Re: mainframe career advice



"Defaultuser" <Defaultuser@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:PQD_e.113134$xl6.84344@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "Mirlitone" <news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:1127828371.893554.170890@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> you're right, but why does a firm would hire me if i don't have what it
>> wants? If i choose maiframe now, i think i'll be stuck because i won't
>> be abble to be hired in a job where i use something else. It's not
>> that i can't learn a new technology, it's simply that no one would hire
>> me if the techology i know is useless.
>>
>> There's **must** be a reason that hardly no one want to work with
>> mainframe to start a career.
>>
>> I speak from what i know, things may be different elsewhere... ;-)
>
> I'm not going to get Pete started but I read a quote the other day from
> someone who works at a rather large company building modeling and coding
> tools.

Knowing how to use these tools is becoming more important than the ability
to code. (No, I haven't "started" :-) I just don't get time to read CLC
much at the moment, as you can see from the timestamp on this...I had a
quick browse for the first time in weeks, and realised I'm missing very
little, then I saw your comment above...<g>)

The project I am managing at the moment is using Websphere and Java with the
Rational toolset (by the way, I'm trying to get A/Ps and testers at the
moment... If anyone fancies a couple of years in NZ and is prepared to get
into OO and Java, write me privately. Some of what I need doesn't involve
coding so you don't need in-depth Java...). I have been quite surprised to
find that the Toolset has taken over many of the traditional functions that
were the domain of the Analyst and Programmer.

It is kind of refreshing (for me, at least) to find no resistance whatsoever
when I decide that RAD will be used and an Object Oriented approach will be
taken. (It is sensible in this instance, for reasons which I won't go into
here; suffice to say, if we employed the waterfall SDLC approach it would
take around 4 years. We expect to implement in 18 months. Ths is possible
because JAD timeboxes can be run in parallel, like asynchronous, parallel
processing on a computer. The whole approach is much more flexible and gives
me options I wouldn't have on the SDLC approach. The Rational toolset
implements RUP (Rational's Unified Procedures) and this "guides" the
gathering of requirements by Business Analysts, the creation of deliverables
based on Use Cases, the management of gaps in requirements, and the control
of changes to requirements and gaps. Another partof the toolset controls
versions of source, binaries, and documents. All very good stuff.


The general gist was that people are threatened by the new tools
> because they see themselves as Java/Cobol/Unix/J2SE practitioners. They
> are threatened by anything that removes the need for that low level skill.

Here we come to project/site "culture" again. None of my current people
feel threatened in this way. There is such a large mix of skill requirements
at both the Analyst and Programmer level (by the time you add in web skills)
that programmers have so many strings to their bows they are unlikely to be
unemployed. Besides, these are bright young people who enjoy what they are
doing, and are really pleased to extend their skill sets. They have no
problem with acquiring new skills and examining new ideas. I am totally
drained by this work, but I am having the time of my life and thoroughly
enjoying working with them <g>.(Fortunately, they seem to enjoy working with
me, too.)

> However, what people are failing to understand is that it's not what you
> know, it's your ability to provide a solution.

I wholeheartedly endorse that statement. Solutions are where it is at. That
means tools, methodologies, generators, hand coding, people skills, analysis
skills, whatever it takes to provide the solution. (Funny, I thought I heard
an echo... it was saying "the right tools for the job..." <g>) Object
Oriented technology and RAD approaches are just one way of doing it; they
happen to be right for this particular implementation. Certainly, today's
toolsets are beyond anything we could have dreamed of back in the old days.
(For "old days", read "before OO"...) IDEs are taken as read. The concept of
developing code as a separate entity from the system is just not
understood... it HAS to be integrated. Everything is drag and drop and point
and click... not a green screen in sight <g>.

The productivity is fantastic. We used to think if people did 100 lines of
clean, properly documented, working source code a day, that was good. I've
seen these people generate 2000 lines by drag and drop and do it in minutes.
Tools. Makes all the difference. (No, I do not ascribe to LOC as a measure
of Programmer productivity, any more than I believe in Function Points or
the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny... it was just an example.) They don't
even code SQL any more... entity objects do all the database stuff; you
don't need to know where your data is stored... just instantiate a data
object of the right type and forget it. (I ran some SQL traces to see what
it did, and was pretty surprised. <g>)

>With experience you get more to draw from. Remember: Software Engineers
>can have a career where coders will have ever shortening contracts.
>

Absolutely.

> Using a twist on the hammer analogy.....if someone builds an pneumatic
> hammer, it doesn't mean the house will build itself.
>
> Learning is fun...to me that's better than doing the same old routine.
>
There are many people who feel that way. It's a delight to work with some of
them.

Pete.




.

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