Making Career in Computer Programming

Given the spread and importance of the IT industry worldwide and the kind of IT related spending across the government and private sectors in India, there is a great demand for good computer programmers in the country. And the gap between the demand for and supply of able professionals is significant. Specified the current market trends, the demand is anticipated to increase further.

Scope of learning of computer programming

Earlier computers were used almost exclusively by scientists, and the first high-level language, Fortran (Formula translation), was developed in the 1950s for scientific and engineering applications. COBOL, the first language intended for commercial applications, is still widely used. BASIC was developed as a teaching tool for undergraduates (1966); it subsequently became the primary language of the personal computer revolution. Dennis Ritchie of Bell Laboratories produced a language that he called C; along came its extensions, called C++, developed by Bjarne Stroustrup of Bell Laboratories. It has, per- haps, become the most widely used general purpose language among professional programmers because of its ability to deal with the rigors of object oriented programming. Java is an object oriented language similar to C++ but simplified to eliminate features that are prone to programming errors.

Java was developed exclusively as a network oriented language, for writing programmes that can be securely downloaded through the Internet and immediately run without fear of computer viruses. World Wide Web pages can be used using small Java programmes called applets to include a full range of multimedia functions.

As technology evolves and newer, more highly developed tools emerge, programmers will need to update their skills in order to remain competitive. Now programming is done with either Microsoft .Net Technologies which involves VC++, Asp.net, C#, VB.net or Java / J2EE technologies involving core Java, JSPs, Servlets and frameworks like struts, hibernates, iBatis, etc. Various tools for rapid application development are also available where a user can develop /automate a manage from scratch or customise existing features of the system. Some of those tools are ERP solutions from SAP, Oracle, IFS, IBM.

With lots of computer languages and rapid application development tools in the industry, programmers are confused about which one they should choose to start with. With newest trends like web based and full graphics user interface based application requirements, the hard work has come up with rapid application development tools like Visual Studios, Eclipse and ERP based solution from Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, IBM, IFS etc. Using these tools the application development and testing timeframe has been drastically reduced and they also help in fast delivery of applications.