Modern information technology is far from machine codes. Modern system programming is not processor commands or the management of its operation. The history of programming languages is the development of meaning and syntax, but the conceptual foundations of the computer business of our century do not differ from the concept of the past: data and operators. All the same cycle designs, conditions and choices.
System programming is an accumulated experience in a modern retrospective: the hardware-software component of an information system should work stably and continuously, and a proper individual approach should be provided to each user.
Programming and Systems
A programming language is the syntax and semantics in their understanding of the developer. Assembler is a unique programming language, a simple sequential pipeline of commands. It is possible to say that its syntax is determined by the processor and logic of the motherboard, but it is easier to determine: system programming and assembler program - this is the beginning of the beginning.
Systems have many definitions, but in the most primitive sense, which is difficult to refute: a system is data and its functionality, as a whole. A system may consist of elements and be part of a higher order structure.
System programming is not about building systems (in the literal sense). In the last century, system programmers paid more attention to the processor, programming in machine languages. In this century, they pay more attention to the user of information systems and their applications.
Applied programming is the solution to real-life problems that do not include software and hardware controls. In this context, system programming is the forerunner and companion of system administration.
Creating systems equally applies to all programming options, among which there are many areas: hypertext, parsing, recognition, data migration, virtualization, search and analytics ... Building a model and its programming is a continuous process of systematizing knowledge on the problem being solved, in which can almost always be distinguished systemic and applied components.
Prestige and responsibility
A characteristic feature of programming in the last century - system and application programming - is, above all, different languages. There was their gradation to the lower and upper levels. Fortran, Kobol or PL / 1 differed significantly from the code of operating systems, compilers and interpreters. But even in high-level languages it was allowed to write machine code (C / C ++, Pascal).
The fact that high-level languages allowed assembler inserts says: not everything was provided by the compiler (interpreter) developer. The fact that modern languages have the ability to create and execute a team in the process of a program is a legacy of the past at a higher level.
The prestige of the profession of a system administrator or system programmer was determined by the requirement of the stability of a computer, operating system or application. Responsibility was "minimal." Today, the volume of data and the functionality of the application software are so vast that the level of responsibility is objectively transformed to a much higher level.
The center of gravity has shifted to the field of distributed information processing through web resources. Conventional programming (C / C ++, C #, Pascal, ...) has retained its meaning. Local tasks also remained. However, the bulk of the tasks "went" to the Internet and system programming moved to the next level: installing servers, setting up networks and communication protocols, optimizing hosting, servicing virtual machines.
On the one hand, the scope of system administration has expanded, on the other hand, without writing special monitoring and control scripts, many software and hardware systems will not work, and in the event of a failure, they cannot be restored.
The functionality of information systems has significantly increased, the amount of data to be processed has increased, now a dozen virtual machines can simultaneously work on one computer. The cost of a system programmer error is the life of a company that uses an information system.
System languages
System programming languages in the modern world are an abstract concept. It used to be simple: assembler or machine code language. High-level language: syntactic constructions in natural language words. Today, two or three loader commands can be considered the language of system programming, and not every system administrator can correctly configure the installation process of a complex hardware-software complex.
Example. Installing Debian & Proxmox VE is not just doing a checklist of specific actions. This is a real need to “program” something in a particular situation. First of all, these are network setup protocols, and then point by point depending on the purpose of each virtual machine, its functionality and interaction rules.
A special category of system languages is configuration files. In fact, these are ordinary text files. As a rule, you need to correctly write two or three positions in one design, but there may be several of the first, and a lot of options for the second.
A qualified system programmer will set up the classic triad: Apache, PHP and MySQL in 30 minutes. An ordinary programmer will look for errors and will not be able to get a working result for the whole day. The price of knowledge determines the time spent, but many of them come with experience. Outwardly, this is not programming, but each configuration file controls a specific product at the system level.
In fact, now system software is a specific area of system tasks. How a specific task will be solved is not important. It does not matter that you do not need to write a program, but the problem must be solved, the information system must work stably and continuously on a specific system foundation.
System Programmer Work Style
It is not enough to know and be able to, it is necessary to make sure that everything is clear. Commenting in the field of system programming has changed significantly. It used to be the norm of things to explain what a particular team does in one or two words. Today, one team can be illustrated with a thick text page.
The developer of a modern operating system or tool for managing application software encloses numerous comments and guides. In a specific situation, this will not be enough. In rare cases, a system product, such as Proxmox VE, will be on the first try and will not interrupt the functioning of the network. In most cases, you will have to look for additional information and understand related issues of system programming and management: file system, communication protocols, monitoring, logging, security policies, etc.
A qualified system programmer (administrator) will necessarily record their actions, describe the commands used and monitor all events. The ideal style of work of a specialist is when a colleague can replace him at any time.
System Programming and Users
Previously, processor was interested in system programming, today the user is in its competence. User management is a high-order system programming, substantial responsibility and prestigious in terms of payment.
The specialist who controls access to information resources is a system programmer, “equipped” with knowledge of the psychology, sociology and legal aspects of a particular company. There is no assembler, no machine codes. There are several commands and the ability to write special access scripts.
An error in the user's work scenario is violation of the security perimeter, intruder penetration and system crash or information theft.
Working with the processor is much simpler: it simply executes a sequence of commands. It is difficult to work with a person: he can change the algorithm of his behavior, act in several directions and distribute his actions in time.
System and application
A modern information system is rarely written from scratch. Most often, the system programmer (administrator) receives an indication of what needs to be put and what should be the result.
As a result of the work of the system programmer (administrator), a software and hardware design is obtained in which applications (application software) and users can work.
A well-built building and well-tuned service is the ideal solution for any nuances in companies of different profiles. It doesn’t matter that you don’t have to write assembler commands, it’s important that the written commands ensure stable and continuous operation.