A few weeks ago, I was assigned to evaluate all our programmers. I'm very uncomfortable with this since I was the one who taught everyone the shop's programming language (they all got out of college not knowing the language and as luck would have it, I'm very proficient with it.). On the evaluation, I was very biased on their performance...
What are your criteria when evaluating free vs pay software? Which is your "default" choice? update: Is the answer different for application and development software? ...
We're living in a golden age of databases, with numerous high quality commercial and free databases. This is great, but the downside is there's not a simple obvious choice for someone who needs a database for his next project. What are the constraints/criteria you use for selecting a database? How well do the various databases you've ...
Like most people, I think of myself as being a bit above average in my field. I get paid well, I've gotten promotions, and I've never had a real problem getting good references or getting a job. But I've been around enough to notice that many of the worst programmers I've worked with thought they were some of the best. Bad programmers...
What characteristics do you find more valuable in a software architect? How to evaluate one? For example: Is in-depth knowledge of a stack more important than a good overall knowledge of different stacks? How important are coding skills in comparison to other skills? How important are documentation skills considering agile methodolo...
I currently maintain 3 websites all revolving around the same concept. 2 of them are WinForms applications where the website gives a few basic details, and download links. The third is a web application to query data. I also have a forum (SMF/TinyPortal) that has been serving as a tech support/news hub for the three sites. The download t...
The question should be interpreted from a general point of view and not targeted solely at web apps or desktop apps. I have been looking around to find a simple and easy way of creating interactive prototypes for web applications. I'd like to use a technique that allows simple UI creation and especially UI recreation and modification in...
We are often in the position of making decisions about which operating systems, programming languages, third-party libraries, and other tools to use while developing systems. This is often a guessing game, as you often can't know how good a fit a particular tool will be until after you have developed the system. What are the things tha...
I'm a contractor that is often looking for subcontractors, but I feel like there is way too much trial and error in the process. How do you screen talent, and what are effective ways for discerning between those that talk the talk and walk the walk? Talent is hard to determine from just code samples and an interview - what innovative wa...
There have been many discussions, in StackOverflow and outside, of how you can judge a good programmer in an interview. Make him write code, check for common mistakes, observe his coding style, so on and so forth. All good. But what is less discussed, and probably considered even less important, is how do you evaluate and judge a progra...
I see a lot of questions on SO that are asked about 'good' programmers vs 'bad' programmers. For example, what is a good/bad programmer, how to tell a good/bad programmer, what to do about a bad programmer on a team, how to hire a good programmer. I know it's pretty easy to apply the words to other people, but I find myself wondering i...
I've written an experimental function evaluator that allows me to bind simple functions together such that when the variables change, all functions that rely on those variables (and the functions that rely on those functions, etc.) are updated simultaneously. The way I do this is instead of evaluating the function immediately as it's ent...
I'm having an issue with expressions within reports. I'm coloring the background of a textbox within a table depending on the value within it. The text in the field relates to backups for a SQL Server. The value is either a date or the text "Not Yet Taken". If the date is more than 2 days old, I want the background to be yellow. If ...
What usability evaluation methods do you use? GOMS? Cognitive Walkthrough? Think aloud protocol? Others? (apart from 'ask your mum' tips that are well covered elsewhere on SO) ...
Hi all, Can it be assumed a evaluation order of the function parameters when calling it in C ? According to the following program, it seems that there is not a particular order when I executed it. #include <stdio.h> int main() { int a[] = {1, 2, 3}; int * pa; pa = &a[0]; printf("a[0] = %d\ta[1] = %d\ta[2] = %d\n",*(pa),...
I have written the following function.. and executed using WinHugs teneven = [x | x <- [1..10], even x] My output : Main> teneven [2,4,6,8,10] :: [Integer] (63 reductions, 102 cells) is there anyway to print all the reductions.. so I can learn the core evaluation happening inside WinHugs? ...
Most of the guidelines and checklists available on the internet are for "web usability" is there any checklist for "software usability"? ...
It is generally accepted that setting measurable objectives for software developers doesn't work , as too much focus on the objectives can lead to behaviour counter to the organisational goals (so-called "measurement dysfunction"). However, in my company, we are required to set objectives for all staff, and are encouraged by Human Resou...
string strLine;//not constant int index = 0; while(index < strLine.length()){//strLine is not modified}; how many times strLine.length() is evaluated do we need to put use nLength with nLength assigned to strLine.length() just before loop ...
I am from C background and I just started learning python... while trying some programs, I got this doubt... how python evaluates the expression 1+++2? No matter how many number of '+' I put in between, it is printing 3 as the answer. Please can anyone explain this behavior and for 1--2 it is printing 3 and for 1---2 it is printing ...