What it is like to be a programmer.... (1 Viewer)

Feb 27, 2011
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I have been very fortunate to be able to get back into programming fulltime professionally after 20 years of only doing it part time and in a small way. In those 20 years I had forgotten about the frustrations of programming where it interfaces with the real world/humans.

I tripped over this video whilst refreshing my memory on cryptography and hashing (don't ask). I thought this might be entertaining and enlightening for quite a few of you.
Don't worry it doesn't get at all technical...

 
Oct 1, 2013
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I was a programmer 15 years, then I realised that a DBA had much easier life. I cruised last 15 years till I retired :)

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Gromett
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I was a programmer 15 years, then I realised that a DBA had much easier life. I cruised last 15 years till I retired :)

I did DBA part time, it is the worst part of the job. Trying to fight with developers who don't know how to optimise SQL statements or explaining why they shouldn't do joins on non indexed columns. They always expect me to perform miracles with the hardware they were too cheap to invest in to start with.....

Fortunately @Jim listens to me so we have a nice fast db backing up this site and it never hiccups (touch wood).

In order of preference, I would rather be a programmer than a DBA, I would rather be a DBA than a sysadmin. However my long experience of being a sysadmin means that is where I can get work the easiest. Getting back into the development work is something I have wanted to do for years and I am loving it even with the minor frustrations :)
 
Oct 1, 2013
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I was senior DBA for Parcelforce, Travelex and McAfee.

Was a piece of piss. I designed the DBs and told the programmers what to do.

Oh, and what's the true meaning of DBA?

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Riverbankannie

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Great video. Congratulations on going full time. When writing code in 1960s and trying to save every bit of memory space it seemed quite sensible to leave out the two digits 19 for the year. Who could imagine ever needing to consider 2000. Still the end of the world didn't happen as some predicted.
Good luck
 

ColinandDawn

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I too was a programmer for far too many years.

I understood everything this man was saying about changes etc.,

BUT - the most difficult changes are where the client changes their mind or think of something they have forgotten to mention and say...

"it's only a little change so we should still hold the project end date"

I still remember the warm glow of passing a Memo, later a printed out email, across the table in a management meeting to show exactly the who, when and where of the changes to the job spec.

I finished my time as the IT manager at a London law firm
 

GJH

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The film demonstrates how easily things go wrong when somebody starts programming without a proper requirements analysis.
I was a programmer 15 years, then I realised that a DBA had much easier life. I cruised last 15 years till I retired :)
And Business Analysis is even easier - people don't change as quickly as what salesmen want to sell you :)

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Oct 1, 2013
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Remember the old IT joke.

Yearly performance updates were just taking out a few sleep statements ;)
 

GJH

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Great video. Congratulations on going full time. When writing code in 1960s and trying to save every bit of memory space it seemed quite sensible to leave out the two digits 19 for the year. Who could imagine ever needing to consider 2000. Still the end of the world didn't happen as some predicted.
Good luck
It was quite sensible - but we also had the sense to include the first two digits when replacing software in the 1980s to stop the end of the world happening :)
In 1999 it was a good job we had a label printer at my then employer because somebody in a user department bought in a non-Y2K system (completely against the rules) when he had been told not to.

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Gromett
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The film demonstrates how easily things go wrong when somebody starts programming without a proper requirements analysis.

Or how the requirements can change. A person writes it for his uses and then other people with different requirements then come along to cause headaches :p
 

GJH

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Or how the requirements can change. A person writes it for his uses and then other people with different requirements then come along to cause headaches :p
A person writing something for his uses and then trying to roll it out to others is just another example of programming without a proper requirements analysis :)

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Gromett
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Great video. Congratulations on going full time. When writing code in 1960s and trying to save every bit of memory space it seemed quite sensible to leave out the two digits 19 for the year. Who could imagine ever needing to consider 2000. Still the end of the world didn't happen as some predicted.
Good luck

I should qualify the fulltime bit. I do up to 25 hour a week on the project and it is open ended. I still do my server admin stuff. I am a freelancer / outside contractor.
BUT - the most difficult changes are where the client changes their mind or think of something they have forgotten to mention and say...

I just had that after 4 weeks into the project. This was after 20 + hours of discussion to understand his business and what his requirements were. He came back to me and said would it be too hard to add a system for external auditors and compliance, but they are only allowed access to x,y and z and only for a certain group of users ++++.

When I explained this would require a minor rewrite which would take me an extra 2 weeks he being the excellent client said, "Well that was my fault so go for it." :D
 
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Gromett
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A person writing something for his uses and then trying to roll it out to others is just another example of programming without a proper requirements analysis :)
Rubbish :p
 
Oct 1, 2013
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I remember a twatty new senior programmer who decided that dates should be input in US format. Guess what fun that caused :)

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Gromett
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Exactly - that's what you get when you don't start with a proper requirements analysis :)
We have had this argument before and I don't intend to repeat it now. My opinion is requirements analysis are a good start point and essential on anything but the smallest project. But they are like battle plans and very rarely survive the start of battle except for the most rigid of systems with a static use case.
 
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Gromett
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Oh, and what's the true meaning of DBA?
DataBase Administrator. The person responsible for making sure a database produces results reliably, quickly and safely.

I have not looked up a formal definition nor the responsibilities. But in my role as DBA, I am responsible for the installation and core configuration of the database software, which in my case was MySQL, MariaDB or Percona. I am also responsible for the backups, replication, optimisation, monitoring and repair of the database. I am also sometimes responsible for designing the schema for databases and on very rare occasions creating the model (MVC) used to access the database. About the only time I write the SQL statements for clients is when I have designed the schema or created the model they will use.
 
Jan 25, 2013
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My first lesson in computers in 1973 was TOMCAT - "Totally Obedient Moron Can't Actually Think". it was a lesson well learnt as I was plunged into having to learn how to program (OK it was only BASIC) after only one day's training before the trainer disappeared! "Don't Panic"..........!

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GJH

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We have had this argument before and I don't intend to repeat it now. My opinion is requirements analysis are a good start point and essential on anything but the smallest project. But they are like battle plans and very rarely survive the start of battle except for the most rigid of systems with a static use case.
Try telling that to IBM and the like :LOL:
 
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Would a 370 reference card trump a 360 perchance @GJH ?:Grin:


Being a sad bugger I still have a copy of 370 principles of operation here at home:eek:
 

GJH

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Would a 370 reference card trump a 360 perchance @GJH ?:Grin:


Being a sad bugger I still have a copy of 370 principles of operation here at home:eek:
Good but not good enough I'm afraid. I also still have the System/370 Reference Summary book (not a mere card), Quick Reference to PROFS and IBM Professional Office System Quick Guide.

To really top it off I still have the GX20-8020-1 Flowcharting Template :rofl:

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