At 01:02 PM 1/22/2001 -0700, Terry Donaghe wrote:
>3. Most (but not all - I'd say about 70-80%) of these folks are not what
>most Unix/Linux/Java guys think of as programmers. Most have no computer
>science background. They have no concepts of object oriented programming
>and for what they're doing, they don't need it. These guys and gals solve
>specific problems for businesses. They may not get paid as much as a senior
>Java developer, but $45K - $65K is not unheard of.
>
>4. With #3 in mind, it is safe to say that 70-80% of these people would
>have a difficult time getting a "real" programming job and thus might be
>stuck in the dreary, low paying job they had previously.
I don't have a "computer science background" (ChemE for me), but some
people just seem to have it and most people don't. In fact, all the really
good programmers I've known over the years seem to have abilities that bear
no relation to their educational background. I've known people with
biology degrees, english degrees, or no degree at all that were quite a bit
better than most of the people with CS degrees. Which probably just
indicates that they picked the wrong major in college. :^)
Your point is taken though and it suits the market well. People who have
deeper abilities aren't stuck doing work they find terribly boring and the
people who do that work are happy for the opportunity.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:56:22 MDT