Differences Between Third and Fourth Generation Programmers
Karen Ketler, Robert Dean Smith · Information Resources Management Journal · 1992
The use of nonprocedural (fourth generation) languages created a revolution in the manner in which computer-based information systems are being constructed. These languages are being used extensively by end-users and by programmers in end-user departments. They are being also used, to a less extent, by traditional programmers whose major computing environment is the mainframe. Programmers’ performance is a function of two major groups of variables: those that are related to the person (his/her attributes) and those related to the environment. This paper reports the results of a study that compared the attributes of programmers in a large centralized third generation mainframe environment to the attributes of fourth generation programmers in the same company. Significant differences were detected. Based on this finding, this paper suggests a procedure for matching an individual’s attributes with the characteristics of different software environments.Request access from your librarian to read this article's full text.