What IT sub-fields don't require strong programming skills?
PragmaticZealot
Member Posts: 14 ■□□□□□□□□□
I'm currently going to a local university and majoring in IT. My school's program is geared more towards the development side of IT, since a few programming classes are required. I'm not good at programming and I doubt I could do it for a living. What sub-fields of IT don't require programming?
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beads
Member Posts: 1,533 ■■■■■■■■■□
Security in general is leaning harder into having good development skills though I see people fighting that battle daily.
GRC easily comes to mind. As well as infrastructure (Servers) and engineering (Routing and Switching). Though you will still be doing some basic scripting with either of those fields. Nothing fancy or you could do everything manually but be a martyr to the cause. Its just easier to learn some scripting. Windows Server 2016 looks heavy into powershell but as the old saw goes everything useful in PS has been written you just have go look for it or post on a board and we'll write the rest of it for you.
Surprisingly I find myself writing some fairly sophisticated scripts and queries almost on a weekly basis in odd things like Websense and MobileIron. The first is a web screening appliance with a HUGE database to ***** through the later being a Mobile Device Management system.
Of course your always free to pick up a teach yourself book in development and continue your learning as you progress throughout your career. Point being you can only put off learning some development only so long before you obsolete yourself in many IT fields. Not that you have been a master at it just familiar enough to get some basic tasks done.
- b/eads -
HolyPuck
Member Posts: 18 ■□□□□□□□□□
Security in general is leaning harder into having good development skills though I see people fighting that battle daily.
GRC easily comes to mind. As well as infrastructure (Servers) and engineering (Routing and Switching). Though you will still be doing some basic scripting with either of those fields. Nothing fancy or you could do everything manually but be a martyr to the cause. Its just easier to learn some scripting. Windows Server 2016 looks heavy into powershell but as the old saw goes everything useful in PS has been written you just have go look for it or post on a board and we'll write the rest of it for you.
Surprisingly I find myself writing some fairly sophisticated scripts and queries almost on a weekly basis in odd things like Websense and MobileIron. The first is a web screening appliance with a HUGE database to ***** through the later being a Mobile Device Management system.
Of course your always free to pick up a teach yourself book in development and continue your learning as you progress throughout your career. Point being you can only put off learning some development only so long before you obsolete yourself in many IT fields. Not that you have been a master at it just familiar enough to get some basic tasks done.
- b/eads
AHH MobileIron. I can tell you I fight that battle daily, albeit not very good. -
NetworkNewb
Member Posts: 3,298 ■■■■■■■■■□
I'd recommend sucking it up and learning some programming. I know a lot of people hate the idea of it. But it can be extremely helpful in a lot of situations/jobs in IT. You may never write program or application but learning how programming works in your college courses will help you later on when you need to learn some scripting. The amount of time it can save doing tasks and the amount of people that don't use and refuse learn it is amazing!
Personally, I find the more you learn how to use it, the more interesting/fun it is. -
networker050184
Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
Most things considered "IT" don't require strong, or any, programming skills. Having a good handle on those skills is always helpful though. Most things people think of as programming in this realm are more along the lines of scripting than full on development.An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made. -
PragmaticZealot
Member Posts: 14 ■□□□□□□□□□
NetworkNewb wrote: »I'd recommend sucking it up and learning some programming. I know a lot of people hate the idea of it. But it can be extremely helpful in a lot of situations/jobs in IT. You may never write program or application but learning how programming works in your college courses will help you later on when you need to learn some scripting. The amount of time it can save doing tasks and the amount of people that don't use and refuse learn it is amazing!
Personally, I find the more you learn how to use it, the more interesting/fun it is.
Well how much do I need to learn? Right now, I am in computer science 2. We are covering topics in C++ like object oriented programming, vectors, linked, lists, etc. I am failing the class and that's with tutoring. I am planning to retake it next semester, but I have a very hard time seeing how I will become solid with the material. -
NetworkNewb
Member Posts: 3,298 ■■■■■■■■■□
networker050184 wrote: »Most things people think of as programming in this realm are more along the lines of scripting than full on development.
Thats definitely true.
As far as your question Pragmatic on how much you need to learn, if you don't plan on going into programming you definitely aren't gonna need as much as your courses are probably teaching you. But I do think learning those topics you described are good for people to know. I'm kinda biased though as I like programming/scripting/automating things. It just makes things so much easier and seems to be under utilized in the IT environments I've worked in. -
scaredoftests
Mod Posts: 2,780 Mod
Programming is fun! At least learn VB (so much fun in Excel macros). It is good to learn on your own.Never let your fear decide your fate.... -
fredrikjj
Member Posts: 879
If I wanted to be in IT, but never write any code I would maybe aim to position myself as a "product analyst", whatever you call that role in the US. Basically, a person that can translate business requirements into purchasing the correct products, in whatever category you happen to focus on. If I need a router with throughput X and features Y and Z, which one should I get? Which products are overpriced? Learning to see through the marketing bullshit. Learning how to extract valid information from vendor representatives and not get tricked into buying something that is just hype. Maybe developing unofficial contacts at vendors to get info on upcoming announcements. That kind of stuff.
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PJ_Sneakers
Member Posts: 884 ■■■■■■□□□□
Another easy one to check out is Codecademy. They have free online tutorials. They are very easy to go through, and are interactive. It's all done through their website, so you don't need to install anything on your machine. They have basic classes on everything from HTML to SQL. I really liked their Python tutorial.
You won't become a badass programmer with these tutorials, but you will get your feet wet and Codecademy provides instant gratification. -
NetworkNewb
Member Posts: 3,298 ■■■■■■■■■□
I used this site a little for learning python... https://teamtreehouse.com/tracks Wasn't free but not too bad price and like the site.
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jmanrta
Member Posts: 66 ■■□□□□□□□□
Lower level help desk/desktop support positions don't really require programming, but you will hit a ceiling on pay. For higher level support (Tier2 and Tier 3) knowing how to write scripts can be helpful depending on the position.
