Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

emulation 179Job Market ConsiderationsIn the late 1990s, a number of sources forecast a growinggap between the number of positions opening in computerrelatedfields and the number of new people entering thejob market (estimates of the gap’s size ranged into the hundredsof thousands nationally). Particularly in the Internetsector, demand for programmers and system administratorsmeant that new college graduates with basic skills couldearn unprecedented salaries, while experienced professionalscould often become highly paid consultants. Despite thegrowing emphasis on computing in secondary and highereducation, computer science and engineering candidateswere in particularly short supply. As a result, many companiesreceived permission to hire larger numbers of immigrantsfrom countries such as India.The “dot crash” of 2001–2002 saw a sharp if temporarydecline in demand for computer professionals, particularlyin the Web and e-commerce sectors, but it impacted hardwaresales as well. The industry then saw a resurgence, butwith an emphasis on somewhat different skill sets. Skills instrong demand toward the end of the 2000 decade include:• detection, prevention, and investigation of computerattacks (see computer crime and security and computerforensics)• improvements in operating system and softwaresecurity• use of open-source software and operating systems(see open-source movement and Linux)• surveillance and physical security (see biometrics)• transaction analysis for both security and marketingapplications (see data mining)• e-commerce applications and management (see customerrelationship management)• rapid development of efficient, highly interactive Webservices (see Ajax, Web 2.0 and beyond, and scriptinglanguages)• hardware and software for mobile and wireless devices(particularly delivery and integration of media)• content management for Web sites and media services• scientific computing, particularly genetic and biologicalapplications (see bioinformatics)On the other hand, with the successful passing of theY2K crisis, the outlook for mainframe programmers (particularlyusing COBOL) is increasingly dim. Prospects arealso poor for certain operating, network, and database systemswith declining market share (such as OS/2, Novellnetworking, and some older database systems). It is truethat as baby boomer programmers retire, there will besome demand for maintenance or conversion of obsolescentsystems. Finally, as global trends toward outsourcing andrelocating of lower-level support and even programmingcontinue, it may become harder for domestic workers tobegin to climb the IT ladder.Socially, the key challenges that must be met to ensurea healthy computer-related job market are the improvementof education at all levels (see education and computers)and the increasing of ethnic and gender diversity in thefield (which is related to the fostering of more equal educationalopportunity), and adapting to changes in the globaleconomy (see globalism and the computer industry).Further ReadingBrandel, Mary. “12 IT Skills that Employers Can’t Say No To.”Computerworld, July 11, 2007. Available online. URL: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9026623. Accessed July 22, 2007.Farr, Michael. Top 100 Computer and Technical Careers. 3rd ed. St.Paul, Minn.: JIST Works, 2006.Henderson, Harry. Career Opportunities in Computers and Cyberspace.2nd ed. New York: Facts On File, 2004.Information Technology Jobs in America. New York: Info TechEmployment Publications, 2007.U.S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook,2006–07 edition. Available online. URL: http://www.bls.gov/oco/. Accessed July 22, 2007.Vocational Information Center. Computer Science Career Guide.Available online. URL: http://www.khake.com/page17.html.Accessed July 22, 2007.emulationOne consequence of the universal computer concept (seevon Neumann, John) is that in principle any computercan be programmed to imitate the operation of any other.An emulator is a program that runs on one computer butaccurately processes instructions written for another (seealso microprocessor and assembler). For example, fansof older computer games can now download emulationprograms that allow modern PCs to run games originallyintended for an Apple II microcomputer or an Atari gamemachine. Emulators allowing Macintosh and Linux users torun Windows programs have also achieved some success.In order to work properly, the emulator must set up asort of virtual model of the target microprocessor, includingappropriate registers to hold data and instructions and asuitably organized segment of memory. While carrying outinstructions in software rather than in hardware imposesa considerable speed penalty, if the processor of the emulatingPC is much faster than the one being emulated, theemulator can actually run faster than the original machine.An entire hardware and software environment can alsobe emulated; this is called a virtual machine. For example,programs such as VMware can be used to run Windows,Linux, and BSD UNIX, each in a separate “compartment”that appears to be a complete machine, with all the necessaryhardware drivers and emulated facilities.The term virtual machine can also refer to language suchas Java, where programs are first compiled into a platformindependentintermediate “byte code,” which is then runby a Java virtual machine that produces the instructionsneeded for a given platform.In the past, emulation was sometimes used to allow programmersto develop software for large, expensive mainframeswhile using smaller machines. Emulators can also