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Subject:Re: Programming vs. Technical Writing From:"Huber, Mike" <mrhuber -at- SOFTWARE -dot- ROCKWELL -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 13 Aug 1998 15:16:46 -0400
> From: Hutchings, Christa [mailto:cwhutchings -at- HOMEWIRELESS -dot- COM]
>
> Linda Sherman wrote:
>
> >The programmer has a very small, primitive, inflexible, and
> >unexpressive "language" to work with. The technical writer has a vast
> >and highly expressive language to work with.
>
> Seems to me this means that the programmer's job is easier than the
> TW's, because the programmer only has to worry about her audience (the
> computer) interpreting things one way. The TW, on the other
> hand, has to
> consider that her document could be interpreted differently
> by everyone
> who reads it.
Hmmmm.....
Maybe that's why programming was so hard for me. I thought that my audience
was the people who would use the software I built.
> If this is the case, shouldn't TWs be making more money than the
> programmers instead of less? Just wondering.... :~D
I make more as an excellent technical writer than I did as a competent
programmer.
