I've always thought that whether I loved or hated a role that I would be objective enough to help out a fellow dev if he ever wanted general info about a workplace/role - say he was in for an interview/walkthru. As a job seeker, is (1) ok to ask the interviewer/company for permission to contact devs to ask them questions or (2) in a wal...
Hi guys, I am starting a new career as freelancer (currently under notice period of employer). I am Java programmer. Loves Java and I am very good in Java (Atleast thats what I think) Now, After looking around.. Domain Host / Peoples (clients/bloggers/website admins).. Java is alien to them. I searched for top 10 hosts.. and guess wha...
Possible Duplicate: Old Developers - any future ? Hi I have been programming most of my adult life, but as I get closer to the dreaded 40's people around me keep telling me that there is no such thing as an old software engineer, you either become a manager (pointy haired ??) unemployed or finish you career in a slow ag...
I'll make this short and sweet. I like working with technologies that I'm currently not working with at my full time job. I like working with technologies that you don't usually see in a typical IT department( objective c, RoR, objective j/cappucino ). How do I move to a job that uses these technologies? I feel like I'm in quicksand an...
I apologize if this is not the suitable place to be seeking advice. I would like to switch careers from mechanical engineering to programming. Many of the projects I currently work on (weapon systems for the US military) will not be complete for another 15-30 years. I want to change careers because I enjoy programming, and because I w...
I'm 26. Long story short: I've been programming for over half my life all the way from 8088 ROM BASIC to TP to VB to C++ to C#. Lately, I've been less interested in coding, and more interested in overall project design (particularly UI design), managing a team, and taking care of clients. Don't get me wrong -- coding is still fun and I'...
I have had a talk with a friend of mine about the relative vulnerability of different types of IT workers to unexpected unemployment (e.g. layoffs, company going out of business, obsolete skills etc.) as it seems COBOL developers (or maintainers?) seems very secure in their positions, regardless of the state if the economy or even...
I'm working in a small company that runs an online product. The product works so far, but they want to add a lot of additional features to it. They're using reasonably current technology (ASP.NET, C#, .NET 3.5), but the developers are resistant to moving into more cutting edge stuff like, say, ASP.NET MVC or Silverlight. Basically it's...
Are there any .net based open source project which uses unit testing techniques to its best? I am looking for an open source project where the complete code base is covered with unit tests which are well written and from which we can learn new techniques and practices of doing proper unit testing. ...
Hi all, I've been working with computers for nearly 30 years (started out coding BASIC on a PET, then 6502 onto 68000 and C). I later gained a CompSci Degree and continued programming, moving into databases (DBA) and I've spent the last 10 years to present day as a Unix Sys Admin. I spent the last couple of years writing java for a ...
It's fairly well recognized that some programmers are up to 10 times more productive than others. Joel mentions this topic on his blog. There is a whole blog devoted to the idea of the "10x productive programmer". In years since the original study, the general finding that "There are order-of-magnitude differences among prog...
Hi All, I am a newbie here. So please bear with me if this is a duplicate/very trivial Qn. I am not from a Computer Science background. But currently working in software testing. I would like move to software development. I know there is whole interesting areas outside there. But I am facing difficulty in choosing where to start? I have...
Hi guys, I just completed a my first semester in Java and I am trying to decide if I should take a more advanced Java course or take a class in C. Long term I plan to continue to learn them both, however, I am wondering if a deeper understanding of Java will serve me better or if learning the basics of another language will be best. ...
Hey all, I'm looking to get my Zend certification soon for PHP5. Has anybody that's taken the exam come out of it with good advice? Are there any useless/nonsense/obscure/esoteric topics covered on it? Thanks ...
I ask because I simply cant and when I go to a job interview I feel like a idiot. I simply cannot remember how to program in all of these different languages, let alone even one. I can remember the general idea of how to format a given program or how to do basic stuff, but I need access to the api whether it be from the Internet, a boo...
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...
Hi all, I'm really wanting to get into game development (childhood dream!) and i think I'm now in a position to finally invest enough time into it. However i have a few questions and I'd really like some feedback from some guys already involved in development, so i thought i would ask here :) How easy is it to learn? I have some progr...
I've been an java programmer forever. Now I want to go web. What mental leaps should I be expecting? ...
I am interested in hearing how various people remain in the Software Engineering industry for so long in their careers. I am at a crossroads myself as I have worked with Network Engineering, Communications, VoIP, Parking, Government Contracting, and Military related projects. Question: How does one manage to stay relevant as a programme...
I've spent the last eight months working in the LAMP stack. Since I just graduated college with a degree in Computer Science, I'm still very new to programming. I've looked at the trends, and for non-Microsoft development stacks, Java and PHP top the list. Given that most of the Java positions in my area (Toronto, Canada) are for S...