I don't work in a class room, I work in the real world and business
dictates "I want it yesterday". They don't understand you taking time away
from their projects so that you can learn to use something that they see as
having no direct benefit to the business. ("it doesn't create income" - how
many times have we heard that?).
This brings to point a question though. Who's responsibility is it to learn
WDSC? I would say both the employee and employer. Not having at least one
or two people in a shop staying on top of the "new stuff" is very dangerous
IMO and reflects the state of RPG programming as it stands today. I
wouldn't rely on the employer to make sure I am up to date on technologies
though. We have families to feed and there's fun to be had with technology.
Not staying up to date will eventually leave us as un-attractive employees.
I guess the way I work is just put in a few extra hours here and there to
learn as I go, and it all evens out in the end (i.e. the employer getting
the "on-time" project, and me getting to enhance my knowledge of
technology). In some shops it is a reality to get dedicated training, but
there is a new generation of programmers out there that enjoy what they do,
and it shows. Programming isn't just a job, it's their hobby also. They
are the ones that take WDSC home and install it on their own PC to see what
they can learn. They are the ones that come in a half an hour early to test
out a new piece of code they found in a trade rag. They are the ones
saddling the web pony and hopping on without a care of falling. THEY ARE
THE ONES REPLACING OUR JOBS!!
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
midrange.com
