Job assignments, positions and activities that programmers can engage in to learn, improve and perfect skills related to programming.
2
votes
1answer
234 views
Am I experienced enough to learn and develop immediately using Ruby on Rails?
General Question
I understand that discussions revolving around questions of this form run the risk of becoming too specific to help others. So, perhaps a better, general question would be:
What ...
0
votes
1answer
82 views
Best course of action to take? [closed]
I know this is hardly the place for a question like this, but I'm utterly lost and have no one else to ask.
In the summer of last year, I started learning web development and programming, and have ...
4
votes
2answers
798 views
Can any programmer have 4-5 years of experience on Android in March, 2012? [closed]
Today I was reading a job circular that came into our internal yahoo group. It stated
Android developer needed with 4-5 years of experience.
I am not a developer with that amount of experience. I ...
4
votes
2answers
161 views
Programming IDEs feature to add a forgotten open parentheses?
I very often find myself in situations where I should have opened a parentheses, but forgot and end up furiously tapping the left arrow key to get to the spot I should have put it, and doing the same ...
3
votes
8answers
502 views
about database design
My question consists of three parts:
When to be sure that your database design is perfect?
Is returning to the data base design to change some issues (like adding new column, delete a column or ...
9
votes
2answers
387 views
Good practices every startup should follow
A couple of friends at work an me are going to set up a little startup / create our own software, probably moonlighting at first, since we cant yet afford to quit our day jobs.
Neither of us has have ...
19
votes
7answers
2k views
How do you get into the zone? How long does it take? What steps do you take before? [closed]
Getting into zone is a pleasurable and fruitful process. We produce good source code and we get lots of satisfaction from our work done while being in the zone. But, how does one get into the 'zone'? ...
16
votes
11answers
3k views
How many programming languages is a programmer expected to be an expert at? [closed]
Do most programmers specialize on a single stack, leaving other things be, or are they expert at multiple languages at the same time? If it's more than one, how many is standard?
By expert, I mean ...
2
votes
5answers
513 views
How to network effectively to get a job [closed]
I have been working for 5 years at the same company now. I want to go and find a new job. Finding jobs or getting interview calls has been difficult, there are have far and few. And to compound the ...
11
votes
11answers
784 views
Is experience very important when hiring/being hired in your country?
In the Indian IT industry, I have found that regardless of the candidate's skill level, filtering is done based on number of years of experience.
I have found that people with 5 years of work ...
25
votes
19answers
2k views
Are there reasons other than budget for hiring “entry-level” programmers?
Are there reasons other than budget for hiring "entry-level" programmers?
3
votes
3answers
263 views
Getting to the big leagues & managing time as a novice game developer?
I'm a 23-year-old novice game developer who just got his first job in the industry a year ago. Unlike most programmers I know, I started programming pretty late, during my second year in college, and ...
23
votes
11answers
1k views
What to choose: freeware, shareware or payware?
A few years ago I've developed a program that has a steady group of users. It became quite popular and now we have close to two million downloads on Download.com.
At first I provided the application ...
22
votes
13answers
17k views
Does having Master's degree in Computer Science help your career?
I am curious about experiences of programmers who have gone beyond college or university and now work in the industry. I am not talking about academia (you need PhD there anyway). Do you have a ...
5
votes
10answers
945 views
Does LaTeX have a future outside of CS? [closed]
with emphasis on outside of cs science students & staff
In the "good ol' days" LaTeX was it; mainly because of two reasons, first - it gave such a better quality document that nothing else came ...
6
votes
8answers
767 views
How much experience on average should a Sr. developer have to be competent with a framework or library? [closed]
If you are a Senior developer with say 8+ years experience, how much time spent doing programming is reasonable for competency on average? Specifically working with some library or framework ...
7
votes
7answers
642 views
Best Practices and Where to Learn Them [closed]
After reading this question and it's answers, I've pretty much confirmed what I'd feared was true all along: I am a bad programmer.
Not by direct choice, though... The mish-mash of practices I do ...
20
votes
7answers
2k views
Resume dilemma for professional job
On my resume, I list myself as having "7 years of hands-on experience programming in C".
To clarify, I am a self-taught C programmer with some college courses thrown in the mix. I've worked on some ...
18
votes
8answers
1k views
Are programming skills and computer knowledge taught at university sufficient for industry?
I am student currently attending my fourth year at a Swedish university and will, if all goes well, take my Master's degree in Computer Science in winter of 2011. It is a respectable university, at ...
6
votes
6answers
532 views
Would you partially give up programming for good money?
Lets say you were employed by a company (not a long time ago), that suggested good money and social package. Though while you are occupying a developer position (i.e. java) you do not spend much time ...
14
votes
9answers
752 views
Work experience instead of education?
I wanted to name this topic as "Education vs. Experience", but this topic already exists. I've read that discussion and though what I'd like to ask is related with that topic, the question is quite ...
18
votes
7answers
499 views
Does using new techniques hurt productivity?
It seems that as experience with the specific set of tools you have to work with grows, the incentive to try out new things weakens.
When I was new at this programming job, trying out new things, ...
35
votes
20answers
3k views
What are the steps in beginning a large project, when all I have is a big idea?
I am computer engineering student. I've been thinking about
how I can handle a big project. What should be my first step to reach my goal in a more efficient and effective way?
When I come up with a ...
34
votes
14answers
3k views
Is programming tourism a realistic possibility?
I'm going on vacation to Paris, France for 10 days. Actually, it's my girlfriend's wish to go there but I'm not very interested in visiting, sightseeing, etc. Recently, I came up with an idea of ...
2
votes
5answers
500 views
How does a fresher with a clean slate turn into a good programmer? [closed]
As a graduate fresh out of college with a clean slate, how can one go about being a good programmer who writes good maintainable code? How does one learn good coding practices and apply them? Can one ...
1
vote
8answers
227 views
Can you share an explanation or experience that gave you clarity about how to use SQL SELECTS?
I have been programming for a long time, like 13 years (only professionally for about 4). I've become familiar with things like QBasic, Visual Basic, C#, .NET, Java, C, C++, Javascript, JQuery, etc. I ...
59
votes
19answers
3k views
What differentiates the exceptional programmers from the really good ones? [closed]
You know who they are. They are the rock stars of programming:
They code 10X
faster.
Their code just works.
They not only know their primary
language inside and out, but they
also know how it ...
11
votes
5answers
544 views
How do you keep up with the ever-changing industry?
Part of being a successful programmers means keeping up with the ever-changing industry, constantly trying to improve one's skills, learning new technologies, etc.
What do you, as a programmer, do in ...
0
votes
4answers
293 views
How do you estimate? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to respond when you are asked for an estimate?
What are the estimation methods you use in real world projects and found it to be useful. I know there will be lot of ...
77
votes
14answers
3k views
Hiring a programmer much more qualified & experienced than yourself?
My employer is hiring a programmer - more specifically, I am interviewing and selecting the person who will fill the position.
The best candidate right now is far more qualified than I am, older, and ...
31
votes
26answers
3k views
At what age could I reasonably teach my children about programming? [closed]
In case my child would be interested in what I am doing...
At what age could I reasonably teach my child what programming is?
What is your experience with teaching them to program if they want to? ...
2
votes
3answers
562 views
As a programmer, what paths should I take concerning education?
After a burst of ranting about homework, the applicability of the classes I'm taking, and my computer science teacher, I have some questions concerning education for my career path as a developer.
I ...
1
vote
5answers
397 views
Why does changing from one language to another make a programmer fresher?
Right now I have been working on language X for the last 2 years. I am very good at it, but language X is not popular so jobs are not readily available for it. Consequently, I am thinking to change ...
4
votes
4answers
878 views
I'm so jealous of middle-aged developers. Are we unlucky? [closed]
First of all, I couldn't decide the right words for title after reading How old is "too old"? question. I still can't decide with old, middle-aged, expert or professional.
As you know, ...
10
votes
6answers
768 views
To what extent can choosing a particular job limit future opportunities?
I'm at the beginning of my career and I'm currently looking for jobs. I know that the farther you get away from college graduation, the more employers look at your experience as opposed to your actual ...
5
votes
7answers
925 views
How many people in the software industry do not have technical degrees? What made these people work in software? [closed]
In my experience, the software domain prefers engineers, but we do have non-technical graduates developing better software. Though an engineering degree helps you to get a job, many people are from ...
4
votes
1answer
494 views
Any cool warmup exercises to get the brain going at work? [closed]
Sometimes, even after a full nights sleep, I still feel like i'm not connecting all of the dots when I get to work until mid morning or lunch. However it would be nice if I could have my project's ...
54
votes
27answers
3k views
What is the most egregious waste of money you have seen, and what did you do about it?
Often we as programmers see large organisations wasting huge sums of money on bloated and inefficient solutions to problems. This pains me greatly because I like organisations to benefit from best of ...
8
votes
7answers
368 views
What does long-term freelancing say about a developer's experience?
I have been interviewing candidates lately for a developer position requiring 10+ years experience and have come across a couple of CVs that I am not sure how to understand: I have interviewed a few ...
20
votes
17answers
2k views
What is the hardest bug to find?
If possible write how to avoid this kind of bug (besides testing, of course, please write a specific technique)
4
votes
5answers
330 views
Where to Start When Making a Web Application on Your Own
I've been assigned an in-house web application that is basically an Employee and Project Management System.
I'm getting confused as to where I should really start with this assignment (I mean I'm my ...
4
votes
3answers
332 views
Where do I learn most - by going to industry or pursuing a doctorate degree?
I enjoy learning new things, and thus I want to pursue a career where I can continue to do so. I'm currently doing my Master's thesis and will finish my degree beginning of next year. After that I'm ...
6
votes
3answers
410 views
How can I measure my experience as a hobbyist?
If you have a job programming with a language then it's safe to say that the number of years at a job is the number of years of experience you have. But a hobbyist doesn't always program with the same ...
6
votes
5answers
788 views
Creating a New Scripting Language For the Learning Experience?
Is creating a scripting language for my own personal learning experience worth it?
The reason I ask is that there are so many programming languages available already, I know mine will never have any ...
26
votes
9answers
11k views
Whats the difference between Entry Level/Jr/Sr developers?
Other than title and pay. What is the difference? What different responsibilities do they have, how knowledgeable/experienced are they?
Basically what would you use to determine which one you (or ...
9
votes
4answers
347 views
When a developer should change technology or framework?
I'm an ASP.NET developer since 3 years ago and I'm now pretty powerful in WebForms. But now it seems that everybody is moving or shifting towards ASP.NET MVC, and my company is also taking this shift.
...
3
votes
6answers
1k views
Where should you be at with 5 years experience?
Backround: I am currently a Junior in college working towards a degree in MIS. I've been interning with a compnay for a 3 summers and a winter break in there. With only 11 months to go before I start ...
17
votes
14answers
1k views
How should older programmers respond when interviewed
How should older programmers respond when interviewed and 'confronted' with questions similar to "we are a young bunch, will you be able to fit into our culture?".
What about the experience an older ...
15
votes
11answers
1k views
Helping junior programmers get past their shortcomings? [closed]
What are your common gripes about junior developers that join your team or whom you have to work with? Obviously they are inexperienced so you can't expect them to know everything, but what skills are ...
6
votes
8answers
2k views
How can I estimate how long a project will take? [duplicate]
I'm working as a web developer and I want to be able to determine if I'm efficient.
Does this include the how long it take to accomplish tasks such as:
Server side code for the site logic with one ...
