Jobs in the Computer Science field

[JackHomer]

I am currently in my third year of the Computer Science program at NIU, I have taken one class and i am currently taking a class that involves the use of the Assembler language on IBM machines, and what I want to know are there jobs out there that use this language? Cause i am working on a program now and i am tearing my hair out tryin to get it to work!!

 

[jagec]

lol, no, very few things require Assembly.

 

[Colt45]

Hardly ever, only for embedded stuff and uh.. things that high level languages wont do, as far as i know.

I like the whole concept though, and would like to learn it.

 

[JackHomer]

Thank god! I wonder why they are teaching us so much about it.

 

[JackHomer]

I like the whole concept though, and would like to learn it.

It is pretty interesting and a cool language, maybe the reason i dont like it is i havent used the language for a year and I am trying to right a program in it right now.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

nope, but its important to know whats going on down there

take a compilers course if you get a chance

its unlikely you would use any in your job, but as a computer scientist you should know this stuff

 

[JackHomer]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
nope, but its important to know whats going on down there

take a compilers course if you get a chance

its unlikely you would use any in your job, but as a computer scientist you should know this stuff

Yeah I agree with that, i definetly have a better understanding of things, like hexadecimal, bits, bytes and all that stuff.

 

[Crusty]

I love assembly!! Call me weird, but I find it quite fun to program in. Maybe because it comes easy to me, but I still like it a lot. I'm currently learning MIPS my Computer Systems Architecture class. The class is supposed to be about hardware, and knowing how the assembly language works helps to understand how it is implemented in the logic on the cpu.

As for knowing assembly in future jobs, I think it would be very helpful if you go into any kind of hardware position, but those are more geared towards, EE and CE degrees.

 

[TerryMathews]

You do realize that you can give assembly-style hints to C/C++ and/or writing a specific routine/soubroutine in ASM while still mainly coding in C/C++?

As far as flat-out coding, ASM is more of a CEG thing than CS. That said, not knowing anything about ASM will just make your programs less efficient. It will catch up with you.

 

[Spydermag68]

I had a job writing TPF,assembly for IBM 390, Then the company downsized and shipped most of the work to India.

 

[Trygve]

Sure, there are jobs that involve writing assembly, though obviously every different CPU family has a different language, so it can take some mental gear-shifting to go from one to another.

I like it a lot, though and knowing how the target CPU works helps when writing resource-critical code can make a significant difference as well.

The first CPU I did any significant assembly coding on was the 8080. I figured that one effective way to teach myself assembly was to write my own assembler (in assembly) and then, starting with that, rewrite a good portion of the operating system. I liked my assembler enough better than the other ones I had available that I ended up using it from then on as long as I was working on 8080/8085/z80 chips.

 

[m4ch0dude]

Good luck finding a job with or without assembly language. But yeah, asm is really used only for embedded stuff nowadays.

 

[Injury]

I was told while taking a C++ class that the GE plant near me still has about 20 or so Assembly programmers on staff, and they are looking high and low for replacements because most of these guys are ready to retire... haha. Never know who may want or need someone with the skill, so you better learn it.