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• Dealing with institutionalized programmers.

  - by Singleton

  Some times programmers who work in a project for long time tend to get institutionalized. It is difficult to convince them with reasoning. Even if we manage to convince them they will be adamant to take suggestion on board. How do we handle the situation without developing friction in team? Institutionalized in terms of practices. I recently joined in a project where build &release process was made so complicated with unnecessary roadblocks. My suggestion was we can get rid of some of the development overheads(like filling few spreadsheets) just by integrating defect management and version controlling tools (both are IBM-Rational tools integration can be very easy and one-off effort). Also by using tools like Maven & Ant (project involves java and some COTS products) build & release can be simplified and reduce manual errors& intervention. I managed to convince and ready to put efforts for developing proof of concept. But the ‘Senior’ developer is not willing to take it on board. One reason could be the current process makes him valuable in team.

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• Coda-like experience for Ubuntu

  - by Dillon Gilmore

  I'm a web developer who's going to transition from using Mac OS X to Ubuntu. I've been using Coda for some time, only because it makes web development easy. I know a full fledged app isn't available for Linux, but would like to know about apps that specialize in the same tasks that Coda offers. I plan on switching to Vim for code editing, I'm extremely proficient and will install the Janus plugin and be good to go for editing code. One thing that makes editing on Coda so amazing is its extremely good at SFTP, you can drag and drop files and/or folders from your local drive to the server. Also, you can edit code directly on the server. The problem here, is that using Vim I don't know of a way to edit code on a remote server, while using my own Vim settings and plugins. To solve this, I would like to know of a good SFTP client OR a good SFTP CLI. A CLI that could synchronize your files after a file has been modified would be perfect, but not necessary. Now, one of the biggest and best features of Coda is its ability to view your databases. You get to create a database, create tables, add stuff, delete stuff and view the contents of the table (all this without writing a single SQL statement). I will admit that databases are my weak point, but is a very important part of my job. If there is a tool that specializes in databases would be perfect. I wouldn't prefer to use the command line for database stuff, but if there is a CLI for databases that I'm missing could potentially be useful. So I guess I'm asking for two things. A tool that makes databases easier to visualize and a tool that assists in pushing my local code to a server.

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• How do I start my career on a 3-year-old degree [on hold]

  - by Gabriel Burns

  I received my bachelor's degree in Com S (second major in math) in December 2011. I didn't have the best GPA (I was excellent at programming projects and had a deep understanding of CS concepts, but school is generally not the best format for displaying my strengths), and my only internship was with a now-defunct startup. After graduation I applied for several jobs, had a fair number of interviews, but never got hired. After a while, I got somewhat discouraged, and though I still said I was looking, and occasionally applied for something, my pace slowed down considerably. I remain convinced that software development is the right path for me, and that I could make a real contribution to someones work force, but I'm at a loss as to how I can convince anyone of this. My major problems are as follows. Lack of professional experience-- a problem for every entry-level programmer, I suppose, but everyone seems to want someone with a couple of years under their belt. Rustiness-- I've not really done any programming in about a year, and since school all I've really done is various programming competitions and puzzles. (codechef, hackerrank, etc.) I need a way to sharpen my skills. Long term unemployment-- while I had a basic fast-food job after I graduated, I've been truly unemployed for about a year now. Furthermore, no one has ever hired me as a programmer, and any potential employer is liable to wonder why. Old References-- my references are all college professors and one supervisor from my internship, none of whom I've had any contact with since I graduated. Confidence-- I have no doubt that I could be a good professional programmer, and make just about any employer glad that they hired me, but I'm aware of my red flags as a candidate, and have a hard time heading confidently into an interview. How can I overcome these problems and keep my career from being over before it starts?

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• Plug-in based software design

  - by gekod

  I'm a software developer who is willing to improve his software design skills. I think software should not only work but have a solid and elegant design too to be reusable and extensive to later purposes. Now I'm in search of some help figuring out good practices for specific problems. Actually, I'm trying to find out how to design a piece of software that would be extensible via plug-ins. The questions I have are the following: Should plug-ins be able to access each others functionality? This would bring dependencies I guess. What should the main application offer to the plug-ins if I want to let's say develop a multimedia software which would play videos and music but which could later on get functionality added over plug-ins that would let's say be able to read video status (time, bps, ...) and display it. Would this mean that the player itself would have to be part of the main program and offer services to plug-ins to get such information or would there be a way to develop the player as a plug-in also but offer in some way the possibility to other plug-ins to interact with it? As you see, my questions are mainly for learning purposes as I strive to improve my software development skills. I hope to find help here and apologize if something is wrong with my question.

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• "Opportunity" to take over maintenance of a small internal website. What should I do?

  - by Dan

  I have been offered an "opportunity" to take over maintenance of a small internal website run by my group that provides information about schedules and photos of events the groups done. My manager sent me the link to the site and checked it out. The site looked clean and neat but loaded in ~5 seconds. I thought this was a little long considering the site really didn't contain a lot of content. This prompted me to take a look under the hood at the pages source code. To my horror it'd been totally hacked together using nested tables! I'm new so I really can't say no to this "opportunity" so what should I do with it? Every fiber of my being feels that the only correct thing to do is over hall the site using CSS, Div's, Span's and any other appropriate tags that a sane/good web developer would used to begin with instead of depending on the render incentive magic of tables. But I'd like to ask programmers with more experienced then me, who have been in this situation. What should I do? Is my only realistic option to leave the horror as is and only adjusting the content as requested? I'm really torn between good development and the corporate reality I'm part of. Is there some kind of middle ground where things can be made better even if they're not perfect? Thanks ahead of time.

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• Is it correct to fix bugs without adding new features when releasing software for system testing?

  - by Pratik

  This question is to experienced testers or test leads. This is a scenario from a software project: Say the dev team have completed the first iteration of 10 features and released it to system testing. The test team has created test cases for these 10 features and estimated 5 days for testing. The dev team of course cannot sit idle for 5 days and they start creating 10 new features for next iteration. During this time the test team found defects and raised some bugs. The bugs are prioritised and some of them have to be fixed before next iteration. The catch is that they would not accept the new release with any new features or changes to existing features until all those bugs fixed. The test team says that's how can we guarantee a stable release for testing if we also introduce new features along with the bug fix. They also cannot do regression tests of all their test cases each iteration. Apparently this is proper testing process according to ISQTB. This means the dev team has to create a branch of code solely for bug fixing and another branch where they continue development. There is more merging overhead specially with refactoring and architectural changes. Can you agree if this is a common testing principle. Is the test team's concern valid. Have you encountered this in practice in your project.

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• When to use PHP or ASP.NET? [closed]

  - by loyalpenguin

  I have worked extensively in developing web applications using PHP and ASP.NET, but one of the questions that I'm constantly asked by customers is whether to move forward with a php website or an asp.net website. So naturally the first thing that comes to mind is to answer the question like this: PHP is open-source and ASP.NET is from Microsoft. Usually after something like that is said the customer has a blank look on there face. Apparently the fact that one is open source and the other isn't doesn't really faze them. And for good reason, because when I first heard it, it really doesn't tell me much. I know from working with both that each have their + and - when it comes to developing websites. NOTE: THIS QUESTION IS NOT TO QUESTION WHICH IS BETTER TO DEVELOP WITH. THIS QUESTION IS INTENDED TO BE OBJECTIVE. My question is what are differences between ASP.NET and PHP as far as Features Security Extendability Frameworks Average Development Time And when one is generally used over the other for certain types of projects. I am trying to compile a list of facts to be able to compare with the customer what developement platform is better for there particular project. I have done a simple search on google and a ton of articles come up, but the problem is the majority are usually biased towards PHP or ASP.NET. Also if you can maybe provide examples from experience when one technology was more preferable than the other that would be awesome.

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• Advice on software infrastructure for a FLOSS bounty site

  - by michaeljt

  I am planning to set up a simple web site where people can offer bounties for work on FLOSS projects. Unfortunately I have no experience at web development (I am a C/C++ developer), so I was hoping someone might be able to suggest out-of-the-box packages (preferably Debian ones) I could use to build the site from. My idea of how the site would work is to keep things as simple as possible. The person proposing a bounty would enter a description with relevant links (particularly to a bugtracker entry with the project the work is to be done on, where the real discussion and work would take place) and information and place an initial contribution. Other people would be able to add (donate, not pledge) contributions, but any discussion would take place on the project's bugtracker. I am also planning to run a mailing list rather than a forum (at least initially), so that is not a requirement. Paypal seems to me to be the handiest payment mechanism. So overall what I need is probably a simple interface with Paypal integration and a simple database backend. I hope this is the right place for my question, if not I would be grateful for pointers to somewhere better. And of course, this is purely about the technical side, though I am more than happy to discuss other aspects of the project elsewhere.

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• What are the requirements to test a website using jquery.get() ? [migrated]

  - by Frankie

  I am working on a simple website. It has to search quite a few text files in different sub-folders. The rest of the page uses jquery, so I would like to use it for this also. The function I am looking at is .get() for downloading the files. So my main question is, can I test this on my local computer (Ubuntu Linux) or do I have to have it uploaded to a server? Also, if there's a better way to go about this, that would be nice to know. However, I'm more worried about getting it working. Thanks, Frankie PS: Heres the JS/jQuery code for downloading the files to an array. g_lists = new Array(); $(":checkbox").each(function(i){ if ($(this).attr("name") != "0") { var path = "../" + $(this).attr("name") + ".txt"; $("#bot").append("<br />" + path); // debug $.get(path, function(data){ g_lists[i] = data; $("#bot").html(data); }); } else { g_lists[i] = ""; } }); Edit: Just a note about the path variable. I think it's correct, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm new to web development. Here's some examples it produces and the directory tree of the site. Maybe it will help, can't hurt. . +-- include ¦   +-- jquery.js ¦   +-- load.js +-- index.xhtml +-- style.css +-- txt    +-- Scripting_Tools    +-- Editors.txt    +-- Other.txt Examples of path: ../txt/Scripting_Tools/Editors.txt ../txt/Scripting_Tools/Other.txt Well I'm a new user, so I can't "answer" my own question, so I'll just post it here: After asking for help on a IRC chat channel specific to jQuery, I was told I could use this on a local host. To do this I installed Apache web server, and copied my site into it's directory. More information on setting it up can be found here: http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu_debian_lamp_server Then to run the site I navigated my browser to "localhost" and everything works.

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• Software Licencing [closed]

  - by Craig

  A colleague of mine wanted a means to do something, so it was suggested that I write some software to do this. The software has turned into more than the original specification and is now something rather complex, however it is not fully functional still. My colleague has not paid me anything so far and I am unwilling to continue writing the software until some faith has been reciprocated in my direction, as I have put a lot of effort into writing the software. I am also unwilling to finish the software as I do not want to give away a huge chunk of my time and effort away as free, neither do I want to be under compensated for my efforts. Some concerns I have. If I finish the software, what if the client doesn't pay me anything or pays too little, or what if I write the software to a usable level, but not complete and the client pays me a too little. I have lost my motivation to finish the software, as more and more specifications have been added to the software and I have developed a substantially complex piece of software and been effectively paid nothing. To finish the software, I need motivation, money would do this, however the client doesn't want to pay for something that isn't complete, yet keeps adding more requirements. I seem to be in a catch 22 with this, as I have developed some software on faith and have had no faith reciprocated in my direction. I'm really not sure how to get some payment from the client or on how to develop a licencing model so that I get some money from the client and development resumes.

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• As my first professional position should I take it at a start-up or a better known company? [closed]

  - by Carl Carlson

  I am a couple of months removed from graduating with a CS degree and my gpa wasn't very high. But I do have aspirations of becoming a good software developer. Nevertheless I got two job offers recently. One is with a small start-up and the other is with a military contractor. The military contractor asked for my gpa and I gave it to them. The military contracting position is in developing GIS related applications which I was familiar with in an internship. After receiving an offer from the military contractor, I received an offer from the start-up after the start-up asked me how much the offer was from the military contractor. So the pay is even. The start-up would require I be immediately thrust into it with only two other people in the start-up currently and I would have to learn everything on my own. The military contractor has teams and people who know what their doing and would be able to offer me guidance. Seeing as how I have been a couple of months removed from school and need something of a refresher is it better than I just dive into the start-up and diversify what I've learned or be specialized on a particular track? Some more facts about the start-up: It deals with military contracts as well and is in Phase 2 of contracts. It will require I learn a diverse amount of technologies including cyber security, android development, python, javascript, etc. The military contractor will have me learn more C#, refine my Java, do javascript, and GIS related technologies. I might as well come out and say the military contractor is Northrop Grumman and more or less offered me less money than the projected starting salary from online salary calculators. But there is the possibility of bonuses, while the start-up doesn't include the possibility of bonuses. I think benefits for both are relatively the same.

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• Dealing with inflexible programmers.

  - by Singleton

  Sometimes programmers who work on a project for long time get inflexible, and it becomes difficult to reason with them. Even if we do manage to convince them, they can be unlikely to implement our suggestions. For instance, I recently joined a project where the build & release process is too complicated and has unnecessary roadblocks. I suggested that we get rid of some of the development overhead (like filling a few spreadsheets) just by integrating defect management and version control tools (both are IBM-Rational tools so integration can be a very easy one-off effort). Also, if we use tools like Maven & Ant (the project involves Java and some COTS products) build & release can be simplified which should reduce manual errors & intervention. I managed to convince others and I'm ready to put in the effort to develop a proof of concept. But the ‘Senior’ developer is not willing, possibly because the current process makes him more valuable. How do we handle this situation without developing friction in the team?

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• Should Developers Perform All Tasks or Should They Specialize?

  - by Bob Horn

  Disclaimer: The intent of this question isn't to discern what is better for the individual developer, but for the system as a whole. I've worked in environments where small teams managed certain areas. For example, there would be a small team for every one of these functions: UI Framework code Business/application logic Database I've also worked on teams where the developers were responsible for all of these areas and more (QA, analsyt, etc...). My current environment promotes agile development (specifically scrum) and everyone has their hands in every area mentioned above. While there are pros and cons to each approach, I'd be curious to know if there are more pros and cons than I list below, and also what the generally feeling is about which approach is better. Devs Do It All Pros 1. Developers may be more well-rounded 2. Developers know more of the system Cons 1. Everyone has their hands in all areas, increasing the probability of creating less-than-optimal results in that area 2. It can take longer to do something with which you are unfamiliar (jack of all trades, master of none) Devs Specialize Pros 1. Developers can create policies and procedures for their area of expertise and more easily enforce them 2. Developers have more of a chance to become deeply knowledgeable about their specific area and make it the best it can be 3. Other developers don't cross boundaries and degrade another area Cons 1. As one colleague put it: "Why would you want to pigeon-hole yourself like that?" (Meaning some developers won't get a chance to work in certain areas.) It's easy to say how wonderful agile is, and that we should do it all, but I'm somewhat of a fan of having areas of expertise. Without that expertise, I've seen code degrade, database schemas become difficult to manage, hack UI code, etc... Let's face it, some people make careers out of doing just UI work, or just database work. It's not that easy to just fill in and do as good of a job as an expert in that area.

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• getting started as a web developer [closed]

  - by kmote

  I have over 10 years of programming experience building (Windows-based) desktop applications and utilities (VC++, C#, Python). My goal over the next year is to start transitioning to web application development. I want to teach myself the fundamental tools and technologies that would be considered essential for building professional, online, interactive, visually-stunning, data-driven web apps -- the kind described in Google's recently released "Field Guide: Building Great Web Applications". So my question is, what are the primary, most commonly-used technologies that seasoned professionals will need in their tool belt in the coming years? My plan was to start coming up to speed in Javascript, HTML5, & CSS, and then to do a deep dive into ASP.NET and Ajax, along with SQL DBs. (I was surprised to not be able to find a single book at Amazon with a broad, general scope like this, which caused me to start second-guessing this approach.) So, seasoned professionals: am I on the right track? Are there some glaring omissions in my list? Or some unnecessary inclusions? I would welcome any book suggestions along these lines as well.

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• suggestions for lonewolf dev setup

  - by d33j

  I'm looking for some suggestions for a better development setup. Background: I'm a crusty old software engineer (mostly java of late) and I have around 50 - 100 incomplete java projects scattered everywhere, usb keys, HDDs, and spanning across 5 or 6 computers etc, which have been put on hold for a few years (ie: family). I have no version control at home. I've been using IntelliJ for around 10 years, so that's the only constant. I'm thinking of nominating one machine as a headless server to put all my projects on, maybe a ubuntu box, that way It won't matter which device I'm on, all my projects can be accessed (and I don't have to waste time actually looking for them). I don't need to access code over the net. These are my own 'happy place' projects so I only work on them when I'm at home, however I can see the benefit of the tasking app being online, that way if I think of something while on public transport lets say, I can add it then & there, but it's not a requirement. I can wait until I get home to create tasks. Summary: So I need some sort of version control so I can rollback mistakes, and some sort of simple tasking software where I can assign tasks for myself later on when I get time. I use Subversion, Sonar, Jira and Crucible at work but I think it's a little bit of an overkill for me though. What do you suggest?

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• Is there a typical career path to learn game development "on the job"?

  - by mac

  The extended version of the question is: what is the typical career paths that a developer without specific experience in game development should take if he/she wishes to work in the game development industry? In other words, what are the positions such a programmer might aspire to get hired for, in the game industry? I am asking because it seems to me that - even without direct experience with 3D modelling, physics engines, shaders, etc... - for as much complex as these topics might be - they are still "just" top layers one can learn "on the job" if he/she has already good programming skills and experience in software design (for example during peer-programming sessions). I have no knowledge whatsoever of the game industry, so maybe I am being naïve here, but for all the other programming jobs I previously took, I learnt most of the specificities while working on concrete projects... so I wonder if there is a chance to do the same with game development. Thanks for your time and advice! :) PS: I don't know if this is important or not for answering the question, but scripting languages are the languages I am more proficient in. /mac

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• I've inherited 200K lines of spaghetti code -- what now?

  - by kmote

  I hope this isn't too general of a question; I could really use some seasoned advice. I am newly employed as the sole "SW Engineer" in a fairly small shop of scientists who have spent the last 10-20 years cobbling together a vast code base. (It was written in a virtually obsolete language: G2 -- think Pascal with graphics). The program itself is a physical model of a complex chemical processing plant; the team that wrote it have incredibly deep domain knowledge but little or no formal training in programming fundamentals. They've recently learned some hard lessons about the consequences of non-existant configuration management. Their maintenance efforts are also greatly hampered by the vast accumulation of undocumented "sludge" in the code itself. I will spare you the "politics" of the situation (there's always politics!), but suffice to say, there is not a consensus of opinion about what is needed for the path ahead. They have asked me to begin presenting to the team some of the principles of modern software development. They want me to introduce some of the industry-standard practices and strategies regarding coding conventions, lifecycle management, high-level design patterns, and source control. Frankly, it's a fairly daunting task and I'm not sure where to begin. Initially, I'm inclined to tutor them in some of the central concepts of The Pragmatic Programmer, or Fowler's Refactoring ("Code Smells", etc). I also hope to introduce a number of Agile methodologies. But ultimately, to be effective, I think I'm going to need to hone in on 5-7 core fundamentals; in other words, what are the most important principles or practices that they can realistically start implementing that will give them the most "bang for the buck". So that's my question: What would you include in your list of the most effective strategies to help straighten out the spaghetti (and prevent it in the future)?

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• Business Forces: SOA Adoption

  The only constant in today’s business environment is change. Businesses that continuously foresee change and adapt quickly will gain market share and increased growth. In our ever growing global business environment change is driven by data in regards to collecting, maintaining, verifying and distributing data.  Companies today are made and broken over data. Would anyone still use Google if they did not have one of the most accurate search indexes on the internet? No, because their value is in their data and the quality of their data. Due to the increasing focus on data, companies have been adopting new methodologies for gaining more control over their data while attempting to reduce the costs of maintaining it. In addition, companies are also trying to reduce the time it takes to analyze data in regards to various market forces to foresee changes prior to them actually occurring.   Benefits of Adopting SOA Services can be maintained separately from other services and applications so that a change in one service will only affect itself and client services or applications. The advent of services allows for system functionality to be distributed across a network or multiple networks. The costs associated with maintain business functionality is much higher in standard application development over SOA due to the fact that one Services can be maintained and shared to other applications instead of multiple instances of business functionality being duplicated via hard coding in to several applications. When multiple applications use a single service for a specific business function then the all of the data being processed will be consistent in terms of quality and accuracy through the applications. Disadvantages of Adopting SOA Increased initial costs and timelines are associated with SOA due to the fact that services need to be created as well as applications need to be modified to call the services In order for an SOA project to be successful the project must obtain company and management support in order to gain the proper exposure, funding, and attention. If SOA is new to a company they must also support the proper training in order for the project to be designed, and implemented correctly. References: Tews, R. (2007). Beyond IT: Exploring the Business Value of SOA. SOA Magazine Issue XI.

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• iOS 5 New Features vs Android

  - by kerry

  Browsing through the iOS 5 features list, I can’t help but notice a lot of it is catch up. Having owned both an iPhone and an Android for a considerable amount of time, I figured I would jot down my opinions. Notification Center – Completely ripped off from Android but looks good and is a much needed addition iMessage – This is very interesting as most people who would think it’s cool, probably really wouldn’t understand the significance.  Basically, Apple is adding an IM application to iOS.  Now iPhone / iPad users can sit around messaging each other how cool it is like Crackberry users circa 2003.  I guess the only real improvement over MMS is that you can easily setup groups, see when each other are typing, and don’t incur text messaging charges; at the expense of leaving your non-iOS buddies out (who wants to talk to those losers anyways?). Newstand – An app update and not an OS one (Apple typically doesn’t make distinctions).  It all seems like stuff my current Nook stuff will do.  Note: I did look to compare prices but it seems that information is not available without downloading iTunes.  lame. Reminders – TODO lists are ho hum, but the ability to have reminders when you arrive or leave a position is pretty cool. Twitter integration – The fact that the best Apple can come up with is ‘one at a timing’ online service integration is laughable at best. Camera – Can control it from the lock screen.  Now you’ll have tons of pocket lint photos in your iCloud to go along with the wicked shot of that cheetah that just unexpectedly ran by your apartment. Photos – Speaking of iCloud, all of your devices photos will be synced through it.  That’s cool I guess, not sure if Android will do the same. Safari – What?  You haven’t been reading rss feeds on your device this whole time?  Something tells me you aren’t about to start. PC Free – Finely Apple untethers the iPhone.  What took them so long? Game Center – This should be an interesting service.  Attention Apple fanboys immediately forget how they are blatantly copying Microsoft achievements (at least rename them). Wifi Sync – Just couldn’t cut the cord completely could they?  For what it’s worth, the Zune has been doing this for 5 years now. All in all a pretty big update.  Mostly iCloud.  Mostly keeping up the mobile status quo.  As an Android user, I can’t say there is anything I am envious of.

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• SharePoint 2013 Developer Ramp-Up - Part 2

  As stated already yesterday, today I continued with the available course material on Pluralsight. For sure interesting topics in the second part of the series but not the field of operation I'm going to work in later. During the course you get a lot of information about how to create and deploy SharePoint Solutions and hosted SharePoint Apps. Today's resource(s) Apart from some blog articles I watched in the following course today: SharePoint 2013 Developer Ramp-Up - Part 2 - Developing SharePoint Solutions and Apps Not thrilling but still two solid hours to go. Takeaway One of the coolest aspects I figured out today is that SharePoint development can be done easily in JavaScript and C# - just as you like or prefer. It's actually pretty cool to see that you could integrate external JS libraries like datajs, knockout,js and so forth in order to implement your solution. And that you should be very familiar with Microsoft PowerShell. Not only to simplify some repetitive work but also to do be able to get things going in SharePoint. Having a decent background knowledge in Linux, I find this pretty amusing and remember the initial baby steps when PowerShell was introduced some years back (Note: German language). The outcry as well as the hype was too funny. Honestly, I have kind of mixed feelings about today's progress. Surely, there was interesting information about developing extensions directly for and in SharePoint... Hm, I'll leave that one for now and probably it might be helpful someday.

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• I am not the most logically-organized person. Do I have any chance at being a good 'low-level' programmer?

  - by user217902

  Background: I am entering college next year. I really enjoy making stuff and solving logical problems, so I'm thinking of majoring in compsci and working in software development. I hope to have the kind of job where I can work with implementing / improving algorithms and data structures on a regular basis.. as opposed to, say, a job that's purely concerned with mashing different libraries together, or 'finding the right APIs for the job'. (Hence the word 'low-level' in the title. No, I don't wish to write assembly all day.) Thing is, I've never been the most logically-sharp person. Thus far I have only worked on hobby projects, but I find that I make the silliest of errors ever so often, and it can take me ages to find it. Like anywhere between three hours to a day to locate a simple segfault, off-by-one error, or other logical mistake. (Of course, I do other things in the meantime, like browsing SO, reddit, and the like..) It's not like I'm 'new' to programming either; I first tried C++ maybe five years ago. My question is: is this normal? Should a programmer with any talent solve it in less time? Having read Spolsky's Smart and gets things done, where he talks about the large variance in programming speed, am I near the bottom of the curve, and therefore destined to work in companies that cannot afford to hire quality programmers? I'd like to think that conceptually I'm okay -- I can grasp algorithms and concepts pretty well, I do fine in math and science, although I probably drop signs in my equations more often than the next guy. Still, grokking concepts makes me happy, and is the reason why I want to work with algorithms. I'm hoping to hear from those of you with real-world programming experience. TL;DR: I make many careless mistakes, should I not consider programming as a career?

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• Is there any kind of established architecture for browser based MMO games?

  - by black_puppydog

  I am beginning the development of a broser based game in which players take certain actions at any point in time. Big parts of gameplay will be happening in real life and just have to be entered into the system. I believe a good kind of comparison might be a platform for managing fantasy football, although I have virtually no experience playing that, so please correct me if I am mistaken here. The point is that some events happen in the program (i.e. on the server, out of reach for the players) like pulling new results from some datasource, starting of a new round by a game master and such. Other events happen in real life (two players closing a deal on the transfer of some team member or whatnot - again: have never played fantasy football) and have to be entered into the system. The first part is pretty easy since the game masters will be "staff" and thus can be trusted to a certain degree to not mess with the system. But the second part bothers me quite a lot, especially since the actions may involve multiple steps and interactions with different players, like registering a deal with the system that then has to be approved by the other party or denied and passed on to a game master to decide. I would of course like to separate the game logic as far as possible from the presentation and basic form validation but am unsure how to do this in a clean fashion. Of course I could (and will) put some effort into making my own architectural decisions and prototype different ideas. But I am bound to make some stupid mistakes at some point, so I would like to avoid some of that by getting a little "book smart" beforehand. So the question is: Is there any kind of architectural works that I can read up on? Papers, blogs, maybe design documents or even source code? Writing this down this seems more like a business application with business rules, workflows and such... Any good entry points for that?

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• Looking for job advice [closed]

  - by EntryLevelJavaDeveloper

  I am a software developer for a government agency in DC, and I have recently completed one year of employment. I am generally dissatisfied with my experiences here. I do not want to gripe too much, but I do not spend a lot of time doing actual development on projects. I am asked to do everything under the sun: write requirements, review specs, test, attend random meetings, but actual coding makes up a small fraction of my time. The coding itself is fairly straightforward and simple so it feels like I am not growing from my experiences. I am not tasked with more challenging work, and I find the experiences are not rewarding. If I had a stronger resume/more work experience, I'd leave the position immediately but combined with the present economy, I am hesitant to leave. I have several questions: Does anybody have experiences like this? How did you make the most of it? I am currently doing some side projects, making simple webpages for people, but aside from that, and open source projects, what other things are out there? What are general benchmarks for a developer after one year of professional experience? What should I be expected to know/do? I am outsider (coming from a math/science background) so I do not know what exactly I should know/do. Is it possible to obtain a mentorship with a mid/senior developer to learn? If so, how can I go about making contacts in the DC area?

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• Website Design; SEO Dilemma

  - by lemonpole

  Okay so I designed a website for a restaurant and the design is aimed mostly to entice the viewer by using images of the restaurant's platters and foods. Not to say that text is totally non-existent but the design makes it hard to have enough keywords. Most keywords are found in the ALT attribute of image tags and a couple of headers. The reason as to why I am in this dilemma? I'm still new to web development and at the time I made the design, I didn't really know much about SEO. So I come here in search of help because I have an idea... Would it be good practice to have hidden SPAN blocks that would help me fill with keywords? For example a hidden SPAN would have text in bold to help with SEO. Of course, I will play it safe and not exploit this technique if it works. I have searched that this may be considered spamming by search engines and some companies are taking measures to prevent this. Thanks in advance!

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• I've got my Master's in Software Engineering... Now what? [closed]

  - by Brian Driscoll

  Recently I completed a Master of Science in Software Engineering from Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA, US), because I wanted to have some formal education in software (my undergrad is in Math Ed) and also because I wanted to be able to advance my career beyond just programming. Don't get me wrong; I love to code. I spend a lot of my spare time coding. However, for me writing code is just a means to an end: what I REALLY love is designing software. Not visual design, mind you, but the architecture of the system. So, ideally I'd like to try to get a job doing software architecture. The problem is that I have no real experience in it besides my graduate course work. So, what should I do to make my "bones" in software architecture? UPDATE Just so it's clear, I have over 5 years of work experience in software development and an MCTS cert in addition to my education, so I'm not looking for the usual "I'm fresh out of school, what should I do?" advice.

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