The picture of a COBOL programmer hunched over their desk, day in and day out, in isolation, pumping out thousands of lines of code is unrealistic, especially with the Agile mentality of today’s IT world. Currently, to be a successful programmer, in any language, you need to interact continuously with your client and your team in an effective way both orally and in writing.
Client Service
In fact, coding is essentially a client service. Someone has requested a piece of work from you, and you provide that client with a finished product, in accordance with their requirements. The client is then able to see the work as it progresses and provide feedback. In another version of client service, the coder may not communicate directly with the client. They may provide service to an intermediary, such as a business analyst who in turn passes along status updates and other information to the client. In any case, the COBOL coder is constantly involved in providing client service.
Teamwork
The COBOL coder typically works closely with a team. The team may be comprised of a team leader, business clients, analysts, testers, coders, designers and whatever other specialized roles may be required. As previously mentioned, it is unusual for a COBOL coder to work in isolation. At a minimum, the program(s) being developed are attached to business requirements, often integrate with programs written by other coders and need to be tested.
Effective interactive communication
In addition to writing program syntax in a logical way, the COBOL coder must also be able to communicate verbally as well as in writing. Programmers may need to attend several meetings a week to provide updates and answer questions as required, so they need to be able to communicate effectively vocally. In today’s context, they may even be expected to present, or demo, their work. Excellent written communication is also a must-have for a programmer. Their job may depend on being able to receive requirements and specification updates by email and being ready to respond to any questions/concerns that might come up.
Contemporary Programming
Programmers have moved on, but the out-dated misconception of them as loners, who rarely move out of their cubicle to interact with the outside world, has not. Programming can be a very exciting, interactive career, not the lonely one that is often portrayed.
If you are a programmer, do you agree? Disagree?
If you are not a programmer, take a minute and think of what your picture of a computer programmer is. What’s the first descriptive word that comes to mind? Is it a positive or a negative word?
