5 ms·

I'm curious, what behaviors (for good or bad) do you see that people of Microsoft bring to other companies?

by bentcorner 13y ago

snarfy 13y ago
In my experience 1. Put all the code into the database 2. Everything is or should be xml
- InclinedPlane 13y ago
  What the hell part of Microsoft were they from? And were you able to get the answer to that question before they were shot?
  - yareally 13y ago
    Given the amount guys like this[1] that work at Microsoft love XML, it sounds pretty reasonable. Actually liking the XML docblocks though is taking it a bit too far. There's a lot of things I dislike about Java, but one thing they got right² (and almost everyone else used after) is their documentation blocks. When using Visual Studio I have to make the syntax color for XML elements of the blocks I generate super contrasting (usually really dark) with the documentation inside just to read it without making my head hurt. > During the years I’ve seen a lot of different ways of commenting code – some good and some bad. My personal favourite way of commenting code is by using the XML comment feature of C# and VB.NET, but the important part of commenting code is not how you do it, but what you write in them. [1] http://madskristensen.net/post/The-what-why-and-how-of-XML-code-comments.aspx http://madskristensen.net/post/The-what-why-and-how-of-XML-c... ² Java may not be the first, but it's the first language I saw to use that style
reeses 13y ago
It's funny to read about the Microsoft developer culture now vs. when I left fifteen years ago. MSFT was the PayPal, Google, etc. of our generation in Seattle. It spewed out startups of FYIV people in a short period of time. At the time, it was very disruptive to hear that "ex-Microsoft engineers" were entering a market. There were a few things that seemed pretty common in the groups with which I had contact. (SQL, LAN, VC++, etc.) 1) QA as a first class function. SDETs were awesome, and they tried to staff projects with about two for each SDE. Testing tools were automated and accounted for huge amounts of code. Compatibility labs were huge. Breaking the build would be just short of a flogging offense. 2) A focus on maximizing productivity. Spend the money on the desk that can be raised or lowered. Spend the money on the newest, latest computers, and give them to anyone who asks, as many as they think they need. Locate beverages very close to everyone and subsidize outside businesses to provide food services. Give everyone a window office. It made it a lot easier to stay there from 8am to whenever. This also led to the diaspora of startups. 3) Scary-ass yelling matches in the hallways. People who had always felt they were smarter than the jocks and popular people in their youth were suddenly capable of establishing dominance by insulting other people, their intellects, and especially their work. 4) Readable code over clever code. This led to a lot of typedefs like LPCSTWCSRARSARTARSTA[1] and Hungarian notation[2]. So if you see MyMethod(lpszName); somewhere, you'll know where that came from. People would leave after vesting (sometimes before and sometimes long after) with the idea of creating a product of their own with the good things that Microsoft taught them and without the bad things that they hated. Very much like when we start thinking about having kids with the intention of not making the mistakes our parents did. [1] Yes, Colemak. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_notation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_notation

I'm curious, what behaviors (for good or bad) do you see that people of Microsoft bring to other companies?

snarfy 13y ago

In my experience 1. Put all the code into the database 2. Everything is or should be xml

InclinedPlane 13y ago
What the hell part of Microsoft were they from? And were you able to get the answer to that question before they were shot?
- yareally 13y ago
  Given the amount guys like this[1] that work at Microsoft love XML, it sounds pretty reasonable. Actually liking the XML docblocks though is taking it a bit too far. There's a lot of things I dislike about Java, but one thing they got right² (and almost everyone else used after) is their documentation blocks. When using Visual Studio I have to make the syntax color for XML elements of the blocks I generate super contrasting (usually really dark) with the documentation inside just to read it without making my head hurt. > During the years I’ve seen a lot of different ways of commenting code – some good and some bad. My personal favourite way of commenting code is by using the XML comment feature of C# and VB.NET, but the important part of commenting code is not how you do it, but what you write in them. [1] http://madskristensen.net/post/The-what-why-and-how-of-XML-code-comments.aspx http://madskristensen.net/post/The-what-why-and-how-of-XML-c... ² Java may not be the first, but it's the first language I saw to use that style

reeses 13y ago

It's funny to read about the Microsoft developer culture now vs. when I left fifteen years ago. MSFT was the PayPal, Google, etc. of our generation in Seattle. It spewed out startups of FYIV people in a short period of time. At the time, it was very disruptive to hear that "ex-Microsoft engineers" were entering a market. There were a few things that seemed pretty common in the groups with which I had contact. (SQL, LAN, VC++, etc.) 1) QA as a first class function. SDETs were awesome, and they tried to staff projects with about two for each SDE. Testing tools were automated and accounted for huge amounts of code. Compatibility labs were huge. Breaking the build would be just short of a flogging offense. 2) A focus on maximizing productivity. Spend the money on the desk that can be raised or lowered. Spend the money on the newest, latest computers, and give them to anyone who asks, as many as they think they need. Locate beverages very close to everyone and subsidize outside businesses to provide food services. Give everyone a window office. It made it a lot easier to stay there from 8am to whenever. This also led to the diaspora of startups. 3) Scary-ass yelling matches in the hallways. People who had always felt they were smarter than the jocks and popular people in their youth were suddenly capable of establishing dominance by insulting other people, their intellects, and especially their work. 4) Readable code over clever code. This led to a lot of typedefs like LPCSTWCSRARSARTARSTA[1] and Hungarian notation[2]. So if you see MyMethod(lpszName); somewhere, you'll know where that came from. People would leave after vesting (sometimes before and sometimes long after) with the idea of creating a product of their own with the good things that Microsoft taught them and without the bad things that they hated. Very much like when we start thinking about having kids with the intention of not making the mistakes our parents did. [1] Yes, Colemak. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_notation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_notation