would be appreciated. And what I mean by that is...I took a program design and development about a year ago and I didn't understanding this one concept; so I asked the instructor about it, and he said, "some people aren't meant to be programmers?" So needless to say, any words like those, I'll pass on...(: Jim San Diego, CA Jimtek@hotmail.com P.S. This is the only post of this kind that i would post here. I fee like I need to put this DISCLAIMER in because I posted a question about where to find a programming tutor once in a VB newsg
Web development can be very profitable these days. HTML, DHTML and Javascript are fairly easy to learn. It is true that the hard core programming languages such as C++ and others can be difficult for may people to learn. But some job areas require less technical expertise than others so you do not have to write off learning a language such as C++ or Visual Basic. I think you need to think about what you are interested in. Do some reading on different things that you think sounds interesting and see if it sounds right for you. You said you had some LAN education. Just to throw out an idea -- many companies require System Support personnel to maintain their networks and systems. You don't have to be a programmer, just know about LANs, operating systems and how to install hardware and software. These people also often fall under the heading of System Administrators though Sys Admins don't usually mess with hardware. They just keep computers running and keep the software up-to-date, maintain user accounts, etc. At least the ones that *I've* encountered. Just start digging. Find something that sounds interesting and that you think fits your tallents and go for it. The more you like the field, the easier it is to learn it and do well. George