I'd really love to tell you that the market for contract programming is booming. I really would. You see, I've been contracting for about a year now and it has been unquestionably the most enjoyable job I've held.
Unfortunately, right now I'm sitting in my office waiting to hear whether I still have a contract. You see, the company I contracted with sold the department I work for to another company. This company, after the huge cash expenditure, is looking for some quick ways to save money. And terminating contract employees is a real easy way to save some short term cash. After all, contractors know they can be let go at any time. That risk is one reason for their higher salaries. Right now, someone can cut me loose and claim my year's compensation as a direct savings to the bottom line. So I'm sitting here, awaiting my fate.
So, is there a good market for contract programming? Not sure, but you can bet I'll be actively researching that question!
I had heard this same line about "4 to 6 weeks". However, if you read through Junkbuster's site, you'll find this gem from Section L, subsection e 2 iii:
Recording, disclosure of do-not-call requests:
If a person or entity making a telephone solicitation (or on whose behalf a solicitation is made) receives a request from a residential telephone subscriber not to receive calls from that person or entity, the person or entity must record the request and place the subscriber's name and telephone number on the do-not-call list at the time the request is made.
http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/fcc.html
This seems to say that even if they have some processing to do, they are liable the instant you notify them. Try quoting this section to them and see how they respond.
Incorrect. I am a professional embedded programmer and do a lot of WinCE programming. WinCE is based on a very stripped NT kernel.
I was looking over the feature list on the next palm and did not see the one feature I truely want: preemtive multitasking. Without that, its a real pain for me justify it to my clients.
The reviewer mentioned he wanted a little more on black holes. For a very good layman's discussion of black holes, check out "Black Holes and Timewarps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy" by Kip Thorne.
Thorne is one of the physicists responsible for our current understanding of black holes. Here, he presents the history of the deveopment of black holes. There is little math, mostly in supplemental sections. The book details black holes up to circa 1992.
I've been programming professionally for about five years now. In that time, I've worked for small companies, large companies, evil empires, egomaniacal doctors, aerospace dinosaurs and finally, my own consulting company. In that time, I've coded C, C++, HTML, Perl, even a little Java. I've programmed desktop computers, handhelds, embedded systems and Boeing 777s. My style has moved from ugly hacks to organized hacks to (hopefully) organized programs. Over time, I've developed a single guiding principal.
Make it simple, easy to understand and maintainable.
Do not make it cool. Do not show me how well you know C++, Perl or Java. Do not make it subtle. Do not make it fast. Do not make it cute. These things hurt code.
Make it simple to understand and work on. Make it look like a Model T engine. Comment everything. Refactor for simplicity whenever possible. Speed will come as things develop. If it is too slow, profile the code and fix the slow bits. Follow these steps and the system will be easy to maintain. Customer ordered changes can be quickly and painlessly accomidated. And, when your contract ends and you have more interesting work to do, you can hand the code to anyone and they can maintain it. Job security sucks, it chains you to one spot, ends your career and keeps you at work away from your wife.
Slashdot Mirror
Unfortunately, right now I'm sitting in my office waiting to hear whether I still have a contract. You see, the company I contracted with sold the department I work for to another company. This company, after the huge cash expenditure, is looking for some quick ways to save money. And terminating contract employees is a real easy way to save some short term cash. After all, contractors know they can be let go at any time. That risk is one reason for their higher salaries. Right now, someone can cut me loose and claim my year's compensation as a direct savings to the bottom line. So I'm sitting here, awaiting my fate.
So, is there a good market for contract programming? Not sure, but you can bet I'll be actively researching that question!
Recording, disclosure of do-not-call requests:
If a person or entity making a telephone solicitation (or on whose behalf a solicitation is made) receives a request from a residential telephone subscriber not to receive calls from that person or entity, the person or entity must record the request and place the subscriber's name and telephone number on the do-not-call list at the time the request is made.
This seems to say that even if they have some processing to do, they are liable the instant you notify them. Try quoting this section to them and see how they respond.
I was looking over the feature list on the next palm and did not see the one feature I truely want: preemtive multitasking. Without that, its a real pain for me justify it to my clients.
Sheesh, who's scoring this, Florida?
Thorne is one of the physicists responsible for our current understanding of black holes. Here, he presents the history of the deveopment of black holes. There is little math, mostly in supplemental sections. The book details black holes up to circa 1992.
Make it simple, easy to understand and maintainable.
Do not make it cool. Do not show me how well you know C++, Perl or Java. Do not make it subtle. Do not make it fast. Do not make it cute. These things hurt code.
Make it simple to understand and work on. Make it look like a Model T engine. Comment everything. Refactor for simplicity whenever possible. Speed will come as things develop. If it is too slow, profile the code and fix the slow bits. Follow these steps and the system will be easy to maintain. Customer ordered changes can be quickly and painlessly accomidated. And, when your contract ends and you have more interesting work to do, you can hand the code to anyone and they can maintain it. Job security sucks, it chains you to one spot, ends your career and keeps you at work away from your wife.
Mr Huber
Ex Building 17 Orange Badger