Jin Xuliang: A 10-year review of an ordinary IT person (I)

Jin Xuliang: A 10-year review of an ordinary IT person <br /> About the author: Jin Xuliang entered the campus of Guangxi University at the same time as Liang Jiexin, the developer of Super Jieba, but took a different path. Since 1994, I have started self-study in computer science courses and started programming. I have been working for more than 10 years, and I still don’t change my software. In 2002, graduated from the Beijing Institute of Technology, majoring in computer technology, and then taught at the school, focusing on programming series. In 2003, he published an autobiography in the CSDN Forum - "A Ten Years Review of an Ordinary IT Person", complaining about his own bumpy learning experience, and his words were eager to worship, and he was infected with no mathematics. After the publication, a stone provoked thousands of waves, and received nearly a thousand domestic and foreign mails, which was amazed at the author's experience and opinions. The following is the full text.
This year is the 10th year of my college graduation, and the 10th year of my IT career. I always wanted to be able to review and reflect on past experiences to better move into the future, but I have never written. Just CSDN held the "telling the story of the programmer" essay, this incident became an introduction, I finally took advantage of the summer time, knocked the keyboard for a day, then I have this life self-report.
10 years is a relatively long stage for a person. After 10 years, the situation of college graduates is quite different, and the sigh of fate is unpredictable.
I have recorded my life footprint here. Because of the long time, some things are not clear, but I try to record the situation as much as I can. If you are interested in seeing this long article, please think of me as An ordinary person who lives in the middle of you and me, together with joys, sorrows, and hard work, believes that there will be many emotional exchanges between us and time and space.
sequence

From 1994 to 2003, unconsciously, I have been immersed in the world of computer technology for ten years. A philosopher has said that if a person can spend ten years focusing on a study, learning a craft, or working in a profession, he will be an expert in this field. My talent is mediocre, but the words of the philosophers make sense. I became a qualified programmer in ten years and became a university teacher in a major university computer major. Ten years of grinding a sword, suddenly look back, the years like water, youth is like a song!
My parents are all civilians in the city. My family can only solve the problem of food and clothing. I think I may represent a large group of young people in Chinese society. My experience and experience may have implications for many young programmers who are not in good condition: Efforts, poor talents and poor environment can be overcome. Because I am not a cow, so I can't teach you how to become a cow. I just try to write down my experiences and feelings as much as possible, and write an ordinary person's hard work. I am proud that I am a software developer, I am proud of the education and education that I am engaged in, and I am willing to do my best for the backward software industry in China. For this reason, I have no regrets in my life!
I want to tell my life experience in three parts: the first part – learning life: mainly my experience and feelings of learning computer technology, the time span is about 1994~1996; middle part – hard life: mainly my social society Unemployed for one and a half years, three painstaking experiences of postgraduate entrance examination; time span is about from 1997 to 1999; next chapter - practical life: mainly my technical practice experience: working in the company, developing software, graduation job hunting and teaching career, time The span is from 1999 to 2003.
Part I: Learning Life
First, what is the computer?
I was the generation born in China in the early 1970s. When we started to study, the Cultural Revolution was over. Compared with our brothers, from the time of our generation, the children born later can receive more formal education. It is our lucky place.
That is to say, when we were a small country, in the late 1970s, the computer technology with the United States as the technical resource center began to develop rapidly on a global scale. At this time, the world’s “software crisis” was extremely serious, and all aspects of computer technology. Both are brewing new breakthroughs, and Bill Gates is preparing to build his tomorrow's Microsoft Empire.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, we could not see the shadow of computer technology in our lives. In China, which has just reformed and opened up, more than 99% of people even have not heard of the word "computer". China Free from the door of information technology.
In the 1980s, when “Revitalizing China” became the main theme of the times, the whole of China really showed a vitality. This is a renewed beginning after a nation’s centuries of shame and ten years of setbacks, like some old songs. Jinsuo and Yinsuo, "On the Field of Hope", etc., is a manifestation of a positive and uplifting spirit of the youth at that time. In this environment, we are deeply impressed by the subconscious of our growing group of young people. We believe that patriotism and rejuvenation of China are a matter of course and have become the main driving force for hard work.
In 1986, I was admitted to Guilin High School, a key high school in Guilin. I was there for the first time.
1. Computer interest classes in middle schools

In 1987, I was in high school in Guilin Middle School. Guizhong was a key high school. The conditions were good. At that time, two classes were arranged outside the school: radio class and computer class. I was in a computer class. The computer used at that time was Apple II, using BASIC. program. I remember that China also developed a computer of the same grade, called the Chinese learning machine, to promote it in China, but Apple II later developed into the famous Mac series, and has its own operating system, and China’s Chinese learning machine. And later computer learning machines such as the little bully, they all ended up.
The school arranged on the plane, some students did not know where to find some interesting BASIC programs, what "flying", "aircraft air combat", etc., are some very simple little games, when he copied a thick one, When I get on the machine, I knocked it to run on the computer, and I didn't know it at all. I only stood on the side and looked at it.
There were very few people who had computers at that time. I didn’t understand what the teacher said. I didn’t know how to pass the exam. Hehe, when I was working and studying, I saw an "e-bookboy" program written by a high school student in Luoyang on the Internet. The level is high. I really couldn't compare it.
In 1989, Guangxi's joint examination quota was reduced by more than 7,000. The competition was fierce. Only one of the dozens of people could take one. Because of the pressure, I was insomnia on the eve of the entrance exam. The second day of the test, the 120-point test paper was only 68 points. Therefore, it has no connection with key universities. I want to repeat, but my parents are afraid that I will not be able to take the exam in the coming year. I must read the Guangxi University. I am reluctant to obey the wishes of my parents, go to a school I don't like, and read a major that I don't like. I was afraid of getting into the wrong way. After I graduated from college, I started to study my favorite majors. It took me five or six years to turn around. I really became a qualified laborer and took a long detour. Parental decisions are really important for children who lack experience and determination.
Now think about it, my parents were right at the time, and I am right, it is a natural choice in the times and social environment.
2, failed four years of college and work early <br /> I was a good old student in four years, but in four years, in addition to playing six levels, I did not learn anything.
I remember that the first class of the university was the BASIC language. Oh, I didn't even learn it at all, but I seem to be destined to be difficult to solve with BASIC. I will talk about the development of BASIC in the later practical articles.
My major in college is automation of the power system. I learned the principle of microcomputer and Fortran. I used the old host and terminal computer when I was on the computer. I was really confused when I was on the computer, because I never learned this course. I have never learned it. Some of my classmates are very powerful, and they will print many beautiful pictures on the computer. I used to call these people a cow.
Oh, if I remember correctly, Liang Shuxin, who is a super-heavy fighter, is also from Guangxi University, but it is not our department. I remember that I had heard about several computer cows at the time. It is estimated that there is him, if I remember correctly. Mr. Liang Xinxin, please correct me. During the university department, I was more mysterious and interested in computers. This also shows that I can't be a cow and a master, and my talent is limited. Later, I found a general rule. If you can become a cow and a master of computers, please go through their biographies. Most of them have shown their talents during the university. And in our current Chinese colleges and universities, so many college students are busy with exams, postgraduate exams, exams, and exams. This cramming exam-oriented education system has killed too many students' creativity. The result is that the more serious a student reads in college, the greater the impact of the mistakes they receive. I spent several years rethinking to come to this conclusion. Therefore, it is not surprising that Chinese colleges and universities have not been able to write outstanding talents for linux cores in the hundreds of thousands of university students in the past decade.
I graduated in 1993. In one of the words I summed up, it was: a piece of white paper came in and a brain was gone.
After graduation, I was assigned to a company that is known as a "China-Hong Kong joint venture" for producing batteries. Hehe, the days of my work just made me a simple student who was taught a good life. Many social phenomena that I could not imagine before made me stunned. Young and energetic led to wearing small shoes and could only swallow. After eating a sap of life, I realized that I have nothing but a diploma!
At that time, I felt the most depressing thing was that I couldn't do anything in the company. A motor burned out. I don't know how to repair it. The lights in the company's boss's office are not bright. I spent half an hour studying the university students. I don't know why! The things I have learned are not the same. At first I thought it was because I didn't study seriously at school, but then I asked a lot of students, more than 90% of them have the same feeling. I finally realized that this is not only my personal fault, I think it is very much in school. Efforts have never been lazy, but if more than 90% of students are unable to serve the society, this education system must be problematic.
In four years, my computer knowledge and skills = 0!
It seems now that I was wasting precious four years! However, the environment and level of understanding at that time could only be so. Without the original waste, how can we cherish it later? This is a stage in life.
Second, a long period of theoretical study

1. Start with a computer training course

The first work unit after my graduation was a very poor company. I saw the shortcomings of almost all the poor Chinese companies there: people are overstaffed, gangs are sent, dark arrows hurt people, and the public fat private... It can be imagined how degrading people are in working in such a company. I have been through boring for half a year. One day in April 1994, I went to the Xinhua Bookstore in Guilin to buy a book. I saw a teacher training class at Guilin Institute of Electronic Technology, teaching computer use basics such as typing, typesetting, and common DOS commands. Anyway, it’s okay, not learning things like the class. Let's go. I didn't think it was such a training class, but it really affected my life.
I clearly remember that when I first got on the plane, I couldn't find the computer switch. The teacher took a five-inch floppy disk, inserted the floppy disk drive, turned on the power, and after a "beep" sound. The English characters appeared on the screen. Then, the teacher tapped several keys on the keyboard, the computer was silent for a while, and suddenly a little person jumped out on the screen. A line appeared: Happy to learn the computer, and also came out. music. I was really shocked at the time, how can the computer sing? Now think of it, the software is actually the Taiwan Songgang series of teaching software, and I am a university student, after I graduated, I was ignorant of the computer to this point, I really don't know whether to cry or laugh...!
The saying goes: "Love at first sight." I believe in this kind of thing, because it was this first time that I had a strong interest in searching this mysterious world, and it was hard to separate from the computer.
At that time, there were two teachers of the School of Electronics: Teacher Yin and Teacher Chen. They told us about DOS, how to input Chinese characters, how to modify the Tianhui Chinese character system so that it can run on a floppy disk, and typesetting... After a month, I was not satisfied, and I learned another month.
During the training class, I came to the teacher for a four-year training program for the University of Guilin Institute of Electronic Technology, and returned to my home. I listed all the university courses and then introduced them according to the pre-requisite courses in the book. I drew a huge curriculum tree, starting from the root of the tree, deciding a book in the cellar and learning computer technology from scratch. The study of computer science has a strong series. If you want to learn in one step, you may not learn, but it is impossible to keep up with the speed of technology development. This is a very prominent problem. I think about it now. I feel that the good way to learn is to learn the basics of the theory, gradually understand the theory in practice, and think more and more, and you will find that there are many things that have remained unchanged in the emerging new technologies. Grasping this kind of thing, you can change it. What is this "unchanged" thing? It is the basic principle and theory of software development, basic ideas and methods! After I have studied and grasped the object-oriented theory in depth, I learned. It took NET only three months to design a complete, comprehensive object-oriented software architecture and use VB. NET and C# mixed language to make it. For J2EE, I also have this confidence. In three months, I can develop and design software based on the J2EE platform, because the computer technology behind them is the same, and it can be bypassed.
Teacher Yin and Teacher Chen may not know that one of them opened a training course for economic benefit, and finally developed a master's degree in computer! Therefore, as a teacher, the responsibility is really very important and may affect the students' life. I am grateful to them!
2, a long and arduous way of learning <br /> I only had a salary of more than 100 yuan a month, and used most of my income to buy books. The science and technology bookstore next to the electronics industry college, as well as the Guilin Science and Technology Bookstore, became the place I used to "read". I bought the data structure, operating system, microcomputer principle, IBMPC assembly program design, C program design... These materials began to learn according to the scheduled plan.
I also said at the time why I had to learn these things. It is definitely not as utilitarian as the students are learning now: learning English in order to go abroad, learning computers in order to find a job. At that time, I never thought about how to do it in the future. It was the interest in computer technology itself that drove me to learn.
At that time, the computer book was not as full as it is now. I almost finished reading every computer book I could get. After reading some books, I especially wanted to have a place to work on the machine. But I earn more than one hundred yuan a month. How can a computer cost a few thousand yuan? If you don’t eat or drink for five or six years, you will have enough money. The parents are ordinary people. The family can only have enough food and clothing. My biggest dream.
In order to have the opportunity to go to the machine, my thin-faced person will not be able to take care of anything, with a box of floppy disks containing various software, thick-skinned everywhere to find possible places on the machine. At this time, the Institute of Electronics Industry once again helped me. Their computer room management was not strict. I pretended to be their students to buy tickets. Later, I went far, and the teachers there were familiar with my face, but the funny thing is that no one knows which class I am!
At that time, the regional network operation system used by the School of Electronics was Novell. I learned to use many of the most basic software there. Now it is still a few treasures: CPAV, TurboPascal5.5, UCDOS, Tway, Masm, TurboC2.0, and the famous name. Norton's disk doctor NDD, PCTools, Borland's most cattle resident memory software Sidekick,...
In the electronics school room, I also played classic games: the Chinese Sea, Adventure Island, Tomahawk, Three Kingdoms...
There are a lot of software in the school network, but the viruses it has infected are also varied. My memory is that when I first met the DirII virus, the feeling was never afraid, but joy, huh, I saw what kind of virus! Since the DOS core is open, it was relatively easy to develop a virus program at that time. Everyone liked to copy it with a floppy disk. As a result, the poisonous source was rampant, and the virus caused the anti-virus software to have a huge market. Now the famous river The KV series began to occupy the Chinese defense drug market at that time. At the same time, there were competitors such as Kill, and Rising and Jinshan were latecomers.
At that time, I was working in the company during the day, I was looking forward to the machine at night. Every time I got on the plane, I had a detailed plan. Because the machine was precious, I cherish it.
In order to get more programs when I was on the machine, I gritted my teeth, asked my mother for two hundred yuan, bought a computer learning machine, went home and practiced English fingering and five-stroke input, and faced the 14-inch home every day. TV screen, tap at least 2 hours on the keyboard. I got a sore wrist, but I finally reached the level of the finger. I learned five strokes, and the root of the word "has to stop the tiger skin, ...", it took a week to back down, and each root is associated with the finger, then the newspaper does not consciously give the Chinese character After being dismantled, I couldn't see it as a complete Chinese character. At that time, it seemed that I could play more than 60 words per minute. Later, I actually relied on this finger to be a typist for a meal! Hehe, after practicing the fingering method, it is really efficient to double up on the machine. The program that can be typed and run for two hours is more than three hours before.
94, 95 years is my worst condition, but the two years of learning the most powerful, the external environment is bad, but it has created my high interest in learning, that obsession, I think love is just like this, probably because I like computers very much, so love has nothing to do with me, and this is nothing to do.
I especially want to talk about my feelings about learning computer technology books. If you really like a subject, then you should never think it is thick when you are a professional book, but it is not thick enough. Comparing the feelings of the boring course like "Electromagnetics" and "Principles of Self-control" in the university department, the kind of course is out of touch with reality. From paper to paper, students can't really grasp it. The computer course "C program design", "data structure", "operation system" and other courses feel really different. The original university department is more and more confused, and I learned myself in the process of computer science. I feel that I slowly put all the knowledge into a line, and there is a tree of knowledge growing in my mind. This is not an adjective, it is a real feeling. I learned DOS commands. I haven't learned for a long time. I was inspired when I woke up one morning. I suddenly understood the concept of files and trees. So I really grasped the connotation of DOS commands and started copying, formatting, and move. ... These English words are more than enough. For a while, I can even feel that my knowledge is growing day by day! If there are relatively stable objective conditions at that time: for example, if there is a computer that is always available, then I must learn faster and better. But then again, when conditions are good, people are easily tired of ease, but progress is slow. Still the old saying: the industry is good at diligence. Many students nowadays are in very good material conditions, but they do not know how to cherish them.
Later, I saw Mr. Jin Yong’s "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". Guo Jing became my favorite character, not because he has the love of Huang Rong, but his perseverance and perseverance. Mr. Jin Yong is really a wonderful pen! I don't know how many times I read this novel.
The most memorable thing is that I learned the years of programming. I used C Hao to use Tan Haoqiang's "C Programming". At that time, Teacher Tan talked about C programming on TV. I must watch every day and take every example in the book. I did it all with the exercises and wrote the arrangement for each time. Every time I write the program on the paper first, then I run the computer in the computer and run it on the computer. I think about why it will not work properly according to the running result, where is the error, how to correct it, and the summary after the machine is finished. . That's it. I knocked all the examples and exercises in Tan Haoqiang's "C Programming" book into the computer and ran it all the time, laying a solid foundation for C language. Teacher Tan’s books and lessons have indeed affected how many programmers in China!
After I learned the C language, I started to want to do something. I spent a month using C to write a Chinese drop-down menu, extracting Chinese character lattices from the font files in UCDOS, and then "drawing" Chinese characters in graphical mode to make the program break away from the Chinese character system. The support directly displays Chinese characters. The whole program should have one or two thousand lines of code, all of which are looking for information by themselves, and knocking in one line. Later, I edited the program to read the WPS file. I also wrote a small program for drawing simple graphics. From the process of programming and debugging, I got the initial training of the basic skills of the programmer. I didn't teach at the beginning. I could only solve the difficulties myself. In order to find a bug, I was programming at night and sleeping. Now some college students can't pass the program. I immediately ask the teacher, and even some students send the program to me. Mailbox, ask me to help him adjust the program! Some computer majors have studied for four years, and the total number of codes that have been knocked out in four years may not exceed 2,000 lines!
Indeed, my level was very low at the time. The current university students are much stronger than I was at the time, but at least some of them are not as good as me. They are not as diligent as me, nor have my perseverance. I think this is What are the most lacking of these college students born in the 1980s.
I spent the first year and a half studying the main courses of computer science. In 1995, I took the junior programmer exam. The results in the afternoon were more than 90 points. But 96, 97 I took the program-level exam twice. Although I have a lot of programming practices, I still can't pass it. Now it seems that this reflects the fact that my theoretical foundation is really bad and my talent is not high. . Until now, I still feel that my computer basic theory is not good, making it difficult for me to become a computer scientist, but only to be a good software engineer.
Since the beginning of 1995, my life has started to decline. My company is not made up by a group of people I now call the worms and rogues. I can't guarantee even more than 100 yuan a month. I have to After leaving the company and putting the files to the talent exchange center, I started my four years of social floating life...
In the past four years, I have done no less than four or five kinds of work: I have been a salesman, a typist, a trainer, a computer, a after-sales service, and even a stall... everything, Very simple, just to have a meal. Life is harsh and unremarkable. My only hobby is to pick up my computer book when I am free. At that time, my older brother said: What is the use of these things? Can you eat it as a meal? Don't be surprised by this view. In the place where our information is occluded, who would have thought that computer technology would have such a great ability to change society? The reason why I study hard is purely to understand the confusion of spirituality and forget the troubles of life in the ocean of technology. I later had a famous saying: Why worry about it, only the computer. Others are treated as a joke, but it is a true portrayal of my time.
Everything has two sides, and if things go bad, they will be transformed. It was a very accidental thing that changed my life path.
In 1996, one of my high school classmates Yang was admitted to the computer science department of Hunan University, and invited guests to eat pickled fish hot pot. When everyone was drinking, Yang raised a question: Please tell me what you want to achieve. Most of my classmates in Guizhong are national key universities. At this time, I graduated for three years. Everyone has a personal understanding of life in society. So I have different answers. My answer at the time was: I hope that one day I will develop a good software that will be used by many people." I have not achieved this goal until now. But everyone gave me warm encouragement. Yang Yang said to me, since you like computers so much, why not postgraduate? Yeah, why don't I try it? I was lying in bed that night, and I didn't think so much about the idea of ​​going to the postgraduate exam. At that time, I did not expect that the road to postgraduate entrance examination became another path of no return. Has a profound impact on my life...
This is my early learning career, which deeply reflects the characteristics of China's times. During this time, my life is hard, my mood is depressed, but the enthusiasm for learning is unparalleled. Now I have two Ben 4 computers by myself, and I can access the Internet to get rich resources at any time. On the contrary, it is technically difficult to get in. I feel that the old saying is better:
Hardships and hardships, Yu Yu Yucheng! This is the truth of life! Humility is based on strength, and pride is based on incompetence. Programming Rubik's Cube We work together!