Principal:

John Ashmead

Ashmead Software & Consulting, Inc. specializes in the design, enhancement, and administration of relational  databases with particular emphasis on reliability, performance, and ease-of-maintenance.

Programming is like accounting and law in that it is something of a generalist occupation. Nowadays very few vertical markets can function without using programming services of one kind or another.

At the deepest level, the underlying procedures and practices for good programming do not change from one sector to another. Clean, clear design and correct execution against that design are required across sectors.

With that said, each area -- whether financial services, media & advertising, health care, cemetery, publishing, scientific -- has its own vocabulary, requirements, and sensitivities.

Every sector requires a strong emphasis on correctness and reliability. But what is meant by that -- in practice -- is a bit different for health care than for portfolio management.

And this is really where the art comes in: to apply the general principles of good programming practice to satisfy the specific requirements of a particular sector and of a particular client.