Excellent advice John. Don't forget to mention the option of game coding. That can be a good way in the door to many places that want good coders - if not, you can always sell the game! :o) Of course that typicallly means working in C++ more than any other tool (well there are some others of course)... I know someone that took online courses from westwood college and landed a job with a large gaming software firm. It got me thinking (except that I don't even play computer games). There are a lot of game coders out there fresh out of school (it is a popular pasttime with new developers) but the market is still good if you have something to show. At least it could be fun, if not financially productive! :o)

http://www.westwoodonline.edu/


>Woodie,
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>>>I am probably going to lose my job because of this thread.
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>That's pretty sad. Is there more to it than this?
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>Presuming you are young: if you feel you are in a rut, make sure you are not contemplating a jump to another rut. You seem to assume you want to stay a codehead; are you sure about that?
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>What about project management or design leadership? Do you enjoy figuring out solutions to problems and laying out plans to make it happen, or do you want to be in there coding to somebody else's design? Some here seem to be privileged to do all the planning, design and hands-on development in their projects; that was common for VFP work, but for larger corporate projects in dotNET that would be rare. And as automation increases, application design and management will move inexorably away from pure development. IMHO codeheads will become a commodity, competing with cheap foreign labor who can do an excellent job as long as a good scope is supplied. Just MHO.
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>Spend some time on visual interfaces as well- even take a class at your own cost. In 2004 the browser is prevalent and it needs developers who can create things that look good, or in a way that makes it easy for a web designer to make it look good. If you can do that, employers and other decisionmakers will remember you.
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>Overall: the market has changed and is changing at a huge pace. There are many more options than just what tool to become a codehead in next. Spare a thought for we old-timers who can cope with a new tool but not necessarily with the risk or upheaval of an entire career change!
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>Good luck,
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>j.R