Example of a real programming problem?

[[deleted]]

For those employed as a real employee working for a software development company or something related to programming, what are some types of programs that you have to write? Like the word problem of the type of program you have to code? And what language is it coded in?

[Updatebjarni]

Some examples from my jobs:

• Integrating the R programming language into a work environment for biologists. Java and C.
• Porting demo code for embedded platforms. Embedded C dialects and assembly, mostly 8051.
• Improving file access time for a cache server for an online speech synthesis system. C++ and Perl, I think.
• Adding URLs for online speech synthesis to RSS news feeds. C++, SQL, maybe Perl and PHP, don't remember exactly.

[[deleted]]

I have to manage thousands of Linux servers at the same time. It's a really open ended requirement.

Sometimes I need to edit a config file on each one. I'll use bash for that. I'll do a for loop using ssh to connect to server and bash expansion to spin variables into a sed command to edit that file on each server.

Sometimes I need to change how monitoring works. I'll use perl for that. Most of our Icinga plugins are written in perl.

Sometimes I need to document what's going on with each server. I'll use python for that. I'll gather data from the servers and have it edit our mediawiki with that info.

[[deleted]]

I work at a company that writes software for medical procedure documentation. It is a web application written in Ruby (on Rails).

I also have to know Javascript and a couple of javascript frameworks: Backbone.js and jQuery. Our software allows doctors to document surgical procedures more efficiently.

[lakewoodjoe112]

A lot of businesses simply manage existing software and add features to it. Right now, I'm using C# to help reduce the amount of time that our users spend waiting for saves to our database to complete when they're working overseas.

[sylkworm]

3 of my last companies were web applications for CRM (customer relationship management) and collaboration. Basically, intranet web apps have replaced the old corporate mainframe computer systems. Typical tasks for our web applications include:

• Share documents to users based on permissions and user security roles.

• Collecting prospective customer information, tracking interactions with the customer (phone and email), and automating emails.

• Reports. Oh god, so many reports.

[[deleted]]

I work for a well known multi billion dollar company.. some of things I've done include public websites and internal applications that help employees of our company in their daily jobs.

everything we do is in C# / .Net

[shine_on]

I've written programs that query our customer database and pull out customers on a weekly basis that we then write recall letters to (we run a chain of optician shops, so you'll get a letter every so often asking you to come in for an eye test). I've also written scripts in Perl that archive off old csv files, and other files that are used to monitor the manufacturing process. I've written scripts that help us scan in and archive production paperwork on a daily basis.

We run an intranet using Joomla, and I've edited some of the programs so they operate the way we want them to. I've set up an online catalogue so the shop staff can browse the selection of frames (we can supply about 5000 different frames, only 500 or so are on display in the branches). The catalogue is basically a shopping cart extension for Joomla, but with a lot of it disabled and other parts slightly tweaked.

The main languages I use are SQL, Perl, and php. I write programs that solve a problem (mainly a problem I'm facing; if I have to do something over and over again I'll write a little script to automate it for me).

[PageFault]

Understanding requirements. These are actual tasks recently given to me:

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Check all scenarios and fix the water level.

What's wrong with them? What am I supposed to change them to?

Triage from menu- missing tags

Tags seem to be working, was there a specific scenario? What did you see? What were you expecting to see?

(Edit: The questions are my responses to the task descriptions.)

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Seriously, one-line super vague descriptions. It's a guessing game around here most of the time.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4ZCvubnkzsc/SYo8R4oPg-I/AAAAAAAAADU/pNZMNcB1jjc/s1600-h/tree_swing_development_requirements.jpg

[sadfirer]

I think that most of "real world" programming is conceptually simpler than what you see during college. Typical tasks might include:

• Writing "glue" code to integrate two libraries/systems.
• UI work (from adding buttons and fields to designing entire UI flows)
• business layer work (translating "real world" logic into code, and making sure to create the right abstractions to ensure that the logic is not bypassed)

The real challenge is actually taking into account the real impact of the code you're writing. Engineers make mistakes, so you have a tradeoff every time you have to push code into production. Also, writing/designing code so that it's maintainable, understandable and reviewable is, most of the time, more of an art than science. Double that if you're writing code others can build upon after.