There's a ton of classes in the .NET framework. As much as I'd like to think all the engineers behind .NET are brilliant, sometimes, you'll learn how they've implemented something, and you think to yourself, WTF? What are some of the things that have made you pause and ask yourself, "WTF?," while using the .NET library? Here's an examp...
Quality is subjective, of course. To be a little more specific: What is most likely to result in shipping buggy, fragile, or otherwise sub-par products that make more work for you and your group down the line? Here's a breakdown of the responses so far, sorted by responsible party and then by votes. Management: (Aggressive) Deadli...
You know the ones that make you go WTH and are easily spotted by a coworker just passing by? Please keep it one gotcha per answer to simplify voting. ...
What conventions do you use for log categories in log4j or similar libraries ? Usually you see class names as categories, but have you used other systems ? What about log levels ? What levels do you use and in which case ? Update: as some of you replied, there is no 'right' answer. I'm just looking for what different conventions people...
I'm aware that a similar question has been asked before here but this is more of question of which is better of a departmental scale. At my last job Code monkeys were given desktops and project managers were given Laptops. The reasoning being that project managers went to more meetings so needed to take thier computers with them. Becaus...
What percentage of software developers are involved in the creation of custom/bespoke software? This should include both employees of companies with in-house development shops and freelance web developers, consultants, etc. (Basically everything excluding the folks who write the "shrink-wrapped" stuff.) NOTE: This is for research purp...
In the vein of Most Wanted Feature for C# 4.0, what would you like to see in the next version of VB.NET? ...
As a follow up to "What is the one programming skill you have always wanted to master but haven’t had time?", what is the single hardest thing related to programming skill, concept, tool, language, etc. that you have learned or mastered? Not necessarily as a beginner, but all throughout your career. ...
What's a programming answer you really hate to hear, yet give out yourself on many occasions? For me, it's got to be "It depends...". ...
Following this question, what real life good habits has programming given you? ...
What choice did you make that you felt had the most positive impact on your career as a programmer? There've been lots of questions here that suggest possibilities: Was it getting a higher education? Masters vs. Work Experience Should a programmer go back to school if he/she doesn't have a degree? Is there any mandatory certification...
I've been programming now for 30 years, BASIC, various assemblers, FORTH, Pascal, C and C++ in that order. I haven't learnt a new language in over a decade because from a work perspective C++ does everything I need. However, from a technology perspective, I'd like to bring my skills up to date, particularly in the areas of web developm...
This is a pretty unoriginal question! Where do you stand on the Closures Proposal? What else would you want to see? For me it has to be a new decimal type which is really a BigDecimal but allows for standard math operations using +, -, x, / etc. ...
Perl 6 has really shaped up in terms of which features we can expect to see implemented in the final language, when it comes. Some of them are already available through Perl 6 modules for Perl 5 from CPAN. So which features are most compelling, exciting, nifty, eagerly awaited, etc.? Please try to limit yourself to one feature per ans...
I recently read a great resource by the Opera developers, entitled, "Introduction to The Web Standards Curriculum". I thought the articles put forth some good reasons why you should look at validating your website, but I realize that not everyone validates their sites, including most of the big names (Google for instance). Do you validat...
We've all had that moment when we realize that we have just spent hours fiddling with .conf and .rc files, adjusting keymaps, recompiling/emerge world'ing our entire system, hunting down .dll's, slaying dragons and saving lusty wrenches, and occasional wizardry, in order to do a few minutes of actual coding. I wonder, what is the most ...
Do you allocate some hours during the weekend to code? If so, are you developing for self-improving, personal side projects, for the community (i.e. Open Source projects) or just because you can't stop doing it? ...
What programming 'religious' position or argument bothers you the most? ...
In 1986 or so, Bjarne Stroustrup famously said: "C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do it blows your whole leg off." What is, in your opinion, the most spectacular way to blow your leg off in C++? Points for originality, and for helpfulness. ...
When you first started to write program, what was the first programming language you learned? Please don't post repeats. If someone already posted it, just vote for it. ...