This tag is for questions that aren't specific to a programming language or environment.
30
votes
27answers
4k views
Can someone find a job as a programmer without an education? [closed]
Interested in knowing from the more experienced ones if someone can find a job as a programmer without even a highschool degree. Consider the said person to be an average programmer. Would someone ...
17
votes
5answers
2k views
Data input validation - Where? How much?
Data input validation always was quite an internal struggle to me.
On the verge of adding a real security framework and code to our legacy application rewrite project (which so far pretty much keeps ...
15
votes
6answers
778 views
Methodology for Documenting Existing Code Base
I work as part of a team on an existing application that has no inline documentation, nor does it have technical documentation. As I've been working on various bug reports on the application, I've ...
6
votes
5answers
451 views
Do Diversified Skills Foster or Hinder Specialization?
Since I started working I tried to focus on web development, but because of different needs and situations in the companies I worked I have had to work in different areas (Back-end, Database, etc...) ...
72
votes
38answers
6k views
What programming skills have provided you the best return on investment? [closed]
What are the things that took you only a little time to learn, but had a big payoff? And how long did it take to learn enough before the they began to pay off?
For instance, I’m not a master of ...
69
votes
10answers
4k views
The modern way to perform error handling…
I've been pondering this problem for a while now and find myself continually finding caveats and contradictions, so I'm hoping someone can produce a conclusion to the following:
Favour exceptions ...
49
votes
17answers
3k views
How to train yourself to avoid writing “clever” code?
Do you know that feeling when you just need to show off that new trick with Expressions or generalize three different procedures? This does not have to be on Architecture Astronaut scale and in fact ...
3
votes
3answers
143 views
Style for control flow with validation checks
I find myself writing a lot of code like this:
int myFunction(Person* person) {
int personIsValid = !(person==NULL);
if (personIsValid) {
// do some stuff; might be lengthy
int myresult ...
187
votes
27answers
13k views
How do you know you're writing good code? [duplicate]
Serious question here. I love programming. I've been messing around with code since I was a kid. I never went the professional route, but I have coded several in-house apps for various employers, ...
41
votes
4answers
2k views
What should I do to be language-agnostic?
By now I work with asp.net and C#. I have done a decent work in Java as well. I am planning my career in such a way I should be language-agnostic someday. What are the things that I need to learn?
...
22
votes
12answers
2k views
Techniques for getting off the ground in any language
When I start learning a new language, I have a couple of simple implementations that I like to complete to familiarise myself with the language. Currently, I write:
Fibonacci and/or factorial to get ...
16
votes
11answers
2k views
is OOP the dominant programming model in real world?
Objects Never? Well, Hardly Ever
In the VIEWPOINT section of Communications of The ACM, I found an
interesting article entitled "Objects Never? Well, Hardly Ever".
It’s a radically different ...
17
votes
14answers
1k views
What Impact Do Scripting Languages Have on Junior Programmers?
I had a discussion with one of my teachers the other day.
We debated the impact that simpler scripting languages (like Python or Ruby) have on junior programmers.
He argued that scripting ...
30
votes
15answers
3k views
Why use other number bases when programming
My coworkers and I have been bending our minds to figuring out why anyone would go out of their way to program numbers in a base other than base 10.
I suggested that perhaps you could optimize longer ...
5
votes
9answers
265 views
Internationalization : What things to think about?
I was listening to Jon Skeet's talk at the last StackOverflow Dev Days and he piqued my curiousity regarding internationalization.
Suppose I have a waffle-making program, either complete, or still in ...
12
votes
8answers
1k views
Why do most programming languages not nest block comments?
A few do, but not any of the popular ones as far as I know. Is there something bad about nesting comments?
I plan to have block comments nest in the (small) language I'm working on, but I would like ...
6
votes
2answers
114 views
What do you do when working with multiple languages with different capitalization schemes?
I'm making a webapp using Django. The Python convention for naming variables is lowercase_with_underscores, but the Javascript convention is camelCase. In addition, I've seen many people use ...
41
votes
24answers
4k views
Most common “Y2K-style” bugs today? [closed]
I don't specifically mean date-related issues like 2038, but more generally, bugs that fit the pattern:
A generation ago, programmers tended to write code that ass-u-me-d X, which was reasonable at ...
21
votes
6answers
1k views
C programming in 2011
Many moons ago I cut C code for a living, primarily while maintaining a POP3 server that supported a wide range of OSs (Linux, *BSD, HPUX, VMS ...).
I'm planning to polish the rust off my C skills ...
15
votes
6answers
729 views
How did we get saddled with the (hierarchical) filesystem as the basic data structure?
I'm self-taught and I don't have a CS degree. The more I've been learning about data structure, the more I wonder, in this day and age, how are we still saddled with the filesystem, with directories ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Becoming a polyglot programmer
I know a few programming languages. The most marketable ones being Java, Javascript, as well as non-trival stored procedures. I also know some Python, Actionscript and a few dinosaurs language. I ...
42
votes
21answers
4k views
Is it true that once you learn one language most of the rest come easy?
I was told by someone that I should start with Python and then, once I'm fluent in Python, the rest of the languages will be learned quickly. Is there any truth to this?
20
votes
3answers
1k views
Can you use Pi as a crude random number generator?
I recently saw this question over at math.SE. It got me thinking. Could Pi be used as a crude random number generator? I mean the results are well known(how long has pi been computed to now?) but, Pi ...
20
votes
5answers
903 views
Beginner's guide to writing comments?
Is there a definitive guide to writing code comments, aimed at budding developers?
Ideally, it would cover when comments should (and should not) be used, and what comments should contain.
This ...
10
votes
6answers
1k views
What programming tests can clearly prove developer skill-sets?
SCENARIO: I'm building Dev++, which is designed to provide real testing for developers to prove their skill-set and for recruiters and employers to cut throw all of the "fake resume's" where a ...
15
votes
9answers
824 views
What is your go-to application when you start learning a new language? [closed]
What "application" do you write to understand a programming language? I have used a calculator (regular + equation solver). But I think it's too easy. I am planning to learn Haskell and was curious, ...
12
votes
10answers
1k views
What's the next level of abstraction? [closed]
Since programming languages initially only used lines of code executed sequentially, and it evolved into including functions which were one of the first levels of abstraction, and then classes and ...
11
votes
26answers
2k views
The worst anti-patterns you have came across [closed]
What are the worst anti-patterns you have came across in your career as a programmer?
I'm mostly involved in java, although it is probably language-independent.
I think the worst of it is what I ...
11
votes
6answers
552 views
What are the differences between a website and a web application?
How do you differentiate a web application from websites? It's language/platform agnostic.
25
votes
9answers
954 views
Scientific evidence that supports using long variable names instead of abbreviations?
Is there any scientific evidence that the human brain can read and understand fully written variable names better/faster than abbreviated ones?
Like
PersistenceManager persistenceManager;
in ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views
What is the good explanation of Tennent's Correspondence Principle?
I found myself struggling to see what is this principle about and why is it so important for language design.
Basically, it states, that for every expression expr in language should be exactly the ...
10
votes
2answers
347 views
How does event bubbling generally work and is it synonym to event propagation?
I'm trying to wrap my head around the general workings and principles of event dispatching in event-driven (sub-)systems.
Although I have used it on quite a few occasions in for instance Javascript, ...
8
votes
5answers
430 views
Language-agnostic libs every programmer should consider learning? [closed]
Assuming the language provides it, what are some things to do or libs to use that every programmer should know?
My list would be
Regular Expressions
Named Pipes
standard IO (std in/out/error)
...
6
votes
5answers
325 views
Finding an A* heuristic for a directed graph
In a previous question, I asked about finding a route (or path if you will) in a city. That is all dandy. The solution I chose was with the A* algorithm, which really seems to suit my needs. What I ...
4
votes
3answers
640 views
When is method overloading appropriate?
Suppose I am working on an existing, reasonably large system. I have an object, myObject of class MyClass (for the example's sake, suppose I'm working in Java). myObject is a composition containing a ...
3
votes
3answers
229 views
What defines code readability? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How would you know if you've written readable and easily maintainable code?
It is often said that readability is perhaps the most important quality-defining measure ...
8
votes
11answers
783 views
How are we supposed to deal with Customers who don't give a damn?
I have some customers who expect everything for next to nothing. They also want things to behave a certain way, or look a certain way, but when explaining to them why it's not a good idea to implement ...
4
votes
3answers
261 views
Strategy for backwards compatibility of persistent storage
In my experience, trying to ensure that new versions of an application retain compatibility with data storage from previous versions can often be a painful process.
What I currently do is to save a ...
3
votes
2answers
165 views
How is performance testing integrated into your product lifecycle?
Do you do any performance testing in any repeatable and automated way? Do you trigger it as a part of CI builds? What tools do you use? How do you spot changes in trends?
I'm looking for how-tos and ...
16
votes
3answers
1k views
Is there any formal research in FizzBuzz Question Effectiveness?
After seeing this question today on variation of the FizzBuzz interview question, as well as seeing other questions related to it around, I have to ask: is there any formal research on how effective ...
7
votes
1answer
189 views
Need help with naming (marshaling interface calls) [closed]
This question was reopened on "English Language & Usage":
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/53683/synonyms-for-multiplexing-and-demultiplexing/
This question is related to something ...
5
votes
7answers
473 views
if you were asked to answer to the question “ what is the difference between the English language and a programming language” how you will respond? [closed]
Basically in both cases you have:
a well defined vocabulary
a syntax to respect
they both can express a business logic
they can define semantics
I don't think that will be fair to say "A ...
2
votes
7answers
268 views
Using version control in an IDE
I write all (well, most) of my programs in an IDE, mostly it's netbeans.
Should I just use Mercurial through the IDE, or is it better if I used the CLI instead? and why?
1
vote
1answer
205 views
Writing an API that is syntactically valid in multiple programming languages
I'm planning to write a single API that is syntactically valid in most major programming languages (to the greatest extent possible, so that only minimal amounts of code will need to be re-written ...
