Tuesday, June 12, 2012

boolean IAmASoftwareDeveloper = true: On Becoming a Software Developer

1:10am
Jitters be gone


I hope you didn't freak out and stopped from reading this post the moment you saw the title. I'd be much happier if the title got you interested. The title just means that finally, I am  a real Software Developer, written in alien-ish pseudocode. However, the title only holds for the job description. My performance would tell me (or otherwise) if I had been a good nerdy programmer.

Moving on, realizing that I'm going to work for an IT company, I wanted to ensure an as-much-as-possible-smooth career. I have tried and will try to search for areas for development, sites to keep me hooked in this field of expertise, and certifications to further.. certify my being a programmer.

A biased photo from a biased blogger.

Competitive Programming
This is where I mastered the art of writing small to average-sized programs using a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), with Java as my programming language of choice. Believe me, it was hard. It took me a while actually use my JVM since I didn't know that it lacked some components (which I had installed at a later time). With Competitive Programming, I had also learned basic user input and output. But, greatest of all the contributions Competitive Programming has brought upon me is red burning passion. Because of this, I was very eager in solving problems, and learning along the way. Well, I have to admit, it feels good when you have solved a problem while some soul couldn't, or at least wouldn't.

I am regularly trying to solve problems only in this site, but I plan to join some other ones.


Certifications
An Azeus interviewer by the name of Mr. Gerry Chua during my individual technical interview for the Software Developer position told me this (not in verbatim): "Java may be one of the best programming languages of today, but no one can tell if it will still be in the future. So as a good developer, you should know how to adapt, and learn a programming language as the case arises."

There are two essential points there. One, Java is a good programming language to learn, and the other, is that I need to be able to learn another language as quickly as possible, when there is a need to do so. The revolution from assembly language Fortran to object oriented SmallTalk or Simula took less time than Fipinos getting independence since Magellan's arrival here. I think that is a good enough reason for me to take seriously what Mr. Chua said.

I have searched for certifications on various programming languages and have come up with the following list. I plan to add more to this wish list. I also plan to slash some of them hopefully in the future. *looks above, and prays hard*
I'm not even sure which of these are more relevant to my current job. It doesn't hurt to have a mental list though.

Research
Having graduated from a university where research and instruction are vital, I also want to be open to research, either in my undergraduate course (Applied Mathematics), in Computer Science, in both, or in any field related to the two. Good thing there are a lot of conceptual spider webs intertwined between Applied Math and ComSci. Lucky career-shfiter that I am.

Of course, target research journals are those that are ISSI-indexed, but as I tell myself, there will always be a need for humble beginnings.


Life Cycle
As of the moment, I'm enjoying most of the stages in becoming a full-fledged taxpayer, minus the tax paying, of course (which I personally believe that will never be worth enjoying). If this is the path I'm going to take, so be it. If I wouldn't be given a chance to practice my undergraduate courses, then all is still well. I'm happy now, I have a plan not only for myself, and I think, that is just as good as a program that prints Hello World! backwards in hexadecimal format. Cool no? Heck, I don't even know how to do that yet.

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