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COMPUTER PROGRAMMING SUBGROUPS
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Computer Programming is divided into many subgroups in the MetaCyber
setting that must be purchased separately as indicated by the
below table.
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Subgroups are optional, but a character takes a -2 skill penalty
when using Computer Programming for a task in a Subgroup they
don't have. Penalty Skill Levels cannot be purchased to apply
to this penalty.
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EXAMPLE: A character lacking the Infrastructure subgroup would
suffer a -2 penalty when using their Computer Programming skill
to read, write, modify, understand, debug, or otherwise interact
with infrastructure oriented code such as firmware or a system
admininstration utility.
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A brief description of each subgroup follows
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INFRASTRUCTURE
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- INFRASTRUCTURE
- NETWORK CONFIG
- FIRMWARE / EMBEDDED
- MACHINE INTERFACE
- SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
- GAME SOFTWARE
- BUSINESS SOFTWARE
- DATA ANALYSIS
- ADMINISTRATION
- TRANSACTIONAL
- MALWARE
- HEURISTIC SOFTWARE
- HACKING
- DATABASING
- NEURALLY ENABLED CONTENT
- ELECTRONIC LOCKING DEVICES
- PROPRIETARY CORPORATE TECH
- Bought individually for 1 point
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To interact with low level basic machine interfaces, configurations
controlling the functionality of hardware, or embedded systems,
a character needs the Infrastructure subgroup. Some embedded
systems are written in E or E+. Most configuration is done via
a wizard or simple scripts, but WSO and PFRC are needed to program
or configure some higher end interface hardware.
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GAME SOFTWARE
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To design or understand software used for recreational purposes,
particularly the logic and capabilities of underlying
game engines, components, and graphics algorithms, a character
needs the Game Software subgroup.
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Most Game Software is written in W12 or Pix-it, but many simple
games are written in SW. Some games use components written in
E or E+ to handle resource intensive or critical tasks making
these excellent complementary languages.
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BUSINESS SOFTWARE
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To design or understand software used for business purposes,
understand the purpose of data schemas associated with applications
and the data stored therein, the logic and purpose of software
that serves to administer or automate tasks, and transactional
data tracking activity between one or more computers a character
needs the Business Software subgroup. Business Software typically
is written in E+, or W12. However, some lower budget, less robust,
or rapidly developed applications are written in VD3. FS is
new, but for the last several years a large share of new development has been done using
it.
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MALWARE
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To design or understand software used for malicious purposes,
particularly viruses and data sniffers, a character needs
the Malware subgroup. This is a conceptual subgroup that
represents specialized knowledge. Malware can be written in
just about any language, but E or E+ is the most common since
many types of viruses attack systems at the OS level, and E
is ideal for that.
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HEURISTIC SOFTWARE
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To design and understand software written to be self-improving,
with the ability to proactively make decisions based upon criteria
rather than when told, or in other ways mimic the individuality
of living people to some extent, a character needs the Heuristic
Software subgroup. There is no standard Heuristic Software language;
in general this discipline represents design concepts implemented
in either mainstream or limited purpose custom languages. This
skill is of little practical use in the current timeframe of
MetaCyber, being largely theoretical...but also cutting edge.
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HACKING
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To dynamically interact with security measures, exploit or defend
vulnerabilities, gain or prevent illicit access to, or otherwise
suborn or reinforce the intended purpose of software, requires
the Hacking subgroup. It also covers basic tricks of the trade
related to disguising or recognizing Hacking activity. This
is a conceptual subgroup that represents specialized knowledge
and techniques, and is typically partnered with software tools
and broader Computer Programming disciplines in execution. It
is also strongly complemented by the Security Systems Skill
(typically with the Only for Computer Security; -1/2 Limitation).
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The Infiltration subgroup is of critical importance to would be "hackers",
and the Defense subgroup is of critical importance to any party attempting to
harden their systems against being hacked.
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DATABASING
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To understand, analyze, design, and administer databases and
database components of various types requires the Databasing
subgroup. This is a conceptual subgroup that represents specialized
knowledge. In the modern era of MetaCyber, this is usually partnered
with LDS and LQS.
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ELECTRONIC LOCKING DEVICES
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To program or circumvent higher end Electronic Locking Devices
(ELDs) that use simple Computers for various purposes a Computer
Programmer needs the Electronic Locking Device subgroup. Most
ELDs use embedded processes, but if physical access to an interface
port can be managed they can be reprogrammed to open or close
as desired as a Tricky Task or harder (depending on the ELD).
Most ELD's use WSO, but some use a stripped down version of
Enoch, and others use a semi-custom syntax that is very similar
to PFRC.
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NEURALLY ENABLED CONTENT
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To develop content usable via the "virtual reality"
of the NET a character needs the Neurally Enabled Content (NEC)
subgroup. This can be used alone for generic content, but needs
to be combined with another subgroup to design specific content;
for instance to design business applications that are Neurally
Enabled would require both the Business Software and Neurally
Enabled Content subgroups.
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Neurally Enabled Content is written in a language called Neural
Stimuli Descriptive Language (NSDL), which is included
in this group. A completed set of NSDL code is effectively a
wrapper for some other application written in a fully fledged
language and is referred to as a NSDL Wrapper. A Wrapper basically
serves to associate Neural Stimuli with emitted data from the
wrapped application. NSDL has no support for debugging per se,
but it does support a powerful benchmarking harness that can
identify content that is outside of accepted neurally safe ranges.
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PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY
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Some corporations use proprietary technology and / or standards,
which they usually guard the details of closely. This serves
as a security deterrent to Computer Programmers that have not
been exposed to the proprietary concepts. Characters must buy
each proprietary technology they are able to program with effectively
for 1 point.
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