System iNetwork

December 2004

December 18, 2004 1:17 PM

What makes a good Programmer?

I was talking with a colleague when this topic came into the conversation. I recalled to him some advice I was given very early on in my career, which was:

"All programmers should be Analyst/Programmers; they might have a 'big A' and a 'little p' – the emphasis being more on the analysis side – or a 'small a' and a 'big P' with the emphasis on the programming side."

Over the years I came to see the wisdom of this, I have worked with programmers who could cut code as good as anyone, but the systems they designed were woeful.

For example, one programmer I met rewrote an order processing system for a company. One of the features he built in (which everyone raved about) was a free format text entry facility on the order entry screen. This displayed one line at a time for the text input and when the end of the line was reached, a new line would be displayed with the current word being wrapped automatically to the new line – quite clever on a 5250 screen. Later when I questioned him on how the system handled back orders for when items were out of stock I got a puzzled look and he did not know what I was talking about.

I visited the users and found that they had to keep a manual list of any orders with out of stock lines. Then, when stock came into the warehouse, they had to manually check this off against the lists and allocate it.

He was an excellent programmer but lacked that special something that makes a programmer useful in a business environment – an understanding of business processes.

When I was running my own department, I would try to recruit a programmer that understood how a business runs rather than an exceptional programmer that did not have a clue about these processes.

I would say that the programming aspects of a programmer's job can be less than 50% programming, the rest of the job requiring analysis and people skills.

I would argue that for most, if not all, jobs in an IT department, being able to deal with people, to understand their concerns, to be able to relate systems concepts to them in an understandable way, and so on, is a key requirement. Programming a computer is the easy bit.

So what are you, a Programmer, an analyst/Programmer, an Analyst/programmer or that rare beast, an Analyst/Programmer (strong on both counts!)?

Posted by on December 18, 2004 at 1:17 PM | Comments (8)

December 13, 2004 5:23 AM

LPAR fear

Scott, we haven't used LPAR here because we've heard from sources outside of IBM that it is difficult to manage and can be a performance hog. This didn't come from my IBM Business Partner though who has recommended LPAR. Have you seen small shops use LPAR outside of having a production/testing split?

Posted by on December 13, 2004 at 5:23 AM | Comments (1)

December 7, 2004 11:41 AM

Is LPAR a 4-letter word? Some ISVs seem to think so.

I'm helping a client consolidate multiple 820s onto one LPAR'd i520. It is clear that some ISVs (independent software vendors) view LPAR with great trepidation because iSeries shops who consolidate servers can reduce the number of software licenses they require. Fewer licenses often means lower annual maintenance fees, and that is not good if you are an ISV. I can almost hear sales reps sigh when I say "LPAR" and "server consolidation" in the same sentence. One vendor tried to increase maintenance fees for "LPAR-enablement", whatever that is. Other vendors have been 100% supportive and had no problem reducing their annual maintenance fees. If you're a customer who has consolidated servers recently, what has your experience been? If you're an ISV, how do you view LPAR?

Posted by on December 7, 2004 at 11:41 AM

December 1, 2004 7:18 AM

What ever happened to PIE?

No, I don't mean cherry, blueberry or pumpkin. Partners in Education (PIE) was/is IBM's program to get college and even some high school students exposed to the AS/400, iSeries or whatever it is called today. I haven't heard much about the program from IBM recently. Is it still being pushed? It should be! We still need RPG programmers and iOS/5 (?) experienced students coming out of learning institutions!

Posted by on December 1, 2004 at 7:18 AM | Comments (1)