Is programming part of the IT field?

[r00b]

I've never thought about computer science as part of IT, a guy at work says programming is part of IT. If it is or is not, why?

[ResidentBiscuit]

CS is a very wide category. If you do any sort of systems admin work, then you will most definitely be writing scripts at the least. Network admin work also has some script writing that needs done on occasion.

Lots of jobs that fall under the CS category have little to no programming involved. Software development is just one part of it.

[Uk Marine]

Yes it is, i'm an IT student and they teach us Networking, Computer Assemby, HTML web programming, C/C++ programming and technology (binary numbers, Logic Gates, Digital circuits etc...)

[Stewbond]

Scripting is the biggest cross-over. Otherwise, they are pretty independant. You wouldn't believe how many programmers have no idea what DHCP is. At the same time, you wouldn't believe how many IT people insist on installing anti-virus on embedded real-time machines.

[twiggystardust]

doesn't IT just stand for Information Technology? So I'm pretty sure programming is a part of IT

[Stewbond]

In theory... But a job in IT is a job in setting up or managing networks, troubleshooting computer problems, updating/installing PCs, creating the firewall policies, optimizing network speeds and server performance, backups, etc.

A programmer may need to define a network protocol to transmit data for their application, the IT guy will need to route the port to the appropriate server.

IT professionals don't have to compile code, which is kind of the basis of programming.