A few weeks ago I recommended a mix of software development books to a coworker which prompted a question on what I really wanted to do with my career.
The list of recent reads included Code Complete 2, Clean Code, and Joel on Software. However, I'm not an official software developer. I started in a computer science program at the local state university and was eventually hired as a Web development intern. But I've switched tracks a few years ago by first becoming a business analyst and now a project manager. I'm finishing a degree in IT now and I still help maintain, program, and create new projects using SQL, XSLT, .NET, and the occasional script. I like both programming and project management!
Can wanting to do it all hurt my career development? Someone else recommended that you need to go wide before going deep. But I'd hate to get into a "what exactly do you do?" type position. I'd like to stay relevant.
Maybe that's the point. Seth Godin suggests, no pleads, with readers to be unique creative "linchpins" to succeed in today's work environment. Being authentic, unique, and at the edge of the box, rather than completely outside, is his recommended path to security.
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Showing posts with label programming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label programming. Show all posts
What's Old is New Again.
There was a concept in the computer programming classes I've taken that suggests older technologies and methods are revisited as software and hardware evolves.
So even though we have higher level programming languages, the lower level languages are still appropriate for the more limited machines or devices. Kind of reminds me of ubiquitos bacteria--despite (or probably more appropriately, because of) evolution, microbes are the true rulers of the planet in both sheer numbers and possibly even in physical mass.
The examples given were appliances that are programed with low-level assembly language. That was a few years ago, so now you can see it not only in devices, but elsewhere with html coding.
In the earlier days of the Web, the tighter and lighter the html code was, the quicker it ran. As we increased bandwidth and processing power, it seemed like we could get away with bulkier and possibly "sloppier" coding styles. Then small web devices with limited memory and processing power (mobile phones) showed we still need clean and light html (well-formed, valid html is almost always a good idea).
So even as mobile devices are getting faster and more powerful (think iphone and others like it), we will still see the web, web browers, or some kind of web functionality needing clean and fast html. That web browser connected with your GPS device or built into your fridge may need clean and simple html in addition to perhaps low level assembly to create the OS.
Got any better examples? I think I'll revisit this topic.
So even though we have higher level programming languages, the lower level languages are still appropriate for the more limited machines or devices. Kind of reminds me of ubiquitos bacteria--despite (or probably more appropriately, because of) evolution, microbes are the true rulers of the planet in both sheer numbers and possibly even in physical mass.
The examples given were appliances that are programed with low-level assembly language. That was a few years ago, so now you can see it not only in devices, but elsewhere with html coding.
In the earlier days of the Web, the tighter and lighter the html code was, the quicker it ran. As we increased bandwidth and processing power, it seemed like we could get away with bulkier and possibly "sloppier" coding styles. Then small web devices with limited memory and processing power (mobile phones) showed we still need clean and light html (well-formed, valid html is almost always a good idea).
So even as mobile devices are getting faster and more powerful (think iphone and others like it), we will still see the web, web browers, or some kind of web functionality needing clean and fast html. That web browser connected with your GPS device or built into your fridge may need clean and simple html in addition to perhaps low level assembly to create the OS.
Got any better examples? I think I'll revisit this topic.
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