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  From: Alan Kennington <akenning@topology.org>
  To  : LinuxSA <linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au>
  Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 20:04:11 +0930

Re: Learning how to programme in Linux

On Fri, Jun 08, 2001 at 06:37:30PM +0930, Richard Russell wrote:
> 
> > I havent done any programming before (apart from some basic HTML, and some
> > basic visual Basic) but i've become interested in programming because i
> > beleive you wont go very far in the IT industry or earn big bucks if you
> > dont have any (at all) experience with programming.
> 
> not true -- you cna earn money as a manager type, or a web developer, or a
> sysadm (although programming helps here, I know people without a lot of
> programming who earn a lot) or sales, or hardware, or etc.
> 
> If you're thinking career-wise, find something you like, and do it well and
> with commitment. You'll make the money if that's what you want... One
> interesting thing to note is that the money you make is less dependant on
> your technical knowledge than on your other skills -- people, time
> management, attitude, etc... Of course, if you are technically brilliant,
> you'll probably be worth a fair bit, but it's not the only way to make money
> in IT (and it isn't the only way to be of value, either -- making money and
> being of value are linked, but not the same...)

[Note: when I say "you" in this item, I mostly mean people in general.]

Very well put. But you could go further.
I've found that software developers are held in very low regard
in the IT industry, hence such terms as "hacker", "code monkey",
and other negative terms. 
There are very few star programmers who are held in high regard.
But like rock stars, these few programming stars draw people
into the industry, only to find that they are always at the
bottom of the organisational tree.

A good rule is to look at the job title.
If you can work out what someone's job title means, then they
are probably at the bottom of the tree.
What one needs to do is to get the most obscure description
possible, like system analyst, systems engineer, network engineer,
network architect, network consultant.
If you are called "programmer" or "software developer", you need
to stop writing code and get a different title if you want
to get further up the tree.

The only reason you would learn good coding is for personal
satisfaction, and so that you know what the "coders" are doing
and telling you.
Coders usually are packed 2-3 per office and do not get 
business cards - what would they use them for?
The people with inscrutible job titles get their own
office with plush chairs and a nice business card - and
a bigger salary, and several people "underneath them".

One step up from a coder is to be a developer using
"authoring tools", which were designed so that illiterate
people can create code. These tools cost an amount of money
to indicate the importance of the person doing the work.
When you boss buys you some "authoring tools", you know
you're on the way up. When you're asked to give up all coding
and leave it to "the code monkeys", you know you're in the
money. Then you get your own office, a nice comfortable
leather arm-chair, a meaningless job title, a pay rise,
and your "job" turns into a "career". You also get to do
more travel, and you get invited to important meetings.

Therefore learn coding if you wish, get into a job or two,
and work out how to stop coding as soon as possible,
if you want to get yourself a nice car and house.

Someone explained to me that the reason the high school graduates
in the sales department make twice as much as the uni graduates
hacking out code is that the sales people make money, and
programmers are a dime a dozen.
Sales is where the money is!!
The more people you deal with outside your organisation, the
more important and indispensable you are judged to be.

A conclusion from all of this is that linux, being a prime
software development environment, is _not_ the best route to
riches and a comfortable life.

Learning how to code is a prerequisite for understanding
the IT industry, as learning to count is essential for life,
but just as arithmetic is done by calculators in practice,
so coding is almost always done by the developers
of off-the-shelf products. No organisation in their right mind
does their own coding. 99.999% of all software has already
been done by someone else and is available on a CD-ROM for
1% of the cost that you can create it yourself.

-------------------------------------------------
Now getting a little less contentious, C++ is indeed an
extension of C, although a little bit rough in a few
minor points.
If your header files are correctly ported to C++, as most
linux header files are, then you should be able to
compile C programs with a C++ compiler without change.
I'd call that an "extension"!

Cheers,
Alan Kennington.

-- 
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