Computers have changed the way people live their lives. Nowadays, people use computers for everything from paying bills to finding library books, from chatting with friends to shopping. Many people use computers so often that they could not imagine life without them.
Computer programmers work in big companies and small companies all over the United States and throughout the world. The software they create makes it possible for computers to operate. Software also controls automobiles, airplanes, telephones, Web browsers, and production lines in factories.
All programming jobs are different. One programmer may create operating systems and another may develop computer games. Still, all programmers have two tasks in common: They all write code, and they all solve problems.
Nathan Mates is a computer programmer at Pandemic Studios in Santa Monica, California. Pandemic is a developer of computer games for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and for personal computers (PCs). Mates has helped create many games, including Ten Pin Alley, Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling, Battlezone II, Triple Play 2002, and Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones.
