Behind most technical conveniences, such as online banking or information boards at the airport, are specialists in one of the most in-demand professions of our time - programmers. Without them, neither gadgets nor social networks would work. Even ordering new sneakers from an online store would be problematic. Until now, the IT sector is only accelerating the pace of development, demanding more and more new workers. Companies are ready to hire even beginners. The average salary of a programmer starts at 35 thousand rubles, and experienced professionals can earn exorbitant amounts of money.

The profession of a programmer is popular and in demand

In this article we will tell you how to get into a prestigious profession, who senior programmers are, and why you will have a hard time here without English.

Who are programmers and what do they do?

The IT industry's demands for professionals are constantly increasing. Therefore, we need people who will understand this: create, repair, support. Coders are different, and each job has its own specifics. Let's talk about the main specializations of IT specialists:

The most obvious option. But it's not as simple as you might think. Coders perform different tasks depending on their specialized programming language and project.

For example, a mobile application developer creates programs for android, ios and other systems. Everyone has a smartphone and a tablet, so the work here will not end soon.

Another promising direction is Java programming. Most banking systems are designed in this language. Banks are willing to pay well for a quality product both to their full-time employees and to third-party firms. But the requirements here are also high: you will have to bear responsibility for the correct operation of the application with other people’s money. Of course, you can program in Java not only in a bank, and good IT specialists with experience receive about 200 thousand rubles a month.

A tester is a specialist, without whom not a single project will see a release. This IT specialist knows everything about the intricacies of the code and the places where the program can fail. His responsibility is to check the product’s resistance to errors and bugs and return it to the developers for correction. At first, the test is done manually, but when all the weak points are found, the tester writes a special program to automate the troubleshooting.

Another similar profession is qa engeneer, product quality specialist. Its main difference is that it does not look for errors in the code, but tries to prevent them. Find out in detail the customer's requirements, plan development, establish communication between groups of programmers - all these are the responsibilities of a qa engineer. Often you don’t even need to know a programming language; it’s more important to understand the stages of development and the features of project management.

The profession is attractive due to its salary: even a beginner can be paid 50 thousand a month.

According to StackOverFlow research, this is the most in-demand IT profession of 2017. Web programmers are divided into two categories: front end and back end (they are also often coded as UX/UI design). The first ones monitor everything related to the user part: the convenience of the application and website, intuitive use and simply a beautiful picture. The latter work on the technical component: the logic of the site, its functions, interaction with the database. To make a page on the Internet look modern, developers take courses in html and php, and are proficient in css, java-script, and python programming.

Your salary will depend on the number of tools you own. HTML coders have the smallest remuneration; they receive from 25 thousand per month.

  • Programmer 1C

A special feature of 1C programming is its close connection with the economic industry. For example, in order to correctly calculate the salaries of 3,000 people at a factory, you need to store data about their working hours, wages, sick leave, etc. somewhere. This task is undertaken by the 1C-Enterprise program. The 1C programmer configures accounting and document management programs so that documents are easily uploaded and reports are automatically generated.

The possible routineness of the work is more than compensated by the salary structure. If we talk about a fixed rate, then a novice 1C Programmer will immediately find a vacancy with a salary of 45 thousand per month, and a leading specialist receives from 120. But in the case of freelancing, earnings will depend on your skills and the number of working hours per week. Professionals earn both 200 and 500K per month.

The debate about real programmers continues to this day.

This IT guy is not exactly a programmer. His peculiarity is that he is well versed in hardware. Connect a printer, laptop, projector, configure its operation, distribute the Internet and design a clever local network - that's all for him. Gurus of wires and working printers are paid from 25 thousand rubles, and the salary of a system administrator programmer with good experience can reach up to 150 thousand per month.

He is also a product manager, he is also a product owner. The product manager acts as a translator between the customer, who does not understand information technology, and the programmer. It seems that this is a job out of nothing - that the customer and the programmers themselves will not be able to figure it out?! Well they won't be able to. It is the product manager who can explain the capabilities of the functionality to the customer and then formulate the exact task for the IT specialists. The product owner is responsible for ensuring that the finished application, website or game brings maximum joy and benefit to the user.

  • IT Product Director

Any successful IT specialist can achieve the highest position in the IT field - chief procurement officer (CPO for short). This person has deep knowledge of the product, understands the coding system, and knows the best strategies for creating software. The CIO of an average company may have 30-50 people subordinate to him. Average income... far above average.

Programming training at university

The most obvious way to become a programmer is to enroll in a corresponding major at a university. The life of most specialists is no longer possible without IT technologies. Mathematicians, chemists, and biologists are taught to some extent how to use code. But in order not to suffer through subjects that are uninteresting to you and to study only specialized disciplines, choose one of the following areas:

Each option has its own characteristics. Scientists graduate from one department, managers from another, and real anti-hackers from a third! To understand this in more detail, check out our infographic. It is better for future IT specialists to choose technical universities. These profiles are available in, and others.

Programmer training in college

You don't have to wait until graduation to devote yourself to your favorite activity. You can start training to become a programmer after 9th grade, you just need to choose the right college. There are not many suitable specialties here:

  • 09.02.03 Programming in computer systems;
  • 02/09/05 Applied computer science;
  • 02/09/07 Information systems and programming.

In total, there are 71 institutions of secondary vocational education in the country with the areas of training we need. You will find these profiles in St. Petersburg College of Information Technologies, Petrovsky College, Novosibirsk College of Electronics and Computer Engineering, V Ural Technological College “MEPhI” and in many others.

Additional education courses

They started teaching programming in Russia not so long ago, so finding a high-quality professional course is an adventure. In addition, not all options are free. To avoid wasting your money, pay attention to reviews, teachers, program and job prospects.

  • Online platforms

You can learn the programming language you like on your own at a convenient pace on one of the learning resources. For example, it’s easy to find a course on Java programming at INTUIT. After successfully passing the final test, the system will issue a free certificate.

  • Online schools

If the idea of ​​self-study doesn't appeal to you, then take a closer look at online schools. A significant plus is that most often the courses here are taught by practicing programmers, who will not only share general knowledge, but also talk about real interesting cases. At the end of the training they give you a diploma and promise to help you find a job. The training is “official”, you can even get a tax deduction. But it also costs quite a lot. The annual course will cost 150 thousand rubles. Here you can see: this is a big expense or a smart investment in yourself.

  • Full-time courses

For those who want to see the teacher not through a monitor screen, but live, there are face-to-face courses. For example, MAXIMUM conducts classes on studying the IT field for schoolchildren Digital Skills. There is also programming there, and you can come to the introductory lesson for free.


How to enroll in the Programming specialty and what to take?

Universities most often require Unified State Examination results from future IT specialists. Russian language, specialized mathematics and computer science. Some may ask for more English.

What to do now to increase your chances of a successful programming career

You need to understand that the IT sphere is developing at tremendous speed. Universities will never physically have time to adapt programs to provide students with the latest information. The university will lay the foundation in the form of basic language capabilities and standard algorithms. That is why the work of a programmer is impossible without continuous self-education. Programming languages ​​are being modernized, developers are creating new convenient tools to make the work of themselves and their colleagues easier, and they are coming up with new algorithms for solving problems. Next, we will tell you where and what else to learn in order to succeed in the IT field:

  • Learn English. Many resources are in English. In order not to wait for someone to take pity and translate the text for you, take care of the language in advance. This is so important that some paid courses provide language lessons to their students as part of the main program.
  • Chat on it forums. Answers to many questions can be found on programmer forums, such as Habrahabr. The professional community generously shares knowledge and useful pieces of code. True, sometimes the search lasts for several days and at the same time you have to understand new tools that you were not familiar with before. And yes, often the most useful link will be in English.
  • Lose yourself in books. Don’t rush to buy the first literature you come across at the nearest bookstore. There is a lot of useless and hopelessly outdated material on the shelves. Again, many works were originally written in English, and the Russian version may suffer from serious translation deficiencies. You can start with our recommendations, and then you will understand what good content looks like.

Did you read to the end? Here are a couple more interesting facts that will help you better imagine the profession of a programmer.

  • If you go to the job site, you will see: mysterious middle or senior developers are required. Programmers have their own gradation of professionalism: junior, middle and senior. The first, beginners, must master all the means of the language in which they work. The second are IT specialists with 3-5 years of experience. Still others not only know everything about the code, but can also organize the work of a group of developers on a project. As your rank increases, your salary increases accordingly!
  • A popular portrait of a typical programmer is a taciturn man in glasses with a liter cup of coffee. In fact, this picture is true only for the rare freelancer. And you don’t have to be an introvert to go into the profession. As in any other matter, supra-professional skills are important - to explain, argue, negotiate, get out of conflict.​

This portrait of a programmer is hopelessly outdated. Modern IT specialists are sociable, positive guys!

  • A whole group of IT specialists works on large projects. Everyone is responsible for their own piece of code, and all the pieces must come together in the end into a single product. To make this happen, teams constantly hold planning meetings and help colleagues find and correct shortcomings. And some offices even have TV consoles and board games. A collective change of activities helps to establish contact and switch when work gets stuck.
  • Programmers celebrate their professional holiday on September 13th. The date was not chosen by chance: it is the 256th day of the year, the maximum possible power of two that fits into the number 365.
Before choosing an educational institution that will train you well to become a programmer, you need to decide on the geographic area within which you can move freely.

Very often, parental restrictions and advice are imposed on a high school student’s decision. This applies not only to the choice of a future profession, but also to the choice of city. Sometimes a family cannot afford to keep a child in a big city or does not want to let him go from under his “native wing.”

But don’t forget that in a big city you have a better chance of getting a quality education and “getting out into the world.” In Russia, the most iconic student cities are Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. But this does not mean that in other large settlements there are no good educational institutions where they teach to become a programmer.

The desire to enter a university in a big city is not always justified, especially if the Unified State Exam scores are low. Almost every technical university has a department related to programming.

Moscow universities

Moscow State Technical University named after. N.E. Bauman is one of the top five universities in Russia in the field of programming. It is not very difficult to enroll at MSTU to become a programmer, but for many it is impossible to graduate and graduate.

Another not very popular university in Moscow is called MGIU. One of the main areas of Moscow State University is computer science. There is both applied informatics with a low passing grade, and business informatics. The university promises successful employment to all students who graduate from them.

On average, a trainee programmer in Russia earns 35 thousand rubles, a specialist about 80 thousand rubles, and a leading programmer 110 thousand rubles.

Novosibirsk

If you decide to enroll in a Novosibirsk university, take a closer look at such institutions as SGUPS and NSU.

The Siberian University of Railways and Communications has its own. At the Faculty of Business Informatics, students are taught programming, but all assignments are aimed at training transport specialists.

Programming is closely related to mathematics, therefore at the Novosibirsk State University, at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, there is a department related to computer technology. These departments are called mathematics and computer science and applied mathematics and computer science. But studying here is very difficult: the program contains a lot of physics and mathematics.

Universities of Northern Palmyra

Choosing an educational institution in St. Petersburg is a little more difficult than in Novosibirsk, if only because there are much more of them here.

The most prestigious in terms of programming is the University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO). The Faculty of Information Technology and Programming at this university usually has very high passing scores and high competition. But ITMO specialists are always in demand on the labor market.

If you can’t afford it and want to apply only to a budget place, then pay attention to St. Petersburg State University of Transport and Technology. The University of Communications also has a department where they study programming, but the competition here is lower than at ITMO. Moreover, the new building of St. Petersburg State University of Technology, where almost all classes are held, only increases the desire to learn.

Students who are studying in high school are increasingly thinking about what they need to take to become a programmer. This topic is interesting because you can get this profession in several ways. Sometimes, in order to become a programmer, you don’t even need to get a higher education. There are a lot of self-taught programmers in Russia. Only they find it difficult to achieve success in their career.

That is why many are interested in what they will have to take to enter this field of study. What will applicants have to face? And where can they go to study to become a programmer?

Description of the profession

The first step is to understand what specialty we are talking about. The thing is that programming is something that is required more and more often with the development of IT technologies. People who create programs, applications and website development are called programmers.

In fact, the graduate will have to learn to understand program and system codes and write his own software and web pages. Learning to become a programmer is a rather complex process. But after graduation, a person will have more than enough job prospects and success.

With a programmer's diploma, you can get a high-paying job not only in Russia, but also in other countries. Or even start your own business. Therefore, many people think that they need to become a programmer. After all, enrolling in education involves facing entrance examinations. In Russia this is the Unified State Exam or State Examination.

Methods of obtaining education

But before you get interested in the upcoming exams, you will first have to understand where exactly you can go to study. A lot depends on this. The thing is that programming is now found in almost every educational institution. Under certain circumstances, you won't have to hand over anything at all. Only, as practice shows, you often have to think about the question posed earlier.

So where to study to become a programmer? Currently offered:

  1. Enroll in a university in the appropriate field. Usually programmers are trained in mathematics and information departments. For example, you can contact MGIMO or Moscow State University. Programming is not found in liberal arts universities.
  2. Finish college. Here it is suggested either to go to school after 9th grade, or after 11th grade. A good way to receive secondary vocational education. Some schools don’t even require you to think about what you need to take to become a programmer. It is enough to simply provide a certificate of education. But in practice, most often students are accepted based on the results of the State Examination and the Unified State Examination.
  3. Take retraining courses. Usually no exams are required. People are sent for training either from the labor exchange or from work.
  4. Seek help from private training centers. It is enough to complete specialized programming training courses. In this case, you don’t need to think at all about what you need to take to become a programmer. There are no entrance tests, just pay the tuition fee.

Where exactly should I go to study? Everyone chooses this for themselves. But most often in practice, admission to colleges and universities occurs. This is why you have to think about what you need to take to become a programmer.

Ambiguity

We have to pay attention to the fact that there is no clear answer. Much depends on where exactly the applicant is applying. Universities and colleges now train to become programmers using various entrance exams. And this will have to be taken into account.

It is recommended to first decide on the place of admission, then in a specific institution to clarify the information of interest. Universities and colleges require the same exams. But which ones exactly? What subjects will allow you to become a programmer?

Mandatory tests

After 9th or 11th grade? There are 2 compulsory subjects. They will have to be taken in any case, not necessarily when applying for programming.

In Russia, by law, in order to successfully obtain a certificate, you must pass exams in the Russian language and mathematics. At the moment, discussions are underway according to which, under any circumstances, it will be necessary to take a foreign language and geography. But so far there are no such bills in action.

Does your child want to learn a profession called “programmer”? What exams need to be taken after 11th or 9th grade? Mandatory:

  • Russian language;
  • mathematics (preferably specialized level).

Common Exams

What's next? Typically, 3 subjects are required for admission to a particular specialty. The Russian language, although compulsory, is often not taken into account. That is, it is necessary for graduation from school. There are still 2 items left.

What do you need to pass to become a programmer? Most often, applicants are required to take the Unified State Exam or State Examination in the following subjects:

  • Informatics;
  • physics.

Accordingly, to become a programmer, a student will have to face:

  • mathematics;
  • in Russian;
  • physics;
  • computer science.

It is in this combination that the requirements of colleges and universities are most often found. But this is not the only scenario. Some subjects that are not related to mathematics and technology may also sometimes require passing. As already mentioned, it all depends on the educational institution to which a person applies.

Other items

There are other subjects required in combination with mathematics. Are you interested in the direction called “Programmer”? What do you need to take after 11th grade? It is likely that the future programmer will be required to produce Unified State Examination/State Examination results in:

  • foreign language;
  • biology;
  • social studies;
  • stories.

Now it’s clear what needs to be taken to become a programmer. That is why people first prefer taking specialized paid courses. And only then do they think about actually entering a university or technical school to study programming.

Read: 8 min.

Is it true that programming is the most in-demand specialty in the world? Who are system and application programmers? How many years does it take to study to become a programmer? Which university or college should I go to to become a programmer?

They say that there are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary code... and those who don't.
Programmers' humor

Programming originated in the 19th century, and until the mid-20th century, when information technology exploded, creating programs for a machine was akin to an art. Programming was the preserve of a select few. Today, the profession of a programmer is widespread and in great demand. In 2017, there were 18.2 million software developers in the world, of which 1.3 million were in Russia.
Let's see what the future of the programming profession is. And what threatens him.

Description of the profession


Where to work

Development companies (Booking.com, Mail.ru, Yandex, Unisender services)
IT departments and digital marketing departments of organizations (Sberbank of Russia, Gazprom, Tinkoff Bank)
System integrators (Croc, Softline, Technoserv, Lanit, I-Teco)

Career opportunities

Due to the rapid growth of the IT sector and the shortage of software developers, you can start working as a programmer while still in college. From the 2nd or 3rd year you can get a job as a junior developer and start moving up the career ladder. And at the same time receive a salary worthy for a student of 30-50 thousand rubles.

The programmers themselves estimate the duration of each stage as follows:
For the first six months to a year and a half of real experience, you are junior
With active learning, you will be middle for the next 1-3 years of work
A programmer with 4-6 years of experience is a senior

But, of course, it is worth remembering that the boundaries are relative, and a more active and inquisitive developer will be able to master all the skills of a senior developer in 3 years.

In addition to deep specialization in programming, a programmer can move into related areas within an IT company - design, marketing, analytics, management. A programmer can become a software architect, devops engineer, or IT project manager if he is interested in it and has the necessary competencies. For example, to work as a manager, he will need communication skills, initiative, the ability to form a team and control business processes.

Salary (salary range)

A programmer's salary directly depends on specialization and qualifications. The least paid positions are junior developers who are just learning. And the most paid in the labor market are software architects and systems engineers, who are responsible for the product or project as a whole. Therefore, the salary range for programmers can be very wide:

    30,000 – 260,000 rubles
Prospects for the profession (demand)

Now the IT industry in general and programming in particular are at the peak of demand. Companies compete for qualified specialists. In the next 5 years, programmers will have a prosperous life and high salaries, because there will be slightly fewer young workers. A period of demographic depression will come due to the low birth rate in the early 90s.
But the IT market faces several dangers. Firstly, learning to program now begins almost in kindergarten. The most famous learning languages ​​are Scratch from MIT and Blockly from Google. Probably, programming skills will be as widespread as knowledge of the English language, that is, they will be included in the “gentleman's kit” when applying for a job. And if almost everyone owns it, then the value of the work decreases.
Secondly, IT education is now provided by almost every college and university. After a shortage, the market may become saturated with professional programmers, and their salaries will fall.
Third, there are countries, in particular India, where IT education is developing even faster. And at some point, programming services will saturate the global market, as has now happened with goods produced in China. It will be difficult to compete with Indian programmers on price.

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A programmer develops computer programs using special mathematical modeling tools. The profession includes several categories of specialists: application and systems programmers, web and mobile developers. The first group is focused on writing and debugging software for various tasks. The tasks of the second block of specialists include maintenance and development of system software. The third category works on creating websites in the online and mobile spaces. For a successful career, it is desirable to have a higher education in the IT field. However, there is an opinion that you can master a programming language on your own.

Universities and joint programs

The Yandex Department was opened within the newly created large Faculty of Computer Science. This faculty united the department of software engineering, as well as the department of applied mathematics and computer science, which already existed at the Higher School of Economics. A new department has been added to them - big data and information retrieval. It was created on the basis of the Yandex base department, which has been working at the Higher School of Economics since 2008. The faculty curriculum is created jointly by university teachers and Yandex specialists. It includes courses in machine learning, computer vision, Big Data and other areas of computer science. Lectures and seminars will be conducted by teachers from the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Yandex employees and teachers from the School of Data Analysis. The company names achieving an international level of specialist training as a long-term goal. Budget places in bachelor's programs are presented in “Applied mathematics and computer science”, “Software engineering”. Studying free of charge is available in master's programs in three specialties: “Analysis and Decision Making”, “Data Science” and “System and Software Engineering”. HSE also cooperates with IT companies within the framework of the School of Business Informatics. Separate departments were created jointly with Microsoft, SAP, and the Snek group of companies.

Passing score (budget) - from 261 points

Tuition cost (outside budget) - 300,000

Full-time form of education

Baumanka today is one of the most popular technical universities in Russia. The educational institution offers a wide range of training areas related to programming. Among them are “Informatics and Computer Science”, “Information Systems and Technologies”, “Applied Informatics”, “Software Engineering”. In 2011, Mail.ru Group and the university launched a joint project “Technopark”, which is aimed at senior students. The course is free and allows you to obtain additional education as a system architect.

Passing score (budget) - from 240

Full-time form of education

MIPT has traditionally been a source of talent in the field of IT. Every year, the best graduates, winners and prize-winners of Olympiads from all over Russia bring their documents to MIPT.
From the outside of MIPT it looks like this: concrete box buildings chain them to their studies for six years, students find themselves in a confined space on the territory of Dolgoprudny near Moscow, some go crazy there in the literal sense. Many started projects with fellow students while still studying. Global IT companies: Acronis, Parallels, ABBYY, Iponweb and many others - smaller in caliber, but also significant - were created by MIPT graduates.
In addition to the basic areas of training, the Department of Computational Linguistics deserves special attention at the institute. Practical classes in Computer Linguistics usually take place at the ABBYY office. The curriculum is based on subjects in computer lexicography, automatic language processing and corpus linguistics. Admission to bachelor's and master's programs is on a competitive basis.

Passing score (budget) - from 240

Cost (outside budget) - from 176,000

Full-time form of education

Most of the programmers who graduate from Moscow State University graduate from the Computer Science and Engineering Department, however, the Faculty of Mechanics and Chemistry and the Faculty of Physics also produce good specialists.
The Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics is one of the leading IT faculties in Russia. Intel, IBM, SAS are the main partners of the university at the master's level. Joint programs include “Parallel programming technologies and high-performance computing”, “Big data: infrastructures and methods for solving problems”, “Intellectual analysis of big data”. An additional bonus for undergraduate students is the Technosphere project, created jointly with Mail.ru Group. Additional education can be obtained by students of 3-5 years of any faculties. For two years, bachelors study methods of intelligent analysis of large amounts of data, programming in C++, and multi-threaded programming.
Even the creator of Facebook, Mark Zeckerberg, spoke flatteringly about Mehamt. “I’m happy that I dealt with, perhaps, the last pride of the main university in Russia - graduates of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics,” he said at a meeting with MSU students. Mehamt requires not just a love for technical sciences, but a serious passion for them from childhood. Most likely, everyone will not be taught how to create websites or write applications, but you will be provided with a serious mathematical foundation.
The same applies to the physics department, only unlike the mechanics department, more emphasis is placed on the study of physics.

Passing score (budget) - from 415 points

Evening courses - 186,000

Full-time education - 325,000

The Voskhod Research Institute represents a separate department at the university. The project offers the following specializations: “Territorially distributed information systems” and “Intelligent automated systems.” A special feature of cooperation is that a student can receive an offer to work in an organization part-time in parallel with their studies.

Budget places

Tuition cost (outside budget) - from 155,000

Full-time form of education

ITMO

The master's program "Mathematical support and administration of information systems" with Yandex is presented by St. Petersburg State University. The specialization is aimed at gaining knowledge in the field of processing and storing large volumes of data. Under the scientific guidance of professionals from the company, master's students write dissertations and prepare scientific projects.


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