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[BDwinsAlt]

I have to do this career paper for school. I have to interview someone.

If you program as a profession or know someone who does please help me answer these questions.

1. Why did you choose programming as your profession?
2. What type of education did you recieve? (Which college and how many years)
3. Describe what an average day is like for you.
4. What is the average starting salary?
5. How many hours per week do you put into your job?
6. What are some advantages of your career?
7. What are some disadvantages of your career?
8. What would you have done besides programming?

Please answer those honestly. If this doesn't apply to you please don't post.

[tcsoccerman]

i'm doing the same thing but i'm 2 years younger lol. i dunno any questions sorry.

[Chambahs]

"If you program as a profession or know someone who does"

[Purge]

Can't you just Google/research the answers to those questions?

[Solid_Fire]

Purge it doesn't work like that. --

bd, try emailing some known programming companys, i'm sure they would be happy to help..
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[Samapico]

I'd have contacts for you, but in Québec the education system is different, (5 years high school, CÉGEP, then university) ... so answers wouldn't be valuable for you anyway
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[BDwinsAlt]

I went to a programming forum and a few people replied there. Thanks though.

[Smong]

Can you post your paper when you've finished it, could be an interesting read.
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[BDwinsAlt]

Sure. I'll let you guys revise it some. I have to do all of my research at school. I will have to come home after the research is done and type it. We will research for a week using only the books and websites they have listed. We have to have five sources. Only one source can be a website (that they provide for us). One is an encyclopedia. I hope they have some good books in our library. Alabama isn't really a programming state.

I was born on Programmer's Day so maybe that will give me some extra luck. I'll throw that in my paper and say I read it in one of the books.

[Animate Dreams]

Today is Pi day

[BDwinsAlt]

I know. I told my mom that this morning and she wouldn't listen. They showed something about it on tv and she was talking about how it's pi day and she didn't know what it was.

[Samapico]

Wtf is so special about this Pi day? ... pft

And google doesn't even have a custom logo for that day... that means it's NOT a special day

edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_day ... that's a dumb way to choose a day to celebrate...

[Solo Ace]

OMG PIE DAY.

Heh, in our date format it was 13/3/7, two days ago.

[cReEmY]

if you wanna interview a dentist, ask me

[BDwinsAlt]

I think this is the working version of the rough draft I did on my report. I told you I would let you see it.

I had to use all of these old books so some of the information may be really old.

Edit: I'll just copy and paste to make it easier on everyone. Hmm I put my wrong grade on there. Now I have to reprint. I followed the example a little too much.

Code: Show/Hide Brad Davis April 2, 2007 Mrs. Armstrong Advanced English 10 Computer Programmer    Coding, repairing, and maintaining computers – these are just a few of the daily activities that a programmer performs.  Programmers are people who “work in the field of electronic data processing.  They write instructions that tell a computer what to do . . .” (“Computer Programmers”; Encyclopedia 532).  The first civilian computer to help with the compiling of data was in the Bureau of the Census in 1951.  Data processing came from World War II.  It was impossible to keep up with so much data in time, so computers made it easier.  After the war, computers were put in government buildings and businesses (531-32).  Programmers have been working on artificial intelligence so that computers can make human-like decisions (“Computer Programmers”; Encyclopedia 532).  Understanding the career of a programmer involves understanding the nature of work, working conditions, and job outlook of the profession.    First, a programmer produces code, tests computers and software, and takes care of the programs running on the computer  (“Computer Programmer” 96).  A programmer also has to monitor the computer's performance and has to be certain there is not anything wrong with the computer (Williams 22).  Programmers code in languages that are turned into assembly so the computer can understand it (Weigant 18).  There are many different programming languages that a programmer can use (“Computer Programmers”; The 98).  A few of the older ones are BASIC, Cobol, Fortran, Pascal, RPG, CSP, and C++.  C++ is still used often today.  A system analyst makes a list of program specifications.  The programmer follows that list that the computer has to follow in order to do its task.  Those instructions get coded by the programmer so that the computer can understand them.  A programmer has to look over the work request before he or she starts to program.  He or she has to predict the outcome as they plan and code (“Computer Programmers”; The 98).  He or she also may have to load the printers with paper.  He or she has to keep data files organized (Williams 22).  Most programmers work in a nice office that is air-conditioned and dust-free.  He or she may need to travel to finish a project (“Computer Programmers”; The 101).  The average programmer have to work about thirty-three to forty hours a week (“Computer Programmers” Encyclopedia 534).  A programmer spends a long time in front of a computer.    Second, a programmer should enjoy working with computers and understand how they work.  Programmers have to know how different devices work with each other (Spencer 46).  This means they also have to know how hard drives work and how other devices work with them (Spencer 46).  Many times a Bachelor's degree is needed to get a programming job (“Computer Programmer” 98).  A programmer needs a four-year degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or physics (Weigant 13).  Most companies look for programmers who know languages such as Java or C++ (“Computer Programmer” 98).  A future programmer should take any computer programming classes that his or her high school offers (99).  He or she should focus on courses such as math and science.  Many programmers are on a contract-basis.  They work for a while and then move to another company (98).  There are 499,000 jobs for programmers (“Computer Programmer” 98).    Third, the average salary is about $40,000 for someone who has recently graduate college (“Computer Programmer” 100).  Programmers who do software-publishing make about $66,870 a year (“Computer Programmer” 99).  Programmers usually receive the same benefits as any other person (Williams 22).  They get a one week vacation the first year they are working with a company.  After two years, they get a two-week vacation (Williams 22).    According to the U.S. Department of Labor, job opportunities should increase even faster than it already is (“Computer Programmer” 101).  Schools and businesses look for new software to replace what they already have (101).  Also, businesses need more programmers who can program things for data transfer with things such as wireless networks.  An advantage of programing in C, instead of other languages, is that it makes it easier to switch to C++ (Brain 1).  With those languages, one can understand and make code for many of different platforms (Brain 1).  A programmer only works with a small amount of supervision (Williams 24).  He or she is allowed to stray away from his or her work by checking personal emails and posting on forums (Interview).  He or she is allowed to dress casually (Williams 24).  He or she is also allowed to listen to music while they work.  A programmer has to keep doing the same tasks over and over.  He or she has to work for long periods of time.  He or she usually has to work on holidays as well (Williams 23).  A programmer has to deal with a large amount of stress they get pressured to finish a job faster (Weigant 14).  For a more serious matter, programmers can get things such as back pains, eye strain, and Carpel Tunnel Syndrome from typing all day (“Computer Programmer” 98).  If a programmer loves computers he or she looks past the disadvantages and enjoys the job.  As shown, programmers must be willing to dedicate numerous amounts of time and energy to typing code.  In order to truly understand the life of a programmer, one must understand the work he or she performs and the mindset he or she must have while on the job.

Some of the stuff was under computer technician so it may or may not apply to programmers. (She doesn't know that)

[Smong]

Looks good. Any chance you can add something in about india and out sourcing?

Here are my more ruthless comments:
 - Paragraph 2 and the last paragraph just seem to end up with "he or she" lists.
- Overuse of "he or she"? Maybe try using "they".
- "A system analyst makes a list of ..." new paragraph here?
- "He or she also may have to load the printers with paper." I doubt that's in the job description.
- "A programmer needs a four-year degree" really? How about saying something like most companies are looking for programmers with 4 year degrees, or if you don't want to change it so much you could insert the word "usually" between programmer and needs, or insert the phrase "in this country".
- Can you cite websites? Maybe put some skewed stats in on how programming like the #2 job or something, I'm sure there's a thread about it here somewhere. 

[BDwinsAlt]

[Smong]

I was suggesting you split it into two paragraphs.
I suppose if you think you'll get marked down for using "they" then that's fair enough that you don't want to use it (I know I would use it to refer to 1 person).

[Bak]

yeah, no officially it's incorrect grammar but lots of people use it. It looks pretty good although the "he or she" lists smong mentioned seem to ruin the flow a little.

Also, I'd rather have all the sources cited as [1] or [2] in the text, and then have a bibliography at the end, not sure if that's allowed.

It may be better to go through an example of what a programmer does instead of listing his tasks. So instead of

Code: Show/Hide "First, a programmer produces code, tests computers and software, and takes care of the programs running on the computer  (“Computer Programmer” 96).  A programmer also has to monitor the computer's performance and has to be certain there is not anything wrong with the computer (Williams 22).  Programmers code in languages that are turned into assembly so the computer can understand it (Weigant 18).  There are many different programming languages that a programmer can use (“Computer Programmers”; The 98).  A few of the older ones are BASIC, Cobol, Fortran, Pascal, RPG, CSP, and C++.  C++ is still used often today.  A system analyst makes a list of program specifications.  The programmer follows that list that the computer has to follow in order to do its task.  Those instructions get coded by the programmer so that the computer can understand them.  A programmer has to look over the work request before he or she starts to program.  He or she has to predict the outcome as they plan and code "

have like

Code: Show/Hide A programming project starts when the programmer receives specifications from a client. Soon after, he or she choses an appropriate higher level laungage such as Cobol, Fortran, or C++ with which to write the implementation. Different languages have different strengths and weaknesses, although C++ is common in industry. The source code he writes in this upper level language will gets trasnlated into a lower level language, assembly, which is a language that computers can understand and execute. This process is called compiling. After chosing a language, the algorithm for solving the problem is designed and implemented. During this stage lots of predicting and planning occurs, as well as debugging, which is fixing problems in previously written code. After the program is debugged, the responsibility of thorough testing is also the programmer's. After the customer receives the program, it must be maintained as additional bugs are reported from the cleint and new features are requested. To aid this process, programmers are expected to write documentation for the code they write, such that others can easily provide maintance for their code.

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[BDwinsAlt]

The teacher wanted all of the bibliographic information that way. As for the information flow, I followed it based on my outline.

We had to paraphrase only the information we found. I can't use my own knowledge.