A future in Web Services

[Radith Silva]

Hi all;

I'm currently a student comparing my study options for the future. Currently
I have (Certified) experience in Java and Web Development. My strong-hold I'd
say is web-development but am willing to look at other things depending on
the size of the industry and obviously the pay. My current program at
University (or College in U.S.A.) allows me to specialize in software
devlopment; I.T. security; Internet Programming

Although I have experience in Software Devlopement; I don't see my self
working 8 hours a day trying to program around problems. Also I'm not so good
at Maths.
I.T. Security is something that currently sounds good to me. Doing a bit of
research I see that I'll have the opportunity to work with hardware and
software and at the least could end up in a position such as Network Admin.
The problem here is I have no current experience in the field.
Looking at web services; I already know what i can expect. What i want to
know is whether there'll be a demand to go to high places and get salaries
compared to that of a senior software developer. Another problem is I am no
good at graphics. So this means that I have no plans of becoming a web
designer. What I have in my mind is specialising in Internet Programming but
also having some software development papers done so I make sure I stay out
of the "visual" part of web development.

Now this is my perspective. So all you people currently working in the
industry, can you please tell me exactly what are its positives and
negatives. Also what is the pay like and is this an industry which is going
to boom in the future.

Cheers

Radith Silva
ra****@xtra.co. nz

[John]

If you are not good in anything and you d'ont want to program 8 hours a day,
i don't think there will be somewhere a fool who going to pay you a good
salary. Maybe you can become an artist. Sleep, doing stupid things, drugs,
sex and sleep again. Whit a little change someone pays you to much for your
artistic preformances.

[Jeff Cochran]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 03:11:02 -0700, Radith Silva
<Ra*********@di scussions.micro soft.com> wrote:

I'm currently a student comparing my study options for the future.
First thing to realize:

When you get out, the future will have passed.
Looking at web services; I already know what i can expect. What i want to
know is whether there'll be a demand to go to high places and get salaries
compared to that of a senior software developer.
Senior software developers get to that point through experience.
Pretty much, by the time you gain the experience, the world will have
changed anough so the skill set is obsolete. It's the concepts,
especially business and process concepts, that will put you in the
upper echelons of your career.
Another problem is I am no
good at graphics. So this means that I have no plans of becoming a web
designer. What I have in my mind is specialising in Internet Programming but
also having some software development papers done so I make sure I stay out
of the "visual" part of web development.
Wow. No math, don't like 8-hour days of programming and you can't
draw. Yet you want to specialise in an area that radically changes
every two years. You're in for a let down.
Now this is my perspective. So all you people currently working in the
industry, can you please tell me exactly what are its positives and
negatives. Also what is the pay like and is this an industry which is going
to boom in the future.

Pay and opportunity. No matter what programming or computer
curriculum you study you won't affect those two goals of yours.
Opportunity is yours to create, and the pay follows you, not a job
classification that may not exist by the time you're ready to work.

Load up on business, English and history courses at every opportunity.
Especially communication skills, research skills and business basics,
including accounting. Those are college skills that won't change
before you get out, and those are the added edge that allow you to
create the opportunities.

If you understand the concepts of input, output, looping, branching,
and objects you can pretty much pick up the language of the day.

Jeff