🚀 go-pugleaf

wrt learning NeXTSTEP:

During the summer of 1991, I decided I would get involved with 
NeXT's. Luckily, when I got back to school at Drexel Univ. in the
fall, they had two NeXTStations in their "Faculty Resource Center."
I was able to get special permission to use them, since no one else
does. I used them to teach myself the basics, and based on that, I
was able to land a job doing NeXTSTEP programming at Anderson Financial
 Systems as my six-
month co-op this year. I'm currently working here for my Christ-
mas break. I was also able to pick up an 040 cube over the summer.

Now, this has created a small problem, in that I don't want to work
with anything but NeXTSTEP. In fact, since none of the co-op jobs
for next year which Drexel arranged involved NeXT's I decided not to
apply for any. I should be able to come back here, though. But it's
still something of a risk, considering that my co-op earnings are
paying for about half my tuition and living expenses.

By the time I graduate, in June of 1994, I will have 2.5 years of NeXT
experience, including 12 months of full-time work. I'm really glad
I made the jump to NeXTSTEP. In fact, every time I hear about another
company buying 486, I get even happier. I just keep thinking about
all the CS majors at Drexel who are dreaming of working as Mac programmers,
and are intent on joining the masses of programmers who are already out there.


My advice to anyone in school who wants to get involved with NeXTSTEP:

Find a way to get access to one.

Read and learn Garfinkel&Mahoney's book, or at least get Mahoney's
NeXTSTEP tutorial from the net.
            
If your school has a co-op program, get in it and try to snag a NeXTSTEP
programming job. I don't think many NeXTSTEP-using companies have co-op
programs, but if you point out the benefits to them (i.e. cheap labor :)
they may agree. AFS didn't have one. I just faxed my resume when I saw an
ad in the paper.

A recent ad in misc.jobs.offered made an interesting point. They were 
looking for NeXTSTEP programmers with REAL-WORLD experience. They didn't
want programmers who had worked in an academic environment only. A co-op
job can get you real-world experience.

Have I rambled enough?

Jonathan Hendry
jon@afs.com

(Almost forgot. One of the factors which drove me in learning NeXTSTEP was
the possibility of a co-op job at Pages. That didn't happen for various
reasons, but Bruce Webster was kind enough to listen to me and give me a shot.
Thanks, Bruce)