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It is a meaningful distinction. A mobile, desktop or a web app solves a problem for the end user and should be under their control via commonly-understood UI me
by bluetomcat 4y ago
It is a meaningful distinction. A mobile, desktop or a web app solves a problem for the end user and should be under their control via commonly-understood UI metaphores and IO mechanisms.
A systems program is a background service or a tool that provides the underlying abstractions for applications to run. An application programmer operates with well-defined APIs and, in general, should not be concerned with storage mechanisms, concurrency issues and resource management.
- IshKebab 4y agoIt's still a continuum, not distinct categories. People can't deal with that, and given the fact that there is really zero point talking about this continuum (it's not even in job titles) I would say we should just ditch the term "systems programming" entirely.
- zamnos 4y agoKubernetes is clearly a different sort of program compared to Microsoft Word. Even if we don't have a rigorous ontology that sorts them into two distinct boxes neatly, they're just so different at the extremes that it's useful. We make a distinction between pulmonologists and cardiologists even though they both know anatomy and deal with the human body, and as we mature as a discipline, specialization is only natural. Denoting the area someone works in as belonging to one group or another is useful for determining peers that share your concerns, vs people that work in totally different areas from you. That doesn't make them better or worse than you, just different.