Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : The Future of IT Professionals


Three5Eight
November 21st, 2008, 09:12 PM
I've been thinking about a carrer in IT, either in programming or computer repair. I know that IT jobs are in high demand and everyone I talk to says that IT is a very good field to get into because of the fast paced development. Everyone seems to be pointing to IT as the way to go for a secure carrer in the future.

I know a guy that went to college for computers, spent over four years in college and spent thousands of dollars. That was several years ago and today hes working at McDonalds. To this date he hasnt been able to find a job in any IT position.

This may not happen often, maybe he is just unlucky however, I am reading a book by Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup (for those of you who don't know he is the inventer of the C++ programming language). In his book he is talking about the future of IT professionals and it's not sounding all that good.

The fact is that IT is developing so fast and becoming so advanced that its possible in the future IT jobs will be terminated more then created. With the advancement of code generators and similar technology the need for programmers will become less and less. Why pay programmers top dollar to sit there and write code for hours upon hours when you can have a code generator do it in minuets for free (aside from license fees).

Yes, I know code generators are not that advanced YET, but at the rate IT is developing they will be soon. We will still need all the project planners, designers, etc. But the programmers may become useless (aside from those designing the code generators)

The same issue is happening with hardware as well, just look at how its advancing. Years ago when installing ISA hardware you had to have advanced knowledge of computers as there were switches that needed to be set, configurations made, etc. Any older IT people know what I'm talking about. It was very complicated!

Now days almost everything is plug-in-play. Need to change a video card? No problem pop out the old one-pop in the new one. It even comes with instructions telling you how to do it. I have a friend that cannot even run Windows correctly. They have issues running MS Word as they are not that good with computers, yet the other day they added a floppy drive to their computer all on their own simply by reading the instructions that came with the drive.

Things are so easy to install now days why would you even need to take it to a shop to have the installation completed?

True a lot of people now days still are not that good with computers, but they are mostly older people and the problem being they never grew up with the technology, so its hard for them to understand. Now days everyone is required to take computer classes in school, so from now on people will become more and more fimilar with computers.

Soon, I think there will not be a demand for IT professionals at all except in select areas. Even web designers now days are taking hits because the process of designing web pages is no longer a complicated process with all of the new website development wizards around.

I'm interested in knowing how other people in the IT field feel about this issue. Why should I spend the time and money on IT courses and education?

TheCPUWizard
November 21st, 2008, 11:46 PM
Why should I spend the time and money on IT courses and education?

Because you have a PASSION for it.

Your post is a good one, and ending up at "McDonalds" with a degree is not uncommon. A recent study found that graduates (USA) with a 4 year (bachelors) degree - but NO work experience had a 20%-30% chance of getting a job in their field directly out of college. That means that 70%-80% did NOT. The reasons are quite varied, but the bottom line is not.

My advice for anyone in school, and of a legal age to work (I am talking about secondary school juniors and seniors) is to find a job, internship, or some other form of work experience WHILE getting your degree.

I am non-degreed (and my university major was Physics with a minor in Bio-Engineering in any case), and even with 32+ years of professional experience, still find some avenues closed to me because of my lack of a degree. [Can anyone tell me what use a 1979 CS degree would be in todays market?]

Three (this started out as one..) KEY points about getting an education.

1) Make sure the information you are learning is near the leading edge. This means that if your school is using VC++ 6.0 or VB 6.0...RUN as fast as you can!

2) Realize that what you are learning is probably NOT going to be what is in actual demand by the time you graduate. This means investing time (over and above your studies) on applying the principles you are learning in school to emerging technologies. In presentations I give, I am well known for telling "professionals" that they need to spend a minimum of 10 hours a week (over and above their normal work) studying emerging technologies [I personally spend nearly 20].

3) Regardless of your career path (tech, arts, legal, anything) make sure it is something you ENJOY. Try to imagine your life if you had a magical bank account that provided sufficient money to live a comfortable (not rich) life. Would you spend 1/3 or your adult life doing what you are plannin on as a career. If the answer is not a strong YES, then it is time for some serious introspection.

Good Luck!!!:wave::wave::wave::wave:

Three5Eight
November 22nd, 2008, 11:14 PM
I love programming. I started writing programs after I took a Visual Basic 6 class in high school. The next weekend I went out and bought my own copy from the local computer shop.

Right now I am reading two books and am attempting to learn C++. I've always wanted to learn that language just because its always been rather hard for me to understand. I also think that if I learn C++ it might help me understand how other languages work, and help me in some trouble areas. Like on my other thread about inheriting a listview control. I have never been able to understand that type of programming.

I'm not "great" but I am verry good with C#. The programming is somewhat easy for me. I have a lot of great ideas for software. My problem is not usually writing the code or the databases, etc. Its getting everything to work togther correctly. I have a really hard time with the documentation development. Knowing what types of documents to develop. More often then not I just start writing the code from the plans in my head, and a few days later find that the program is an entire mess because nothing was planned out. Then it gets scrapped.

I'm planning on taking some computer courses in college in 2009. I just want to make sure I'm not wasting all my time. I hope there is always a need for programmers. Its something I've always wanted to do. If I could get the developement documents and design portions down, I think I really would have a future here. I havent been able to locate and good (yet beginner) books on those topics. All the books I've located are about the coding stage. I'm not even sure what to search for when it comes to the document/program structure design. Isnt that more of an engineering area?

Johny Rocks
November 25th, 2008, 04:59 AM
I have hmmm a similar problem Three5Eight, but I also know it is not about me, Perhaps I have reached a high level of spying on different people problems. and I am pretty paranoid to mix up all common ideas of the same particular problem in mind when reading news.

TheCPUWizard
November 25th, 2008, 09:13 AM
Here is the advice I give everyone learning a programming language:

1) Get a GOOD Book that you are going to follow. (Additional books for reference are good also)

2) Read every word, starting at page 1, no browsing, no skipping.

3) Type in every line of code in the book. Even if there is a CD/Online source, MANUALLY type it in. Actually keying in the source provides much better retention and understanding.

4) Step through every line with your debugger. Really SEE how each line changes variables, influences flow control.

5) Ask questions on things you dont understand.

6) One you think you understand, write a simple program of your own to utilize the information in the chapter. Keep them simple, focus on the material.

7) Do not move on to the next chapter until you are confident on the current one.

Most people run into problems grasping a language because they either missed or ignored some small point, and then built their "knowledge" based on this flaw.

Good Luck! :wave::wave:

Three5Eight
November 25th, 2008, 12:03 PM
Well I just bought a C++ book written by Brad Jones so I'm going to try this book and see if it works for me. Hopefully it will be a good book. I know C# really well. I understand how to program with C#, but I do not understand what is actually happening under the hood-why does the code work in the first place. I'm hoping that C++ will help me learn stuff that is a little closer to the operating system, and therfore help me understand better how the code is actually working. With this information I should become an even better programmer.

Sams C++ in One Hour a Day (978-0-672-32941-8)

When I'm done with this book I have two other books:

The C++ Programming Language - The Creation of C++ By Bjarne Stroustrup (0-201-70073-5)

Since that book is written by the creator of C++ he knows the language better then anyone else and once I get the basics down on the language from the beginner book I am hoping I can understand his book better.

I also have a Managed C++ book but it covers version 2003. Do you think it would be a good idea to read that book, or should I get a 2008 version? I'm not sure how much has really changed between 03 and 08.

TheCPUWizard
November 25th, 2008, 12:14 PM
Good books.. a few comments....

1) Much has changed in C++ since Barjne created it...what is the date/edition of his book

2) There were radical differences between 2003 (1.x) and 2005 (2.0) but the migration from 2.0 to 3.5 (2008) is much more abbout additions rather than changes.

BE VERY careful attempting to apply what you know about one language to another. This is a common pitfall. What may be "Best Practices" in one language may be a road to disaster in another.

This is especially true when comparing a managed language (C# or C++/CLI) to a native language.

If at all possible try to forget (temporarily) everything you know about one when learning another. If you have a mental process of "Oh!, I know that from programing in other language" you are likely to encounter serious problems.

Three5Eight
November 25th, 2008, 01:36 PM
The book says:

The C++ Programming Language
Special Edition - The Creator of C++
Bjarne Stroustrup

11th Printing August 2004

http://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Language-Special-3rd/dp/0201700735/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227638122&sr=1-1