Brain Cell

Few weeks ago ; i asked my C++ teacher about programming (or any computer related) summer jobs. He said that he had no idea , but he could ask some knowledgeable people about it.

Yesterday he came to me saying that he almost found a programming job for me. I told him that i'm only capable of making C\C++ console programs , but then he asked "don't you know how to make VB.NET programs associated with databases? thats good enough to get the job".

I don't know what was he thinking. I'm not into VB.NET that much. I had to learn it just to pass the VB.NET beginner\advanced classes. I even still keep it's book next to me when making programs and i don't enjoy it that much. Not as much as i enjoy programming in C\C++ for sure.

Also , when i told him that i'm applying for a job in a local bookstore ; he sarcasticly said "you wanna work as a salesman in a bookstore? you should be looking for a job related to your proffesion" , and now i'm left confused.

Shall i take the job when it becomes possible? or shall i work as a salesman (in any decent store) and wait untill i learn Win32 API for C++ (or any other "real" language) and get a job that i enjoy?

__________________
My Tutorials :
- Bad programming practices in : C
- C\C++ Tips
(constrcutive criticism is very welcome)

- Brain Cell

mrafcho001

I would work as a sales man if i were you.
I mean if you dont enjoy VB then its pointless to program with VB.

Listen to your heart.

LOL^

Thantos

Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you need/want a job?
Do you want to be a programmer?
Which job offers you experience (the bread and butter of getting a better job) in the field you want to work?
Which job pays better?
If the VB.net job pays better, does it pay enough to do something you dislike?

Brain Cell

>Do you need/want a job?
yeah , i need to "do something" and have an income.

>Do you want to be a programmer?
sure , but i prefer being a C\C++ programmer.

>Which job offers you experience (the bread and butter of getting a better job) in the field >you want to work?
Thats what made me confused. The VB.NET job offers experience and adds to my CV when applying for a good programming job.

>Which job pays better?
i don't know , yet. But apparently the VB.NET job will pay much much more.

>If the VB.net job pays better, does it pay enough to do something you dislike?
I don't think so. I'd never want to do something i dislike no matter how high the salary is.

And again , i'm lost between the experience which VB.NET offer and the fun\flexible schedule that the salesman offer.

__________________
My Tutorials :
- Bad programming practices in : C
- C\C++ Tips
(constrcutive criticism is very welcome)

- Brain Cell

B0bDole

I think you should take the VB.NET job... even if you think you don't like the language, it's always good to broaden your spectrum... who knows, you might even come to like the language.

__________________
Hmm

elnerdo

You're being stubborn and stupid by saying you don't want to do a vb.net job and that you only use c/c++. If you want any programming jobs, you should know more than just one language.

Don't think that programming vb.net is hell, it's most likely a lot more fun than working as a salesperson. (I program in vb.net mostly and personally I don't see what's so wrong with it, I just think you need to use it more)

__________________
nerds unite!

I'm using windows XP.
I'm using dev-C++ by bloodshed.

Brain Cell

But there's another part of the programming job where i'm afraid of making technical error that would "hurt" the company , i made the program for , and then i'd find my self in deep trouble especially when i can't find out what's wrong. It's a big resposibility and i don't know if i can handle it yet. Besides , do they expect me to memorize everything i've learned? because i keep forgetting some important parts every now and then , and i'd probably need to refer to my VB.NET book too often.
C and C++ are two languages, not one, regardless of how similar they are. Besides , i'm planning on learning Java plus one or more languages.

by the way , do programming jobs require the knowledge of different programming languages? like employees make a C++ GUI program , then once they're done they start making a VB.NET or JAVA program?

__________________
My Tutorials :
- Bad programming practices in : C
- C\C++ Tips
(constrcutive criticism is very welcome)

- Brain Cell

Glirk Dient

Take the VB.net job.

Your always going to have to worry about your program failing so get used to it now! Also..it would be good experience learning to program with deadlines and making good code so that will also be a plus.

Honestly...I wish I could find a job like that. Right now I am a projectionist and supervisor at the local theater. Even though half the time im "working" I don't need to start a movie so im up there watching movies, listening to music, hanging out in conc or whatever. On top of that I get to see free movies and see them before they come out as well as free/reduced conc items while working. Sure the benefits kick ass but it pays crap and can get boring. While it is a pretty sweet high school job..programming would be exponentially better than most anything a kid in school can find.

nickname_changed

Knowledge of sales and the ability to work with customers is a vital skill, and I wish more programmers had it.

That said, I'd take the VB.NET job. It might not be what you want, but if you can do the job you'll be so far ahead of your peers in a year or two it wont be funny. In the mean time you can still learn C++ and you'll have real world experience to boot.

Although some people (I call them "stupid") will say differently, using VB.NET wont make you a worse C++ programmer. And the experience you'll learn will be immense.

It's like if you wanted to be a pro baseballer, but you only got offered a chance in softball, so you're going to work at Walmart until that big baseball offer comes. By playing softball professionaly for a while, you'll have much better chances making a transfer later.

Baseball is a stupid sport.

nickname_changed

Generally, it depends on the size of the company. Large companies like the CSC might use a lot of languages/operating systems, but the majority of small companies will stick with one, maybe two language at most. Its just easier that way.

And how can you want to learn Java and think its better than VB.NET (for GUI's at a minimum)?

ober

Others have said most of what I'm going to say, so I'll just keep it simple. Just because they're asking you to program in VB.NET doesn't mean that it is going to be the only language you'll ever use there.

I got hired on here under the impression that I'd be writing in C/C++ and a little VB. Since then, I've worked in C for all of about 2 days (in a little more than a year and a half), done the majority of my system programming in VB and RTP, and spent the rest of my time doing web apps. Since I've been here, I've had to teach myself PHP, RTP, CSS, RSS, hone my javascript knowledge, try to remember assembly, and even try to figure out DOS Basic. Oh, and I've dabbled in XML a bit as well.

What I'm trying to say is, getting a programming job will open you up to other possibilities, and if nothing else, the next company that wants to hire you will appreciate that you've been professionally programming in SOMETHING, instead of doing sales work.

Also, if you're turning it down because you're afraid you'll have to use reference books, get a clue. I use some sort of language reference almost every day. You can't remember everything and I'm sure even the gurus here have to reference functions from time to time.

Thantos

To echo Ober: A good tech does not need to know everything. They just need to know where to find the answer. When I was there I was considered the best tech in my unit. I didn't know everything. But I knew where I could get the information and I knew how to use it.

nickname_changed

Yeh. They told me I'll be writing C#. Then I came up with the brilliant idea of letting users embed VB.NET macros in our application*. Now I spend 50% of my time writing VB.NET (uck!) for testing (then I realised there are programs out there I can copy C# code into and its spits out VB.NET - bliss).

Oh, and we use stylesheets for rendering parts of our (Windows Forms) application, so I spend another 25% writing XHTML/CSS/XSLT.

Theres a lot more things you'll be doing that aren't in the job description.

* Any Australians wanna hear how we did this, and it was really easy, come along to the next Sydney .NET Users Group where I'll be doing a presentation on it.

Brain Cell

Those quotes are very convincing. Well said guys !

I made my decision and i'll take the VB.NET job whenever it becomes available.

Thanks for replying everyone. I really appreciate it

__________________
My Tutorials :
- Bad programming practices in : C
- C\C++ Tips
(constrcutive criticism is very welcome)

- Brain Cell

CompiledMonkey

You are a moron if you don't take a job that will give you experience, regardless of the language used. You think a future software dev employer will hire you because of your experience at the bookstore? Don't be an idiot, take the job.