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Ken Vader
CST 300 Writing Lab
Brian Robertson
9/12/2015
Systems Programming and Microsoft

Computer programming is a wide ranging field that has infinite uses. From the software

we run on our desktops to the microchips controlling components of our cars, programming

affects our daily lives. One area of particular interest is systems programming. Systems

programming is done by working directly with the hardware of the computer system, rather than

using the operating system as an intermediary. Examples of systems programming include

embedded software on a microchip, the virtual memory functions of an operating system, or the

device drivers that allow a graphics chip to work with an operating system. Systems

programming is utilized by technology companies and non-technology companies alike.

The majority of large tech firms employ systems programmers. Cisco employs systems

programmers to write code for the chips on their routers and switches. Intel and AMD utilize

systems programmers to create the chipsets they place on motherboards. Systems programmers

write the driver software used by companies such as NVidia, ATI, and Seagate. Microsoft, Apple,

and Google all employ systems programmers to write code for various parts of their operating

systems.

Microsoft is one of the best known companies worldwide. They are headquartered in

Redmond, WA, with satellite offices located across the globe. They currently employ

approximately 118,000 people, with almost 60,000 of those located in the United States (Facts

About Microsoft, n.d.). Microsoft has a wide range of software applications for both home and

business use. Their current offerings include Skype, Office Productivity Suite, and SharePoint.

Microsoft is best known for its operating system lineup which includes Windows 10, Windows
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8.1, and the Windows Server series. In addition to producing software, Microsoft has expanded

into the tablet market with the Surface line of tablets and into the smart phone market with the

Windows Phone series of devices. Microsoft also provides tools and software to assist in writing

applications using the C# programming language. Recently, Microsoft has expanded their cloud

services group, Microsoft Azure, in an effort to gain more market share in that sector.

Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, NM. Their

first contract was for a version of BASIC, sold to a company known as MITS. In 1979, they

moved their offices from Albuquerque to Bellevue, WA, and then moved again in 1986 to

Redmond, WA where their headquarters remains today (Facts About Microsoft, n.d.). In 1983,

Paul Allen resigned his position with Microsoft, although he remained a member of the board

until 2000 (About Paul: Expanded Bio, 2014). Bill Gates remained as Chairman and CEO for

over a decade following Allens departure, stepping down as CEO in 2000 to make way for Steve

Ballmer, and stepping down as chairman in 2014 (Facts About Microsoft, n.d.).

Microsoft began life as a software company, specifically selling operating systems to

other tech firms. After selling BASIC to MITS, Microsoft released a version of UNIX, dubbed

Xenix, in 1980. Microsofts big breakthrough came in November of 1980, when they secured the

contract to supply MS-DOS to IBM. Microsoft released a graphical interface for MS-DOS,

Windows 1.0, in November of 1985. The year of 1989 saw Microsoft release the first version of

the Office Productivity Suite. Microsoft continued to have success in the operating system

market through the 1990s, releasing Windows 95 in August of 1995 and Windows 98 in June of

1998 (Facts About Microsoft, n.d.). Microsoft released Windows NT in 1993, which was their

first operating system aimed at securing corporate server room dominance. Microsoft would go

on to release some successful operating systems, like Windows XP and Windows 7, and some
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unsuccessful ones, such as Windows ME and Windows Vista. With the dual successes of the

Windows platform and the Office suite, Microsoft secured its position as a dominant force in

corporate America.

Microsofts dominance in the operating system and application sectors allowed them the

financial flexibility to move into other sectors. In 2001, they released the Xbox, their first foray

into the console gaming market. Microsofts first attempt to enter the tablet PC market in 2002,

failed with the TabletPC. They would wait until 2012 to try again, this time successfully, with the

Surface (Facts About Microsoft, n.d.). Their initial attempt to enter the smartphone market in

the mid 2000s saw mixed results. In 2012, Microsoft released a new Windows Phone OS, as an

effort to unify the user experience across multiple devices. Microsoft acquired Nokia in 2014 to

further solidify their smartphone position. Microsoft entered the cloud services sector in 2010

with the release of Microsoft Azure. Azure provides both Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and

Software-as-a-Service infrastructure to businesses, allowing customers to create their own

custom solutions through the open Software Development Kit (SDK). Through these and other

business decisions, Microsoft has grown to something much more than a software company.

The current executive group at Microsoft are veterans of the technology industry, but

none are a bigger presence than Bill Gates. When Gates founded Microsoft with Paul Allen, he

did so during his junior year at Harvard, leaving his degree unfinished. Even after stepping down

as CEO, Gates remained involved in the day to day operations of the company as Chief

Technology Advisor. Gates remains a member of the board at Microsoft, but spends most of his

time focusing on philanthropy through his foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

(Board of Directors: Bill Gates, n.d.).

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Dr. Harry Shum is the Executive Vice President for the Technology and Research group

at Microsoft, overseeing the technical strategy of Microsoft in the mid-term and long-term. Dr.

Shum also runs Microsoft Research, which carries out much of the testing for future products

and services. Prior to his work in research, Dr. Shum was in charge of Bing product development

from 2007 to 2013. He received his PhD in robotics from the School of Computer Science at

Carnegie Mellon University (Senior Leaders: Harry Shum, n.d.).

Satya Nadella is Microsofts current CEO. Prior to that position he was Executive Vice

President of the Cloud and Enterprise group. Nadella holds a bachelors degree in electrical

engineering from Mangalore University, a masters in computer science from the University of

Wisconsin Milwaukee, and a masters in business administration from the University of

Chicago (Senior Leaders: Satya Nadella, n.d.).

Dr. Qi Lu is the Executive Vice President for the Applications and Services group. He

oversees the vision and direction of applications including Office, Exchange, Skype, and Bing.

Dr. Lu also spent 10 years working for Yahoo and performed research for IBM. Dr. Lu holds

bachelors and masters degrees in computer science from Fudan University, and a PhD in

computer science from Carnegie Mellon (Senior Leaders: Qi Lu, n.d.).

Microsofts current top software products are the Windows Operating System, Office

Productivity Suite, and Windows Phone OS. These offerings are still profitable, but the demand

for desktop OSs has resulted in a decline in sales of the Windows operating system and Office

suite (Annual Report, 2014). Windows Phone OS has performed well, however according to

a study by IDC, Microsoft still has a minority of the smartphone market share compared to

iPhone and Android devices (Smartphone OS, 2015). The Xbox continues to be a successful

product for Microsoft, now on its third incarnation the Xbox One. After a slow start in the tablet
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market, the Surface Pro 3 has made a considerable dent in Apples dominance of this sector,

particularly in the enterprise where it seamlessly works with most existing business software.

Microsoft has a reputation for good support for their Xbox and Surface divisions. Their

turnaround time on Xbox and Surface repairs was often a matter of days. Microsoft is quick to

fix any bugs that show up in the Xbox software and they are continuing to provide software

updates to the versions of Windows supported by the Surface. Microsoft has a less stellar

reputation for their Windows and Office groups. This is partly due to the outsourcing of software

support overseas. The support groups did not receive adequate training in the products they were

supporting, resulting in support calls lasting far longer than they should or customers being

transferred from one support group to the next because no one could find a solution to the

customers problem.

Microsofts future is still bright, even with the shrinking desktop market. According to

Microsofts Fiscal Year 2015 Q4 report, their Cloud Services group has seen a $3 billion increase

in revenue, mostly due to a mix of Office 365 business subscribers and growth from Microsoft

Azure. Revenue from the Surface group grew by 65% to 3.6 billion, which is mainly attributed to

sales of the Surface Pro 3. While Xbox unit sales increased, the overall revenue for that group

decreased by $385 million due to lower price points. Microsofts Devices and Consumer

Licensing segment took the biggest hit reporting a decrease in revenue of $4.6 billion. Microsoft

states that $1.9 billion of the decline is due to slowing sales in the PC desktop market for both

businesses and consumers. They also claim $946 million is due to conversions from Office

Consumer to Office 365 (Investor Relations, 2015). Microsoft is in the process of shifting its

focus to more mobile, cloud based technologies and relying less on the desktop market to sustain
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its revenue (Annual Report, 2014). This a big departure from the Microsoft of old, who

relied upon the desktop market to support its other endeavors.

The future for programmers also remains bright. Technological advances are happening

in every sector, and those advances require programmers and software engineers. The Bureau of

Labor Statistics reports 8-12% growth in jobs by 2020 for applications developers

(Occupational Employment, 2015). This growth trend is across the board, not just in the tech

sectors, so no matter where you reside there will be opportunities available.

Among the technical skills needed, a systems programmer will use Assembly, C, and C+

+. A solid foundation in hardware design is helpful, as a systems programmer will often interact

directly with the hardware. The ability to be a team player and collaborate with others is required

in any area of programming. There are few lone wolves in programming anymore. Most firms

are seeking applicants with a bachelors degree in computer science or electrical engineering,

although computer science is the preferred degree. A masters degree in computer science can

allow for further specialization or as a springboard into a management role.

With such a high demand for programmers there is heavy competition for the jobs

available, therefore a solid plan is necessary in order to pursue a position in this field.

Educational goals are a key part of that plan. Completing the Cal State Monterey Bay Computer

Science bachelors program will give a student a strong foundation to start from, but to fully

prepare more work is required. Familiarity with Assembly language programming is a must for

any systems programmer. With Assembly you will work directly with the hardware of the device

you are writing code for. A C programming course will help a student learn the fundamentals of

programming with little abstraction between programmer and computer. Both C and Assembly

will require a programmer to understand proper memory management while completing their
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project. Taking a C++ course, along with data structures and algorithms, exposes a student to

object oriented programming concepts while introducing key data structures and algorithms that

every programmer will see again and again. Advanced courses in software development and

project management will also prepare a student for the collaborative world of software

development. If more specialization or a management position is desired, applying to a masters

program will be required. Example areas of specialization include artificial intelligence, machine

learning, database systems, and computer security. UCLA, Pepperdine, USC, UC Irvine, Cal

State Northridge, and Cal State Long Beach all have options for Masters programs in southern

California, with UCLA offering an online version that mirrors the on ground version (UCLA

Engineering, 2015).

Becoming a desirable programmer requires work outside of school as well. One method

of obtaining systems programming experience is through obtaining a Raspberry Pi. A Pi is a

small computer that you can write your own software for. It has a great community with

excellent documentation regarding how to interact with the hardware. With the Pi and some

servos, automating objects around the house is a good way of learning systems programming

with a practical application. Learning to work with different frameworks, such as GTK+ or QT,

is part of the lifelong learning process that is required for a competent programmer. Another

method for gaining real world programming experience is to contribute to open source projects.

The Linux version of Firefox has its bug list and code available for anyone to peruse and attempt

to fix. Similarly, many device drivers on Linux are open source. There are open source NVidia

drivers where you can fix bugs or look at the code that was written to see how things are

accomplished. An aspiring programmer can take an existing open source project and add new

features, a task programmers are faced with daily in real world environments.
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The approach to finding a job will require a multi-pronged approach, and finding an

internship is a great way to get some work experience on your resume. By utilizing indeed.com,

internships.com, CSUMB internship resources, and Santa Monica College internship resources

finding an internship is within the grasp of any motivated student. Microsoft, Google, Apple and

many other large tech firms have internship programs available for computer science students.

Utilizing meetup.com to find local coding groups is a great way to locate other programmers to

socialize and collaborate with. A quick search on the site showed dozens of coder groups in

southern California (Meetup.com, 2015). Attending local technical conferences and

symposiums when the opportunity arises is a good strategy for expanding your professional

network as well. Here in the Los Angeles area conferences are rarely more than a month away.

The LOFT coder summit and Anderson Big Data Conference are both holding events at the

UCLA campus in October and November, respectively.

Becoming a software developer for a large company such as Microsoft takes hard work

and many hours outside of the classroom. Working for a small startup will require even more

time, with the many responsibilities handled by a smaller group of people, a broader set of

experiences is necessary. It is crucial to realize we never stop growing, we never stop learning.

With the pace of change in technology seemingly getting faster every year, becoming a lifelong

learner is critical to the success of every aspiring developer. And it is a skill worth honing now.
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References

About Paul: Expanded Bio. (2014). Retrieved September 8, 2015, from

http://www.paulallen.com/About-Paul/Expanded-Bio

Annual Report 2014: Discussion and Analysis. (2014). Retrieved September 8, 2015,

from http://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar14/index.html#discussion

Board of Directors: Bill Gates. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2015, from

http://news.microsoft.com/exec/bill-gates/

Facts About Microsoft. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2015, from

http://news.microsoft.com/facts-about-microsoft/

Investor Relations: Earnings Release FY 15 Q4. (2015). Retrieved

September 8, 2015, from http://www.microsoft.com/investor

/EarningsAndFinancials/Earnings/PressReleaseAndWebcast/ FY15/Q4/default.aspx

Meetup.com. (2015) Retrieved September 13, 2015 from

http://www.meetup.com/find/?allMeetups=false&keywords=programming&radius=5&us

erFreeform=Santa+Monica%2C+CA&mcId=z90401&mcName=Santa+Monica%2C+CA

&sort=default

Occupational Employment and Wages: Software Developers, Applications. (2015).

Retrieved September 8, 2015, from http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151132.htm

Senior Leaders: Harry Shum. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2015, from

http://news.microsoft.com/exec/harry-shum/

Senior Leaders: Qi Lu. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2015, from

http://news.microsoft.com/exec/qi-lu/

Senior Leaders: Satya Nadella. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2015, from

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http://news.microsoft.com/exec/satya-nadella/

Smartphone OS Market Share, 2015 Q2. (2015). Retrieved September 9, 2015 from

http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp

UCLA Engineering: Master of Science in Engineering Online. (2015). Retrieved September 9,

2015 from http://www.msol.ucla.edu/