Tag Archives: work

Another Undead Computer Language

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From Competitive Programming to APL, with Conor Hoekstra.

The first half or so of this article was like reading an anthropological report of a strange culture far away: There were no programming contests when I was getting started out in the field (1967-1976). I rarely had the kind of technical interviews that Hoekstra went through, and did not get any of the five programming jobs I held from 1977 to 1998 through such an interview.

I started reading more closely with

Conor: So, I heard about APL five different times between the year 2010 and 2019.
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The Lifetimes of Programming Languages

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I started programming computers in February of 1967, when I was a junior in high school. After dropping out of grad school I began a 41 year career in information technology in January of 1977. I have seen a lot of computer languages come and go. So I read 5 Programming Languages You Won’t Likely Be Using by 2030 with some interest. The only one on the list I had ever used was Perl. It was kind of fun, but I did not get very attached to it 🙂

Meanwhile, some much older languages live on. Last year COVID-19 demonstrated how much the financial world still depends on COBOL:

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My job

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My title at work is “Principal Database Administrator.” My employer is looking for another one, to be my peer. Here is the job posting. I helped write it, and it did not get too badly garbled by the HR process. If you want the official view of what I do at work, this is it. If you have the relevant background, and are willing to work closely with me, feel free to apply.

Oracle for real

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More than two years ago I took an introductory class on the Oracle database management system. Oracle is used in my organization, but not nearly as much as SQL Server, which is where I had been spending almost all my time. My supervisor was an experienced Oracle DBA and handled such tasks as came up. However, she just left, to take a job in the private sector. I have inherited the role of Oracle DBA. She gave me a lot of information before she left, but there was only so much she could cover in the available time. So I have a lot to figure out on my own. Oracle is very different.

Oracle here at work runs on Linux (Red Hat and Suse). All the time I have spent working on Linux at home will now pay off. The Linux support team hers is small (three people), but very good. I am looking forward to working with them.