Does CCNA or MCSE require programming knowledge? by Cisco Information Technology   0 pts.  |   Sep 3 2009  6:16PM GMT

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Certification MCSE » Does CCNA or MCSE require programming knowledge?   0 pts.  |   Sep 3 2009  6:41PM GMT

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Posts about Programming from google blogs as of September 3, 2009 « tryfly.com   0 pts.  |   Sep 3 2009  11:59PM GMT

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KevinBeaver   7610 pts.  |   Sep 8 2009  12:40PM GMT

There’s not much in IT that actually *requires* programming knowledge but the more you know about it the more it’ll help in your day to day work! I would think/hope your computer engineering degree would be chock full of programming (assembly, C, Java, etc.).

Edtittel   1005 pts.  |   Sep 14 2009  10:15PM GMT

FWIW, I agree with Kevin Beaver: the more you know about it, the more you’ll be able to understand its function and impact on a job in IT. That said, I also agree with the original response that some knowledge of scripting is increasingly essential for IT professionals, especially some kind of UNIX shell (C Shell, Bourne shell, and so forth) for UNIX/Linux systems, and VBScript or PowerShell for modern Windows ones.

HTH, and thanks for posting,
–Ed–

KevinBeaver   7610 pts.  |   Sep 16 2009  5:43PM GMT

I agree with Ed, you should definitely familiarize yourself with scripting in Linux/Windows. I *still* use .bat files (the original scripting for the PC) to script things in my work and I know admins can benefit as much or more.

Pjb0222   1110 pts.  |   Sep 17 2009  3:09PM GMT

Learn the Windows command prompt and the myriad administrative tools available from the command prompt. Windows command scripting is an invaluable tool in administration of systems.

In addition to all the “cool” GUI administration tools, ensure you become competent at their command line equivalents. Using a GUI to administer 2 or 3 servers or workstations is one thing. Trying to administer hundreds or thousands across multiple locations with just the GUI is a quick way to the looney bin.

Also look at VBScript and the WMIC engine. Both are excellent tools for any admin.

The one item for Windows command scripting that is hardest for some to master is the FOR loop. It is the bread and butter for administering. Learn all its different capabilities from parsing text, the output of commands, parsing files to parsing lists. The second most powerful item in Windows scripts is called sections (sub routines) with return from these called routines (GOTO :EOF) or just to control the flow of scripts. Another often overlooked gem is advanced SET capabilities. You can edit strings with set, strip extra characters like double quotes or spaces, perform math, grab substrings and remove the first and last character of a string (passed arguments surrounded by quotes).

A few of questions my team uses to test for a job as admin…

How do you start a command prompt?
What is(are) the first thing(s) you do to troubleshoot problems with network printing? (1)
What does this script do? (2)

1. Basic steps:
a. Ping the printer / print server.
b. Check that the printer is turned on.
c. Check the printer status: paper, errors, paused.

2. Uses a Windows command line script with a for loop and GOTO statements of about 20 lines. Runs a directory command and builds a filtered list of directories.

KevinBeaver   7610 pts.  |   Sep 18 2009  11:27AM GMT

Here’s a link to an article I wrote that may be beneficial as well:
Secret Windows command line tools can boost security