"The powers that be" is often a phrase used to describe those in a position of authority responsible for work. Distribution of resources would be a way to describe what managers do though resources include time, money and people.
5
votes
6answers
335 views
What are best practices when switching between projects/coming back to projects frequently?
The nature of my job is that I have to switch back and forth between projects every few weeks. I find that one of the biggest impediments to my productivity is the ramp-up time to getting all the ...
13
votes
11answers
2k views
Wisdom of using open source code in a commercial software product
I'm looking at using some open source code in my ASP.NET web app (specifically dapper). Management is not a fan, because open source is seen as a risk that has bitten us before. Apparently previous ...
-2
votes
1answer
168 views
Productivity enhancing development strategies for small teams
I think one of the best ways to learn and become a better programmer is to share knowledge gained from working on personal or work projects with others. One way to do this at the workplace is to set ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
Governance models for multi-institution open source projects
I'm working on an open source project that has full time professional developers from several universities, plus a couple of other organisations. The product has something like a dozen deployments, ...
11
votes
2answers
329 views
Are there any scientific studies done on TDD that use total cost of ownership for a product as the measurement?
When I was reading the summary of previous work in Dogsa T, Batic D. The effectiveness of test-driven development: an industrial case study. Software Quality Journal. 2011;19(4):643-661. it struck me ...
1
vote
3answers
166 views
Generalize, or Fix The Problem?
Which of these two programmers is "better", from a managerial standpoint?
The first programmer is Albert. You tell Al to make a system that will pass you the salt at the dinner table. He does it in ...
3
votes
2answers
121 views
Open Source sponsored feature development
I am considering to sponsor a development of some particular features in some Open Source tools. I would like the results of the work to be available publicly, and if possible, to be included in the ...
70
votes
20answers
12k views
Is a company order to switch to a certain IDE a red flag?
I recently joined a rapidly growing startup. In the past 3 months the development team has grown from 4 to 12. Until now they were very laissez-faire about what developers used to do their work. In ...
12
votes
4answers
807 views
How should code “Goal Tending” be handled by a Development Manager?
First allow me to coin a term:
code goal-tending: Checking out code in the morning, then silently reviewing all of the changes made by the other developers the previous day
file by file, ...
1
vote
1answer
168 views
What standards to use in Business Process Modelling?
There are several approaches on how to model a business process in software applications (BPM software). For instance, a processes can be described in BPMN, EPC, IDEF0, SOMF, etc.
Additionally, ...
1
vote
3answers
573 views
How to effectively find, hire and work with contractors?
I know there are some questions that are sort of similar to this one, but I don't think any of them really ask or answer my set of questions.
A bit of background:
Approximately 6 mos ago, I went ...
2
votes
2answers
5k views
What are the roles of a Software Delivery Manager
I have been told about a position that may be open to me - the role of a Software Delivery Manager. From what I understand this role does not already exist within my organisation.
To be perfectly ...
2
votes
1answer
90 views
How are open source repositories managed for popular languages?
I'm a developer that creates Open Source code for a small language (LabVIEW), and am currently sharing this in several places. The vendor of LabVIEW has a certification process for Open Source ...
10
votes
6answers
1k views
Developer to team leader
How much experience is considered enough for a developer to become a team leader?
For IT managment what is the measure to check if the current team member is good enough to become a team leader ...
5
votes
5answers
595 views
Is programming experience useful to become a Business Analyst? [closed]
Is programming experience important to become a BA?
I have an opportunity to switch from programming to BA in IT, but I am not sure what to do. In the future, I want to proceed as BA only. Does ...
1
vote
5answers
506 views
Is programming an art or a desk job? [closed]
Developing software needs a clear mind, full of creative ideas (art) & good knowledge in computing, software domain and logic (science).
Still many companies consider programming as a desk jobs, ...
2
votes
3answers
510 views
How can I effectively explain technical concepts to a non technical boss when I'm not a good talker? [closed]
Preface
I work as web developer for a big retail company, which sells goods to smaller retails through its e-commerce web site, developing both for the e-commerce and intranet.
The main source of ...
8
votes
6answers
564 views
What is a good non-technical example of a cumulative error?
I'm working on a report which needs to explain in non-technical terms the effects of a cumulative error, and why it is of importance to use absolute calculations.
Definition of 'cumulative error' ...
-1
votes
3answers
218 views
How do you carve out development time when you also have to do general IT work? [closed]
I read a couple of distraction and interruption questions here, but I do not feel that the situations are the same - as most of my distractions are related directly to my job, not boredom or other ...
2
votes
1answer
160 views
What is used in industry to manage Eclipse installations? [closed]
In a recent servery, Eclipse came out on top as the most used IDE Infographic
My question is how does managing Eclipse installations work in industry? I have been trying this tool called Yoxos which ...
0
votes
1answer
461 views
What is the project manager's responsibility for the failed project? [closed]
Some time ago I was involved into a so called death march project. In spite of the Brook's law, I was hired when project was in the yellow zone. Several weeks after I started on my new job, I've been ...
76
votes
19answers
3k views
Dealing with management that does not see value in improvements that are not immediately visible to the user
I can understand schedule pressure. You want to please your users, as they are the lifeblood of the company. However, it is also true that certain changes will make everything easier down the road. ...
8
votes
6answers
621 views
Handling tough or unexpected technical questions in meetings [closed]
Depending on the project I'm working on, I may be required to attend more meetings with both internal stakeholders or technical management in client companies.
During the course of these meetings, ...
7
votes
11answers
567 views
How to answer “When will it be done?”
We all have it, problems that prove difficult to fix and working out a fix through obscure code and bizarre unexpected functionality. Slowly, logically working your way through trying to find ...
26
votes
12answers
2k views
What you should do if your junior did not adopt your suggestion? [closed]
I am leading a team of 3-4 junior developers. My job-- besides writing code-- is to provide supervision and guidance for the juniors.
But, I fully understand how much developers cherish autonomy in ...
0
votes
1answer
484 views
Salary Negotiation; How Best to Broach the Subject? [closed]
So I have an upcoming performance review / salary increase and I am at a point in which I believe I will need to negotiate a larger raise than what is to be proposed.
As I suspect this may be the ...
0
votes
2answers
150 views
In what types of programming environments is Reactive Management better than Proactive Management? [closed]
Most everyone seems to agree that Reactive Management is worse than Proactive Management; however, it seems that I am constantly seeing Reactive Management from development managers.
Logic would ...
2
votes
1answer
75 views
Must-read when managing virtual teams? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Advice/guidelines for managing a distributed development team
As a software engineer, I've been working remotely for 10+ years. Either by choice (I like working from ...
1
vote
2answers
95 views
Security issues with freelancing work on an existing website
I currently have a website that has been recently completed. I'm contemplation using a freelance service such as SO for all future components. There is a considerable amount of work to be completed ...
0
votes
2answers
212 views
whole project of consuming web services with php
We are in the middle of a strange situation. We and a partner firm have to put up a web portal. They have a lot of functionality already done on their other portal and we are the managing firm on the ...
2
votes
2answers
241 views
What happens when a company says/pretends that it uses a version control system (or any other tool/methodology), but doesn't? [closed]
This question might look like a mix of Is it unusual for a small company (15 developers) not to use managed source/version control? and How to convince a teammate, who sees oneself as senior, to learn ...
4
votes
4answers
791 views
How can I justify software testing to management?
I work for a small company (less than 200 employees) whose software group only makes up a small part of our staff (4 employees, occasionally with a few contractors). The four of us have been making ...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
What responsibilities does a Management Information Systems job entail?
At my school there is apparently a Computer Science degree, which is located under the "department of natural sciences", while Management Information Systems is considered "business".
Besides the ...
4
votes
1answer
301 views
Manager to Developer
I am currently a development manager and have done so for the past several years. I came into development through the route of an administration background (Someone left the dev manager role and I was ...
8
votes
7answers
455 views
“sell” coding my next project in an unfamiliar language
I want to code my next work project in a language I'm unfamiliar with (python). I can think of plenty of reasons from my point of view why its a good idea (not least of all because it sounds fun). ...
6
votes
12answers
886 views
What factors should be evaluated when determining a desktop software price?
What factors should be evaluated when determining a desktop software price?
148
votes
31answers
21k views
Is it unusual for a small company (15 developers) not to use managed source/version control?
It's not really a technical question, but there are several other questions here about source control and best practice.
The company I work for (which will remain anonymous) uses a network share to ...
3
votes
2answers
289 views
Moving from TFS to Distributed SCM
I am currently playing with the idea of pitching DSCM to management in my company. We currently use the full vertical TFS stack (SCM, Bug Tracking, Project Management etc.) - however I want to ...
14
votes
11answers
1k views
Can daily reports decrease a developer's productivity?
In another question, I asked about why developers might don't like daily scrum. We talked to developers and we decided to not hold daily scrum for a while (to give it a try and customized scrum in our ...
9
votes
6answers
871 views
“Employee morale is the employee's responsibility” [closed]
How true should (or does) this statement ring for developers? Many people I've talked to say "it's like this everywhere", while a similar number treat it as practically an invitation to resign. It's ...
7
votes
3answers
818 views
How can you tell good programmers from the average one? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
How do managers know if a person is a good or a bad programmer?
How to recognize a good programmer?
For your record, I am a programmer myself, and I still do coding. ...
19
votes
10answers
647 views
How do you help your fellow programmers to grow?
As a team lead, how can you help your programmers to grow?
The reason I ask this is because there are a few programmers working with me, and I really want to "turn them on the loose", to realize ...
8
votes
6answers
944 views
What is the biggest support a boss can give to his/her developers?
Buying the best hardware, paying the most precious bonus or reward, treating them politely, provide the opportunity for improvement, etc.?
We want to improve the productivity of our development team. ...
6
votes
1answer
319 views
Best way to visualize/keep track of different environments (test,int,production)
I have several application servers for different purposes (production, integration, test, etc.) with a database that also contain more or less different data states (test database, production clone, ...
3
votes
1answer
177 views
randomized management?
I saw an article a few months ago that explain a company's practice of randomly choosing management via lottery. The employee would manage his peers for some fixed amount of time until the next ...
6
votes
5answers
582 views
How to deal with Project Leader who doesn't involve himself in project in any way? [closed]
Our division is a small offshore development-only unit (not more than 25 members) but we develop many projects. Our main focus is development. Developers are grouped under Project Leaders, and they in ...
0
votes
2answers
207 views
best practice when working with a MySQL database datadir directory
At the place I currently work they do some thing I consider strange in the way they work with the MySQL datadir. The directory in which the files that actually store the data are kept.
$ grep ...
5
votes
5answers
389 views
Is it possible to be agile without use cases and tests?
Rhetoric teaches us that the answer is probably yes. However I feel that we would no longer relate to the vast majority of Agile success stories.
I think that my upper management read the benefits ...
28
votes
18answers
1k views
Why companies don't buy developers entertaining instruments? [closed]
Many times when I get tired of development and my mind doesn't really help me any more (at home), I simply do something entertaining and my mind gets free for more hours of work with higher ...
10
votes
9answers
704 views
Rewarding programmers based on application importance
Is it correct for management to give more importance or reward programmers who have worked on strategic and important application versus someone who has worked on a general application?
Both may have ...
