Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site burl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!rcj From: rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson) Newsgroups: net.jobs Subject: Re: UNIX/C Software Programmer Message-ID: <936@burl.UUCP> Date: Sun, 8-Dec-85 17:12:37 EST Article-I.D.: burl.936 Posted: Sun Dec 8 17:12:37 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 9-Dec-85 03:27:01 EST References: <7400001@uokvax.UUCP> <654@mit-eddie.UUCP> Reply-To: rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson) Organization: AT&T Technologies, Burlington NC Lines: 33 Summary: In article <654@mit-eddie.UUCP> gary@mit-eddie.UUCP (Gary Samad) writes: >Has anyone out there ever heard of a Hardware Programmer? > >This is one redundancy that is showing up in the press a lot these >days and really irritates me! Yes, and there is even a reason for the term. A Programmer in a detailed job description works in a relatively high-level language. I say 'relatively' because in the job I am in anything above microcode is 'high-level'. A Firmware Programmer writes microcode and works directly and/or indirectly with the actual hardware designers (and hardware itself) -- my group here is actually officially titled the "Firmware Development Group" for that reason. A Hardware Programmer generally refers to someone who burns PROMs, possibly writes microcode (overlap with Firmware here), or (in some weird cases) a person who does the heavy-duty state-machine chip/gate-array CAD while dabbling as little as possible in the "real" world of physical design, packaging, etc. I've only seen the latter usage once, however, and I choose to think it was a writeo or a thinko, since I've always heard those folks described as either "designers" or "hardware type-of-guys". ;-) Sorry for the non-job posting, but hopefully if terms like "firmware" are more widely understood and used we'll get away from these generic job descriptions that say "Write programs to help our company make more money". -- The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3313 (Cornet 291) alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ ihnp4 ulysses cbosgd mgnetp ]!burl!rcj ...![ ihnp4 cbosgd akgua masscomp ]!clyde!rcj