If some one could help me that would be great!

[kacation_man]

Ok so I need some questions answered as an "interview" for a school project from a programmer and I figured this ( "coder" on this forum ) might be the best place to go. so if you have a career in or profession in programming and are willing to take five minutes to help me out I'd really appreciate it if you could fill out the following questions:

1: What kind of education is required to learn programming?

2: Please provide a basic short description of what programming is?

3: What is the Average yearly pay for a programmers?

4: What kind of jobs are out there for those with an education in programming?

5: Where would one have to look to receive an education in programming?

6: Are there many different types of programming, if so please name a few.

7: Is programming something you have to get good at, or just learn?

8: What kind of mistakes do people looking into being a programming field usually encounter, run into, or make along the way?

9: Name a few pros and cons to programming and being a programmer, do the cons out weigh the pros or vice versa?

10: How many programmers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

 

[zleppelin]

1: What kind of education is required to learn programming?

Normally a few high school level programming courses are sufficient, depending on the amount of talent and level of enthusiasm of the programmer. Otherwise, most people who go into programming usually study computer science or some other related subject while in college.

2: Please provide a basic short description of what programming is?

It is writing code in order to create computer programs that perform certain automated tasks.

3: What is the Average yearly pay for a programmers?

Anywhere between $30,000/year and $60,000/year, depending on seniority, skill level, etc...

4: What kind of jobs are out there for those with an education in programming?

Programming, software engineering, web development, database administration, just to name a few.

5: Where would one have to look to receive an education in programming?

College or community college.

6: Are there many different types of programming, if so please name a few.

There are many different programming languages, if that's what you mean. Some examples are C, C++, Java, Visual Basic, Pascal, Perl, and the list goes on and on.

7: Is programming something you have to get good at, or just learn?

Anyone can learn the basics, but getting good at programming takes a lot of talent and hard work.

8: What kind of mistakes do people looking into being a programming field usually encounter, run into, or make along the way?

Some ignore or are not very good at the quantitative side of programming, which is very important depending on the type of programs they are trying to write, and as a result end up at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to finding programming jobs. Another mistake they make is that they ignore the fact that even programmers need to have people skills, and as a result have a hard time finding jobs because almost nobody wants to hire an autistic programmer.

9: Name a few pros and cons to programming and being a programmer, do the cons out weigh the pros or vice versa?

Pros -> Intellectually rewarding; challenging; fun; usually a relaxed, laid back work enviroment. Cons -> Challenging, tedious repetitive tasks, fast-paced, requires the ability to learn new concepts quickly and apply them. As for the cons outweighing the cons or viceversa, it depends on the person. Do you want a challenging job or do you want to make a living doing the least amount of work possible?

10: How many programmers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

I don't know, I am not a programmer.

 

[kacation_man]

thank you, this should be good. the fact that your not a programmer will not please my teacher but you seem to know what your talking about and on top of that i dont really care what my teacher says. thanks.

 

[zleppelin]

thank you, this should be good. the fact that your not a programmer will not please my teacher but you seem to know what your talking about and on top of that i dont really care what my teacher says. thanks.

lol
Tell me how it goes

 

[Solver]

My views may be a bit unorthodox...


1: What kind of education is required to learn programming?

I would say none. Programming can be self-taught, even, from books, tutorials, examples, etc. Computer science degrees are considered good in this area. They obviously teach you programming but it doesn't help the fact that many who get CS degrees are very crappy programmers.

A better question would be, what sort of a background is needed to start learning programming? In that case, mathematical background is useful. Not lots, but understanding some concepts like what a function is. You'll have to learn the basics of logic if you don't know them, but those are really simple anyhow (logical operators).

2: Please provide a basic short description of what programming is?

Writing code. For whatever purpose. Often it's automation of repetitive tasks, but that's a small and boring subset of programming. More generally, programming is making the computer do whatever you possibly want it to.

3: What is the Average yearly pay for a programmers?

I'm not qualified to comment on any payments in the US.

4: What kind of jobs are out there for those with an education in programming?

Uhmm, programming . In many different ways - game programming, database programming, web application programming, etc. People with a programming education can also often get a job as a sysadmin.

5: Where would one have to look to receive an education in programming?

A university which offers a computer science/programming course. I understand that so-called colleges work similarly to universities, so that would work too then.

6: Are there many different types of programming, if so please name a few.

There are many languages, and there are many areas. About the areas - no programmer will be equally proficient in all areas. You have, say, database programming, utility programming, low-level programming (for creating hardware drivers and such), graphics programming, Artificial Intelligence programming and more.

7: Is programming something you have to get good at, or just learn?

My belief is that it's mostly dependent on talent. Undoubtedly, any person with an average or better intellect can learn the basics. Undoubtedly, practice and hard work makes you improve, as with any area. But people with good logical thinking, problem solving skills and a general programming "talent" will find it easier, and will get better quickly.

It is also my opinion that almost no good programmers exist who don't have a passion for programming. The exceptions are few and far between.

8: What kind of mistakes do people looking into being a programming field usually encounter, run into, or make along the way?

One annoying mistake is when people think they want to be programmers because they generally like computers - spending time at the PC, playing games, being online, etc. These are not the same thing! You have to be interested in the inner working to be a programmer.

Another mistake many beginners make (often because of their teachers) is getting stuck for too long with one programming language. If you learn one language and then don't learn another for too long, you'll get too stuck in the mindset of that one language. You'll approach programming problems as "C++ problems" or "Java problems" instead of generic programming problems. You'll be much less efficient at translating code from one language to another.

I also think that many programming teachers and professors make the fatal mistake of only teaching under one development environment. But that's a separate story.

9: Name a few pros and cons to programming and being a programmer, do the cons out weigh the pros or vice versa?

Pros: intellectually challenging, extremely satisfying when you figure out a solution to some problem, programmers are in demand and well-paid. Cons: seen by many as nerdy, you can get some boring and repetitive assignments (depends on the specific job), many people will have their eyesight deteriorate because of PCs. I'm quite lucky in this regard, been spending a lot of time with a PC for many years, but my eyesight is considerably better than that of an average person.

Do the cons outweigh the pros or not? Depends on the person completely. Do you want an intellectually challenging job or not? Do you have passion for programming? Are you the type of person who wants to never have to think about work outside of working hours?

10: How many programmers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

It is, indeed, a hardware problem.

 

[Forceflow]

1: What kind of education is required to learn programming?

High School education would do. A bit of maths or algebra doesn't hurt, either.

2: Please provide a basic short description of what programming is?

Writing code to make computers do useful or entertaining things.

3: What is the Average yearly pay for a programmers?

I wouldn't know.

4: What kind of jobs are out there for those with an education in programming?

Jobs in the entertainment industry, the financial sector, ... hey, IT is everywhere.

5: Where would one have to look to receive an education in programming?

University -> Computer Sciences.

6: Are there many different types of programming, if so please name a few.

There's pure algorithm programming, which consists of optimizing search routines, mathematical stuff or ... there's web programming, database programming, gui programming, ...

7: Is programming something you have to get good at, or just learn?

You got to have a certain 'feel' for programming. Being good at maths is a plus, because sooner or later, it all boils down to formulas.

8: What kind of mistakes do people looking into being a programming field usually encounter, run into, or make along the way?

Most people lack a bit of persistence to really get into programming. The first 'applications' you will write will calculate the area of a circle, or will print out some text to the screen. People expect waaay too much. I've been programming for 3 years, and I've built my first 3d-application last week.

9: Name a few pros and cons to programming and being a programmer, do the cons out weigh the pros or vice versa?

Pro:
-Satisfaction when you solved something
-Well-paid
-There's a certain demand

Con:
- Nerdy
- Sometimes repetitive

It all depends on the job though. (I guess)

10: How many programmers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

PEBKAC