Computers are one of the most valuable tools that anybody can utilize to be more efficient at work, or even just to watch movies, play games, or surf the ‘net. Though, not everybody can speak the language of computers. Luckily for those of us who are a smidge less tech savvy, there are people who do speak that language. These people are called computer programmers, and they are who you should thank for being able to even start up your computer.

Coding Process

Computer programmers must understand several computer languages (called coding) in order to communicate with them, such as Java, C++, and HTML. Each type of language refers to a different aspect of the computer. HTML, for example, is the language used when working with web pages and making them active on the web. They write software for computers, and must translate the software information into coding in order for the computer to understand what it’s supposed to do.

They are given a general idea of the program’s function, but it is up to them to create the program and write the code to enter it into the computer. Programmers often create flow charts in order to get more of an idea of how the information will flow through the computer and any other equipment needed for the program to work.

Testing…and Re-Testing

Due to the meticulous process of creating a computer program, there are various opportunities for mistakes to occur. This is why programmers must test their programs, and then proceed to re-test them. They need to find any glitches or bugs that cause the program to not work, or to work slowly. Testing the program involves running it on the computer multiple times, in addition to other types of computers.

Working Conditions

The software that they write depends on the type of company that they work for, and ranges from starting up the computer, to creating a game. Some companies specialize in just creating computer games, while other companies may not have a specialization and just have teams that work on different types of software. They spend most of their days in front of the computer entering code,  and typically work about 40 hours a week.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 4:02 pm and is filed under Computer Programmer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.