18 ms·

Our field is such a weird place to be. I live in a city where most people are looking for .NET, WCF, WWF, WPF, WebServices, SQL-Server (T-SQL), and some Windows

by fiveo 16y ago

Our field is such a weird place to be. I live in a city where most people are looking for .NET, WCF, WWF, WPF, WebServices, SQL-Server (T-SQL), and some Windows Administration, either that set or this one: JSF, Struts2, Spring, Hibernate, Maven/Ant, XML, XSLT, XSL, XQuery, XPath with Oracle/DB2. Most programmers in my area are no longer care about Algorithm, Data Structure, Operating System principles, Database principles, or basic Math. Most companies, that I work for or heard from employees, don't have good codebase, don't have good automation tests, don't have good culture. Sometime I do wonder what does it mean to "be able to program". Can deciding to use MVC (Spring, ASP.NET, Rails) to spit out XML/JSON so that it can be consumed by AIR, pure JS/jQuery, or even your iPhone app be counted as "be able to program"? Can writing good code that can be easily testable be counted as "be able to program"? Can producing code that consumed WebServices from other payment provider be considered as "be able to program"? Or, can solving tricky algorithm problems is the de-facto "can program" filter? Some of the "can..." produce business values. Some others, might not necessarily produce business values, but instead, just to show that "yeah, I can sling code the way you want me to". Tricky field...

mahmud 16y ago
Ugh! Please don't enumerate buzzwords like that. Or at least ROT13 it to be kind to some people's refined slacker sensibilities. Right now I am digging my nails into the desk and biting my teeth: please, don't give the scumbags any of your attention. Hack outside what you see on corporate job descriptions, even if you have to wait tables to support your console habit. Everyday you spend learning something to meet a job requirement, you're being someone's #&@! And someone who doesn't know you or give a crap about you. Do this shit for yourself. Do what you* want. Forty years from now, at the end of your career, what do you want to remember? What do you want to be remembered by? Surely, not that pile of inventory reporting macros you wrote in Vector SQL-PowerG# 2020. I see these ghosts at bookstores, discussing how they're certified in Java, Oracle, CISCO, and A+, and now need to add Ruby and Scala because they saw it on an ad. I am sure a great many of them can code and code "well", as much as their tools allow them. But at what cost to themselves, their ego, karma, mental health, personal growth, and fucking COJONES .. tienes algo? Don't choose to remain adequate, and acceptable. Aim to excel, exceed, and if necessary, offend. Today's challenges and good times are tomorrow's fond-memories. Take a shot at something great, even if you fail, do it, and enjoy yourself.
- fiveo 16y ago
  Those skills are not specifically for corporate jobs by the way. A typical MS shops (regardless what you build) will require at least .NET 2.0/3.5 with ASP.NET (not even MVC), WPF, WCF, WWF, Silverlight, and SQL-Server. A typical Java shops would require you to know J2EE, Servlet, JSP, Tomcat/Websphere/JBoss, Maven/Ant, JUnit, XML (with some would ask of GWT experience). But a couple days ago I told myself to ignore the rat race. I then bought a Linux book specializing in command-line, a Vim book, and a Rails 3 book. (Why Rails? um, why not? it's better than those corporate tools). I don't care if I have to learn PHP. As ugly as it is, it's still better than using .NET tools (regardless if it's ASP.NET MVC or not). C# could be a better language, but I just want to use light-weight tools (even if it means I have to learn many-many tools). No more heavy weight tools. I noticed that the people who choose the lightweight path (C/C++, or LAMP/RoR) seems to be able to focus on what matters the most: learning skills that can last longer than .NET version 2.0.

by fiveo 16y ago

mahmud 16y ago

Ugh! Please don't enumerate buzzwords like that. Or at least ROT13 it to be kind to some people's refined slacker sensibilities. Right now I am digging my nails into the desk and biting my teeth: please, don't give the scumbags any of your attention. Hack outside what you see on corporate job descriptions, even if you have to wait tables to support your console habit. Everyday you spend learning something to meet a job requirement, you're being someone's #&@! And someone who doesn't know you or give a crap about you. Do this shit for yourself. Do what you* want. Forty years from now, at the end of your career, what do you want to remember? What do you want to be remembered by? Surely, not that pile of inventory reporting macros you wrote in Vector SQL-PowerG# 2020. I see these ghosts at bookstores, discussing how they're certified in Java, Oracle, CISCO, and A+, and now need to add Ruby and Scala because they saw it on an ad. I am sure a great many of them can code and code "well", as much as their tools allow them. But at what cost to themselves, their ego, karma, mental health, personal growth, and fucking COJONES .. tienes algo? Don't choose to remain adequate, and acceptable. Aim to excel, exceed, and if necessary, offend. Today's challenges and good times are tomorrow's fond-memories. Take a shot at something great, even if you fail, do it, and enjoy yourself.

fiveo 16y ago
Those skills are not specifically for corporate jobs by the way. A typical MS shops (regardless what you build) will require at least .NET 2.0/3.5 with ASP.NET (not even MVC), WPF, WCF, WWF, Silverlight, and SQL-Server. A typical Java shops would require you to know J2EE, Servlet, JSP, Tomcat/Websphere/JBoss, Maven/Ant, JUnit, XML (with some would ask of GWT experience). But a couple days ago I told myself to ignore the rat race. I then bought a Linux book specializing in command-line, a Vim book, and a Rails 3 book. (Why Rails? um, why not? it's better than those corporate tools). I don't care if I have to learn PHP. As ugly as it is, it's still better than using .NET tools (regardless if it's ASP.NET MVC or not). C# could be a better language, but I just want to use light-weight tools (even if it means I have to learn many-many tools). No more heavy weight tools. I noticed that the people who choose the lightweight path (C/C++, or LAMP/RoR) seems to be able to focus on what matters the most: learning skills that can last longer than .NET version 2.0.