RE: Question concerning entry level programmer skills

[Joel Fritz <JFritz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Excellent Friday question.

IMHO the only things that really matter are things that are basic to all
programming languages.  In logic the truth tables for AND and OR and what
happens when you use parentheses in logical conditions including DeMorgan's
Law (you don't have to know it by name.)  In control structures,  how loops,
if statements, and case statements work.  Data structures would include
arrays and what's called a "data structure" in RPG.  File stuff should
include understanding what a record pointer is and the difference between
sequential and random I/O.  General design skills should include a basic
understanding of how to break a task into a set of small components.
General background ought to include an idea of what a compiler does, how
memory is allocated (static vs automatic storage, dynamic allocation), and
kind of what happens when a program runs. Nice to haves would be a basic
understanding of RPG
 syntax, how to use pointers, and how to write code that uses sub
procedures.  

I think any one who can handle the above can learn the stuff that's specific
to the 400 like what goes where on an F spec, and what indicator goes where.
Any one who can't handle the above will never succeed in programming.  In
the shop where I work, we've trained several people who became good
programmers who had a limited general exposure to programming before doing
it for a living.  All of them wrote their first "real" program in their
first week on the job.        

> -----Original Message-----
> From: kjennings@garan.com [mailto:kjennings@garan.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 12, 2000 8:31 AM
> To: RPG400-L@midrange.com
> Subject: Question concerning entry level programmer skills
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, group!  In your opinion, what knowledge and skills should 
> an entry level RPG
> programmer have fresh out of school?
> 
> Kevin
> 
> 
> 
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