Re: four most-wanted prog. languages

[Karen Davis PSP team 03 505 <karene -at- ASIMOV -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM>]

>Here is my list:

>1. COBOL
>2. C
>3. FORTRAN
>4. BASIC


This may have been true 15 years ago, but in our area, the only
one on the list in much demand is C. COBOL is only used in a very
few, very antique banks and insurance companies. Currently in Dallas,
the push is for object-oriented languages, such as C++ and Small Talk.
Some Visual Basic is in demand, but not much. A scan of today's paper
yields several requests for C++ programmers, one for Small Talk, and
several for people with UNIX and network experience.

At my company, we work on both workstations and PCs. Many of our
products are used across different platforms. The primary language is
C++.
My advice is to get well grounded in at least one language that is
commonly used in the type of business in which you want to work. Be
familiar with several others, to the point that you recognize them
when you see them and understand their structure. Try to work on more
than one type of platform, and understand the differences between PCs,
workstations, mainframes, and other computers. Network experience is
always a huge plus.  Every company is having to work harder to share
information, and network gurus are at a premium. Just knowing the
difference between TCP/IP and SNA protocols puts you severals steps
ahead of the crowd.

Your friend should attend some user's groups and learn the types of
languages and jobs that the members have. This will give him
clues and possible connections for future employment!


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/  Karen Davis, karene -at- asimov -dot- sc -dot- ti -dot- com                  \
/                                                        \
/  "I am a fragile flower of femininity.                 \
/   And I'll kill anyone who says otherwise!"            \
/                                                        \
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