Two questions-one...I am thinking getting my associate's in computer programming...doesn't really deal with Y2K, but I was wondering if any computer professionals out there have any info. on what I might start out at. I live in MI...looking at Java as a specialty...second..which does deal with Y2K...should I even bother going to this major with the possible effects of Y2K? Any information you can give would be very much appreciated.

-- Nathan Luft (nate208900@aol.com), December 06, 1998

Answers

I'm not so sure that Java has gained the popularity that was hoped for. Some people feel it puts too much traffic on the network. All of the Windows tools are wildly popular - Visual Basic, Visual C++, Access, etc. Relational databases are also wildly popular. Unfortunately, the hot computer skills seem to change every three years, however I don't think Java got as hot as expected.

-- Amy (leoneamy@aol.com), December 06, 1998.

What kind of pay am I looking at?

-- Nathan Luft (Nate208900@aol.com), December 06, 1998.

Java programmer 1999: $75/hr (Form 1099) Java programmer 2000: unemployed

-- a (a@a.a), December 06, 1998.

What can antry level computer programmer with an associate expect to make?

-- Nathan Luft (nate208900@aol.com), December 06, 1998.

A friend of mine with 25 years heavy experience in DOS systems and applications told me recently he's switching to Linux -- by all accounts a much stabler system than Windows has been, is, or ever will be.

What turned him around were these two internal Microsoft memoranda, annotated by an anonymous commentator and put on the web as:

Open Source Software: A (New?) Development Methodology, described as an internal strategy memorandum, and Linux OS Competitive Analysis: The Next Java VM?, described as a followup to the the first.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), December 06, 1998.

Amy,

How much does Microsoft pay you?

a,

You couldn't be more wrong. The internet may be the only system that survives Y2K, and will definitely grow even faster because of the need to conduct business and communications, which we will no longer be able to do through much of our current infrastructure. Internet gets bigger, demand for JAVA writers EXPLODES!

-- M.D. (md@here.com), December 06, 1998.

MD: you could be right...if Y2K turns out to be only a 2 or 3. But if its a 5 or higher...java will probably be a distant memory by 2001, as will the Internet (see GN's divison of labor argument)

Ans remember Ed Yourdon's words: "...[concentrating on] Java and Internet programming...is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

-- a (a@a.a), December 06, 1998.