RE: Re(2): The economy and developers

["Phil" <sublime78ska@xxxxxxxxx>]

Very good points, Mike.

Phil

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
> [mailto:owner-midrange-l@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Mike Naughton
> Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 2:18 PM
> To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject: Re(2): The economy and developers
>
>
> While perhaps not a perfect answer, I think  that trying to keep as
> current  as possible in a range of areas is one form of insurance (as some
> earlier threads have indicated, learning new technologies may not just be
> a matter of professional responsibility, it may be a survival technique!).
> Having said that, I think recognition that "information systems" (formerly
> know as "data processing") has important skill sets that are relatively
> platform-independent. I moved from the DEC PDP-11 world (talk about a dry
> brook!) to the AS/400 eight years ago, and while RPG is pretty different
> from DIBOL, the issues surrounding storing, retrieving, and presenting
> data were (not surprisingly, I think) very similar. Differences in tool
> sets lead to different methods of solving the same types of problems, but
> experience and expertise in developing solutions should continue to be a
> marketable skill (IMHO). Also, some tools are definitely cross-platform --
> SQL, for example, and Java, which IBM seems to doing its darndest to get
> us RPG-heads to look into ;-) . . . .
>
> One final suggestion: don't think of yourself as an "AS/400" expert, think
> of yourself as a "business applications systems" expert. I work on an
> AS/400 now, but I write and maintain order processing, inventory control,
> and production management systems -- doing everything from requirements
> definition to end-user training -- and those are the skills that I will
> (if necessary) take to another platform. . . .
>
> jmho
>
> MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com writes:
> >I guess what we need is some kind of skill set market need shift
> >insurance
> >... after working decades in the 400 world, it might die & I
> will need to
> >relearn computers into perhaps the Linux world, but I can't
> predict which
> >world I will need to relearn, and when I find out I might be unemployed,
> >so
> >time to cash in my skill set insurance on education into whatever is now
> >the
> >hot area.
>
>
> Mike Naughton
> Senior Programmer/Analyst
> Judd Wire, Inc.
> 124 Turnpike Road
> Turners Falls, MA  01376
> 413-863-4357 x444
> mnaughton@juddwire.com
>
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