Re: What to Do?

[Robert Love <rlove@neosoft.com>]

>After reading several threads discussing C++, C#, Java and Ada I'm in a
>quandry over what system to concentrate on.  I'm learning C++ at the
>moment but wonder if that is the best choice.  After looking a Ada and
>available jobs it would appear that there is limited opportunities for
>someone >40 and outside of military/defense industries.  Comments and
>opinions are greatly appreciated.  Petra.

Here on New Year's Eve I went to Monster.com and did a search on 
Ada.  I came with with 735 hits.  Now you have to weed out the
ones where "ADA" is the Americans with Disabilities Act and where
American Dieticians Association registered personnel are being 
sought.  Lets say that rules out 25%.  Now you have many ads where
the job description text says "C/C++/Ada" where it is really not
an Ada job (why are HR types so frustrating to deal with?).  Lets
say we're down to 350 jobs.  Of these, many have multiple openings.
So I'd say there are good job opportunities.

Now your concerns about defense industry seem valid.  Ada is most
often used in systems deemed critical.  An airliner crashing due
to software has a much higher cost than somebody's web page crashing.
So Ada is most often used in transportation and weapons systems. 
Also, NASA is doing lots of work in Ada for the International Space
Station if you have reservations about working for the military.
There are web sites referenced in this newsgroup that track other 
non-military projects using Ada.  Our European & Canadian cousins
seem a little wiser in this area.

As for the over 40 thing, I suspect most of us reading here are over
40.  Hiring somebody as a new programmer that late in life is rare but
it happens.  The key is to get some experience programming in a
professional environment, regardless of language.  Then other
opportunities will open.


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