Notice : This topic is outdated, the technology field in Lebanon is moving at a fast pace and as of the time of writing, things have changed drastically. If you would like to update or add to it please feel free to reply or send me an email. Until then, just stay tuned for an update.

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Table of Content

I - Preliminary Information
II - Getting into the world of Programming
III - What should your main focus be?
IV - Coding is fun!
V - Software Industry in Lebanon
VI - The Bag'O'Knowledge

I - Preliminary Information

It's very rare that a Programmer chooses the development field randomly. The problem in Lebanon is that parents usually expect their children to grow up and become Doctors, Engineers or Lawyers (The DEL Psyche!). As much as in the past, being a DEL paid off, in this day and age, the development industry in lebanon has boomed drastically and there are wages in numerous companies that exceed the wage of a DEL.

That said, it is imperative to say that you should not, in any way choose to be a Programmer for the sole purpose of making money. I've seen competent computer scientists and computer engineers and lots of other people that have invested time complementing what they already know (other majors) with software development, stranded and jobless.

Before we can proceed, this post is not targeted only to people that have majored in Computer Science, Engineering, MIS or any other IT related major. If you're a programming enthusiast of any age or major (and ofcourse gender! ;)), this is for you.

II - Getting into the world of Programming

The most common question that people getting into the world of programming ask, is "What language should I learn?". If you've been on this forum for a while, or searched this forum, you'll find that this question has been tackled quite a lot and every single user has answered this question in a different manner with different answers. This and this alone should prove that there's no straight answer that can be given. It all boils down to this:

1- What are your plans?
2- How much time are you willing to invest before you get productive?

The simplest answer you could possibly get is learn any imperative language (C/C++/C#/Java/Python/Ruby...). A more elaborate answer would be; If you're not an IT major and you want to get things done go for Python or Ruby, otherwise start with one of the other. It also depends on the context you will be programming for (OS, Web, Mobile..)

III - What should your main focus be?

Your main focus should be having fun while you're learning. If you're not enjoying it, then you're either doing something wrong, or this field is definitely not for you. People would seldom ignore the learning material that's available to them and believe they should be able to get away with a simple tutorial. The web is available for you. All you have to do is open your web browser, type in "networking C# example" for example and you're good to go.

Aside from the primitive language constructs, you need to get familiar with the quirks that a certain language provides you, this is one of the major things that differentiate a language from another. Decide on a goal you want to achieve and elaborate on that. If you want to build a web server, then by all means work on that. Do not fear the complexity of a task, if you're doing something simple, then you're not learning.

Heck in most languages you can build a web server in approximately 15 lines of code. Learn the primitive constructs of a language, apply them in complex scenarios, figure out where the complexity lies, learn the advanced constructs and apply them.

It's not enough that you know how to declare a variable, use control statements, do some object oriented stuff. What's important for you is to dig deep into the platform or technology you're using and learn how to benefit from the key features.

You are probably asking yourself, so how would i stand-out across other programmers once i know the ins and outs of a certain language? I've read an article not too long ago that talked about the simplest way to stand-out, it's your knowledge of the core libraries in a certain language. The easiest way to achieve this, is to open up the documentation available to you (online or offline) and skim through all the libraries and giving them a quick test. Most of the documentation contains examples, so all you have to do is copy the example, paste it in your editor, compile and run. Here's the tricky part, after you've done that, try as much as you can to expand the example. Practice.

IV - Coding is fun!

- Coding - is - FUN! -

Period.

V - Software Industry in Lebanon

- P.S. : This section does not cover Freelancing.

This is probably the most important section in this topic, you can skip all the other sections and just read this one. The market in Lebanon at the time of this writing (2010) is focused heavily on the following.

1- Web development
2- Native Business Applications
3- Business Web applications

If you're applying for a programming job, chances are you're applying to develop either a desktop app, a website or a web app. The question that you need to ask yourself while applying to a job in Lebanon is, "Will this provide me enough experience so i can keep moving forward?"

When you're applying to a job and you've secured an interview, make sure you know exactly what you'll be working on, make sure you know what platform you're working on, make sure you know the vision of the company. The rest are just minor details, there's no job without problems, there's no development team that is perfect in Lebanon, you're bound to witness stupidity, bad leadership, terrible development cycles. The most important thing for you as a start-up developer is to build your experience.

The common technologies that companies in Lebanon use are the following, and this is in no particular popularity order:

1- PHP
2- Java
3- .NET

You'll find that PHP jobs are more Website/CMS centric, Java jobs are more enterprise centric (Banking, Finance) and the .NET jobs cover most aspects. You'll also notice that companies are not willing to invest to train developers which is why most job (and this is not something strictly in lebanon) ads contain things like:

Software Developer Needed - Minimum 2 Years of experience with C#

Do not let this scare you, programming jobs are available, it's not stale yet. If you can't find a job, keep looking. Use bayt, newspapers, spread the word around, do anything you can to land a job that you want.

Which brings me to my next point; CVs and Resumes.

People often interchange these two. It's very annoying when i ask for a Resume, i get sent CVs and vice-versa. A CV is a document that describes your life emphasized in your domain. A Resume is a very small document that illustrates the key points of your knowledge and experience. Make sure you have both ready at all times and updated with every little step you take.

Concerning the wages, you can expect a start up salary of 500$ in a company that deals with local development up to 2000$ in an offshore company. Do not expect to apply for a start-up job in Lebanon in a company that's paying 800$ and expecting that based on your skills, they would offer you 1500$. Try to come up with a number that is suitable for you and aim to land this number. However, if let's assume the number you have chosen is 1000$ and the offer you're getting is 800$, make sure you do not completely reject it at first. Most of the companies have probation periods; a three month time line where they would be probably training you. During this period, companies are allowed to let you go and you're allowed to leave if you're not comfortable. THIS is the time for you to understand whether your tasks are challenging and provide you with great experience.

VI - The Bag'O'Knowledge

Granted the above information is relatively high level, most people wonder what kind of knowledge should they have or learn to have a decent weighted bag prior to joining a certain company. I'll try to be as expressive as i can.

As a programmer, you are expected to know "Everything" and "Nothing". Depending on the company, you might get some guided training or you'll end up doing your own research. Regardless, the following should apply to all technologies (bar operating system level programming).

- Core Knowledge of the language/technology/framework

This inherently covers the basic aspects of the language itself. Declarations, Control, Packaging, Execution and the lot.

- Advanced Core Knowledge

If the language provides extra features, you should also be familiar with them. For example, as a .NET developer, you cannot leave extensions or closures unattended, and you wont get away with not knowing Generics in either .NET or Java.

- Object Oriented Programming

If the language you're working with is imperative and more precisely object oriented, you should be familiar with the OO aspect it provides and be able to model anything you see in front of you as objects and behaviors.

- Knowledge of the Core Libraries

You are not expected to know all the core libraries, though the following list is unquestionably important for everyone to know:

1- IO
2- Networking
3- Concurrency
4- One or more UI Aspect
5- Deployment
6- Advanced Data Structures
7- Database connectivity
8- Regular Expressions
9- Reflection
10- One or MORE protocol specific implementation
P.S.: If you've been exposed to the above concepts in the language of your choosing, you may as well consider your bag quite full already.

- Knowledge of the Web Aspect

The dominant field in the programming world. The following are a must:

1- HTML
2- Javascript
3- A Javascript library
4- CSS
5- XML/JSON/DVs (Although this in no way, is specific to web)
6- Web services

And finally, the server side aspect of the language that you've chosen. Your best bet is to start with the simplest form of web development, be it CGI or mixed code and design. After you're comfortable or at least knowledgeable in the server side aspect, you can move onto a framework that promotes a certain design pattern and consolidates all the possible features that a web application contains.

VII - Learning

With the abundance of material today, you'll find it very easy to locate learning material. As much as this might sound trivial, it is imperative to understand that the ways you learn your programming material is essential. There are numerous ways you can learn programming (basic or advanced).

1- College/University

In universities you'll be emphasizing more on the discipline aspect of programming. Depending on the university, you'll either be spending most of your time learning how to apply algorithms in computer science or you'll end up applying real world practices or a mix of the two. One thing you need to understand is that despite the fact that universities in lebanon do differ from one another in the computer science majors, the most important thing for you to do, is manage to learn on your own time as well as what you're being taught in college. You will not make it as a programmer in Lebanon or anywhere else if you only rely on what the university is teaching you. Another thing you'll notice, is that during your time in college you'll start to prefer one teacher and you'll call the rest idiots. (I bet those of you who are already in college or graduated, are laughing your asses off because it's true).

The different learning materials that are available to you for your own efforts are listed below

2- Books (Hard copies or E-books)

I for one prefer hard copies. You'll find my shelf filled with books on different technologies. I try to acquire a book per month. Others, prefer E-Books because they are more comfortable scrolling than flipping. The down side to having an E-book is that you won't be able to read it when you have a few minutes before sleeping, while lying in bed, while waiting in the airport or having coffee in star bucks. And most of the time, you'll be too tired to carry a laptop.

On the other hand, you'll get more out of E-books in terms of quick references and cheat-sheets. Quick search capabilities and the lot.

3- Videos and Screencasts

One of my favorite ways of learning. Sadly, as a resident in Lebanon, the internet problem will handicap you. Fear not, provided that you have enough material to work with as books, try to download screencasts whenever you can, and watch them when you please. The nice thing about screencasts is that you get to see the code run live and you'll often get tips on what to do and what not to do.

4- Tutoring

This is the worst way to learn programming. You will get the least benefit out of this type of learning.

5- Learn by Example

Quite a few people love to use google to locate answers to their questions instantly. This is acceptable only to intermediate and veteran programmers, it is not recommended for new-comers. However, if you're already have a book and would like more information about a certain topic that the book did not cover, you could easily get your answer quickly.

[ More to come ]