Is it appropriate to contact programmers who work for a company you are applying to? I am really excited about a certain programming job that I am interviewing for soon, and I am reading a few blogs by the guys who work there. Is it inappropriate to send them an email telling them I am having a phone interview with their company, tel...
Can you suggest any resources (magazines, web sties etc.) to follow current state of software development market in Europe? ...
I'm an intermediate PHP developer looking to take up a new language. I'm completely torn as to where to go at this point. There's so many languages related to web development and programming in general. I had might as well add Ruby to the question. Java, Python, or stick with PHP and try to really master it? For those of you program...
Although I have seen many similar questions here, my question is specific to my profile. I am a CS master's student with pretty good course and internship experience in OOP, UML designing, knowledge of design patterns, version control (Subversion, SourceSafe, TFS) and automated builds (FinalBuilder), bug tracking systems (Trac, JIRA). ...
I currently work as a backed developer but over the years have developed an interest in usability and user experience. What would you recommend as steps of: Improving my knowledge and skills Getting a job in usability/ux ...
When someone tells you that they're a "Senior Software Developer @ XYZ Corp." , what do they really mean: They've done many jobs of that type before They're actually senior by age to other developers They just aced a really tough interview ...
I got out of college in 06 with Bachelors in CS and since then have been working as a Java Analyst. Last year I got into a project where I am the lead java developer. But somehow I do not feel confident about being a 'lead'. I believe I am just the lead because I maybe know a wee bit more than other 2 developers. I am trying to make t...
There are plenty of interview questions on SO so I hope this one is acceptable. At the least we can make it a wiki? Basically during the phone interview for a software dev position it was made clear that engineers put in significantly more hours than 40/wk. I'd like to address this to see if this is a part of the company culture or if t...
I've been contemplating a shift in my career, going from a Windows desktop application developer to an embedded engineer. I've been developing desktop apps for nearly 20 years, almost exclusively in C/C++, so as far as languages, I've got that covered. Does anyone have any advice to help make the switch? What are some good resources...
Hi, I am quite busy balancing my career, practise (working on 5 projects outside of work of varying sizes), and finishing my certs. While I have 70-536 and 70-560 (MOSS Config) an 2 non MS exams, and 2 ASP.NET exams to finish, I want to complete one certification which is not strictly related to development and thus will make more uniqu...
Some background - I have been programming in Java as a professional for the last few years. This is mainly using Java SE. I have also touched bits and pieces of other various Java technologies and have some basic knowledge about them. I consider my self as an intermediate Java programmer. I like Java very much. I think it is only go...
Out of nowhere, everyone on the development staff just received an email telling us that we are going to be calling customers and asking them survey questions. We have never done anything like this before, and in every job I've ever had I've been in a position where I do not talk to customers directly. We are being told this is a polic...
I have roughly 8 years experience working as a software developer on many technologies. I know my stuff, but I really want to become a technical manager so I can have more control and responsibility on a project. I also know a fair bit about architecture, estimation, how to manage people, interact with clients, write specifications and...
When I was in college 20-ish years ago, C was our language of choice because at the time it was almost the only game in town as a general-purpose programming language. We learned to program using C. It was used for systems programming, data structures, operating systems, and just about everything else. Text-based console I/O was the prim...
As a recent graduate of a CS program, I am looking for my first job. My GPA was not above 3.0, but incredibly close. Should I still put my GPA on my resume, or is it best to leave it out? Also, is it best to submit a resume as a PDF or a DOC file? ...
While reading the activities performed by established solution/software architects, i came to know that many of them are guided by mentor or mentors. So, Did you become an architect by the help of a mentor? What are the activities / tips / methodologies etc etc you learned from your mentor? How you got linked with your mentor? What...
I currently work as an asp/vb .net IT programmer. I really enjoy iPhone programming and I'm also very interested in objective j and cappuccino. I've just kind of dabbed into these technologies and am fixing to release my first iPhone app. I'm really hoping that if I put out several iPhone apps or start creating projects with objective-j,...
Hi, Has any developer here signed up for Bizspark? I am making a web app which I hope can be commercially viable but has no commercial funding/backing or business plans. I am interested in Bizspark and I am developing a web app using MS technologies (.NET/SQL Server/ASP.NET etc) with the scope to be using Azure. Would I still qualify? ...
Just wondering because I've never met anyone. They advertise their programs a lot on TV, made me kind of curious. ...
Two (somewhat separate) questions I have are: Is it a good approach to put performance optimization as a separate skill-set backed up by line items (instead of just 2 words in "skills")? Do the items i put as examples below sound like useful/braggable data to distinguish oneself to a hiring technical manager (whether I put them on a r...