In one of the early SO podcasts, my evil twin (Obvious Troll) asked if he should go to grad school - and the answer was a resounding "meh". Now, since then, I've made my decision - but I still want to know: Do you think it's worthwhile for a "software engineer" to get a masters in Software Engineering? Update: To extend the question...
Are you a member of a professional organisation such as the ACM, IEEE, or BCS/ACS (or equivalent in your country)? How does it benefit your career and continuing education? What are the key benefits and do they justify the membership fees? ...
To What Degree (pun intended) has your College Education Attributed to the Success of your Development Career? ...
I'd love to see a wide sampling of StackOverflow users as I feel that you all tend to represent developers with higher than average passion for your craft. Thanks! ...
I realize that this might be counted as subjective by some, and, as such, downvotes might ensue; I don't mind. I would hope that some might actually provide links to references and detailed analysis. Anyway, on to the question. I have an interview on Friday. I had one two weeks ago that went really well from a personal perspective, but...
If you had chance to select, which application would you like to develop? For instance, "I want to save the world, I want to develop an application for that matter. Yay!" could be one of the best answers. Maybe people can find each other for developing an exotic application for the sake of humankind. ...
If you have been freelancing for a few years, does it make you less likely to be hired by an employer? What if you freelanced for 3 years, then worked for 2 years, then went back to freelancing for 2 years and now want to get back to a fulltime job? Will not an employer avoid someone with a freelance background because they know he cou...
Maybe this is a naive question, I don't know but here's what have been happenig to me lately. I've always thought real coders, real programmers were the ones to make the code. I agree a good coder does actually matter (as opposed to hiring just a good software architect but hiring standard coders). Lately nontheless, I've been more and...
What kind of certifications would you recommend to an young future programmer? ...
What skills, languages, tools, etc. would you suggest someone interested in a career in programming learn? ...
Developers! Technologies change a lot, and change fast. What you do today may not be valuable tomorrow. There are a lot of technologies out there that you haven't master. Given that you have only so much free time, you won't have the time to master them anyway. So, the question is, how to remain employable in the face of constant techn...
Imagine like an 8-hour long video of any "typical/average" programming job. What is it like? Before I get myself involved in that path, what can I expect? I am interested in gathering first-hand information and accounts of the typical life of a programmer. My goal is to grasp the fundamental concepts of working in the professional fiel...
This is a pretty broad question; I'm fairly certain I'm proficient in Java (aced the APCS exam, which was by far the easiest AP imo though), and learning Python. I'm in my senior year of high school and programming's what I've wanted to do since the 6th grade. Thoughts on ways to start building up a resumé? (Open source projects? Interns...
There is a potential offer at the company which I just started. I am still on contract pending hire, and they have a person leaving the team that supports Lawson (HR, Payroll) and some other related applications/systems. Their original intent was to put me on the regular support staff which is mostly developing, but much supporting appli...
Team building, in my opinion, is often misunderstood concept! The wikipedia definition is also very theoretical. But i think it is real critical skill for any team leader. So, How do you "team-build"? Do you just book some conference room in a big hotel and discuss the same things you do at your regular meetings? Or you do you tak...
There is a previous question ("Is a masters degree overkill?"), which is about the types of jobs available and the value of a masters when trying to get a job. What I am curious about the impact of programming ability. I know you usually write a masters thesis on some topic, which I imagine forces you to specialize. Do your programm...
I need to create my own performance goals and have them approved by my manager. They will be reviewed at the end of the year. What are some measurable performance goals that others have used? It is my first year, so I can't compare my performance to last year. ...
What single piece of advice would you give to a programmer who can write decent code, but has trouble communicating relevant details of his work to colleagues and users? ...
First Off: If any of my colleagues are reading this, I am not thinking of leaving anytime soon :D Following a discussion with a friend, attrition rates within software companies (or companies with programmers) came up. Here in the UK it is often "frowned upon" if you move jobs in under 2 years since people think you basically have a "ba...
There have been a couple of other questions about explaining technical things to non-technical people, but I am specifically wondering if anyone has any tips for explaining technical problems to business oriented clients. For example, suppose the client asks for a specific feature, with certain requirements. However, the technical limi...