OT: Computer Science in today's market

[Richard Gaskin]

Jim Hurley wrote:
> Thought some  of you might be interested in this article from the NYT on 
> Computer Science as a major in today's world of technology and the 
> problems with off-shoring of programming jobs.
> 
> TECHNOLOGY   | August 23, 2005
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/technology/23geeks.html?ex=1125460800&en=6b61cc74c14ba4af&ei=5070&emc=eta1>ATechie, 
> Absolutely, and More
> By STEVE LOHR
> For computer science students, expanding expertise beyond programming is 
> crucial to future job security as technology jobs move to India and China.

A reassuring read.

Makes me glad I never jumped on the bandwagon with commodity languages 
like Java and VB.  Anything that can be commoditized will be sent 
overseas today, and done by robots tommorrow.

I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I spend more time doing 
requirements analysis and design than coding.  Those jobs can be 
outsourced only at the publisher's peril: design work requires an 
intimate understanding of not just the regional culture of the target 
audience, but also the organizational culture.  You have to directly 
observe users in action, interview people at all levels of the 
organization your software will support, and learn when to listen to 
what they tell you and when to read between the lines to hear not what 
they're able to articulate but what they really mean.

Software design is more about workflow than algorithms, more about 
people than machines.

A tool like Rev is already doing most of the work that other companies 
outsource: the bit-counting tedium of lower-level languages.

Us Rev devs ge get to focus on the people side of the business, which 
for me is more enjoyable (when I was working in C I kept asking, "Why am 
I typing this -- can't the machine do this for me?"), and not likely to 
move offshore anytime soon (except perhaps with short-sighted companies 
who prefer to jeopardize their viability by blurring the distinctions 
between short-term savings and long-term ROI, and I try to avoid working 
with companies that aren't ROI-driven anyway).

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
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  Rev tools and more: http://www.fourthworld.com/rev