RE: Programming / scripting languages in tech-writing

[Ed Gregory <edgregory -at- comcast -dot- net>]

At the STC conference here in Nashville yesterday, during a panel discussion
on job market trends and skills, there seemed to be solid agreement that one
skill combination that remains in strong demand is the writer/programmer.
The desired language(s): C, C++, C#.

The need is not for you to be a programmer, but rather for you to be able to
document the code written by the programmers who would otherwise document
their code poorly, if at all.

Because this skill combination is rare, salaries range up to $150 k
annually.

Something to think about. Any group of six hiring managers/company owners on
this list might give you a different view.

As for other "languages" that tech writers need: HTML and Javascript, unless
everything you plan to do is for hardcopy output. Beyond that, Visual Basic
for the previously mentioned Word (and other MS Office) automation. If you
want to get heavily into Web delivery systems, PHP, SQL, MySQL, ASP, and
*shudder* XML. The panel generally agreed that learning XML, other than a
basic overview, is wasted unless you are in an organization that is
currently moving to XML.



-Ed Gregory



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