Did You Know

As long as computers have been around, programmers have worked to make software that effectively instructs computers to do what they want. You’ll learn much about developing software in this chapter, but let’s start with a few interesting facts:

• Fewer women are becoming programmers and designers. In 2000 28 percent of computer science graduates were women, a 9% drop from 1984.
• My, has software development improved. Only 40 years ago computer programs required hundreds of programmers coding them on long ticker tape paper.
• To avoid investing in an expensive supercomputer, corporations are recruiting thousands of PC owners to do contract work for them over the Internet.
• End-users typically use only 30 percent of the code that developers produce for application software. Perhaps developers don’t understand what users need.
• The first computer "bug" was a moth, caught in a computer relay switch.
• Producing a Sega Genesis game in the ‘90s cost $200,000. By 2000, the Playstation and Nintendo 64 games cost $2 million to develop. Today it costs _________ to produce a video game.

Producing a Sega Genesis game in the ‘90s cost $200,000. By 2000, the Playstation and Nintendo 64 games cost $2 million to develop. Today it costs at least $4 million to produce a video game.

The James Bond movie, "GoldenEye," cost $60 million to produce and made $106 million in domestic gross sales. That’s an impressive return. However, the Nintendo "GoldenEye" video game cost $4 million to produce and made $230 million in domestic gross sales. It’s not difficult to conclude which was the better investment.

Because of the profits that can be made on video games, companies are always looking for good programmers who can work in this fast-paced interactive environment. Maybe you’re one of them.