"I'd really like to see someone who can solve trivial problems in java. Maybe our internal recruitment team just sucks, but I just did yet another interview with a candidate who got stuck for almost 3 minutes trying to figure out why eclipse was complaining about their HashMap."
I would be curious about whether you were hiring someone stating they had years of work experience, or fresh out of school?
It is my opinion that the employers goal is to get the most work out of an employee at the least cost.
The employees goal is to get the most reward for the least effort.
If the expectations for a career in IT is constant downward pressure on salary with simultaneous increases in workload, then the employee (or candidate) should persue Plan B:)
I did WebSphere (J2EE stuff) for six years. Now I have a nice 3day telecommute job, and kept my salary.
My colleagues that stayed in IT had the CTO announce huge outsourcing to IBM in the past few years, and people that retire or leave... are not being replaced.
Might be a good time for others to persue Plan B until the economics of being in IT (or development) improve....
"Don't use Hadoop MapReduce until you have a solid reason why xargs won't solve your problem. Don't implement your own lockservice when Linux's advisory file locking works just fine. Don't do image processing work with PIL unless you have proven that command-line ImageMagick won't do the job. Modern Linux distributions are capable of a lot, and most hard problems are already solved for you. You just need to know where to look."
Ah, this last sentence is what made it a challenge. You get out of school, where most assignments were to code up projects from scratch, writing it all yourself.
Now you are a professional, and for me there was so much preexisting stuff _that_I_was_unaware_existed_.
I knew how to program using the languages and libraries of the language (C, C++, Java). I learned about Design Patterns. Yet it does not seem that there is a way for people to find reference material, or perhaps a catalog, of preexisting libraries or modules, or even other programs that can be used.
I now know Perl has one (CPAN). I didn't know about it when I was new. I know PHP has one (PEAR). I didn't know about it when I was new. etc.
So for the article's point about knowing there are things pre-built to use, like Image Magik: how does the programmer community go about informing each other about creating and using such repositories of preexisting programs, Freshmeat?!
Example: Maybe I can study the source code of Pidgin (I have) and see they are using gtk, and have a library in libpurple of how the program can interact with IM clients.
But, are we then supposed to have and find the time to analyse lots of programs, case-by-case to then ferret out the existance of things we can use that preexist?
I do not think I ever had that much time, unless I never get sleep, and never see my family, and work 20hr days... forever?
I do not think developers need access to the back-end of production servers. Being able to read the production logs, and having produciton code that can spew meaningful errors should be enough.
Be able to set a debug=true, or --verbose flag in the code, that spews a lot of information, as needed.
For a mid to large environment, web server type stuff, it is my opinion to go a route like this:
Ideally have the developer develop as its own version tag (cvs or such) on their work station in isolation, then move to a dev environment to vette out any gotchas.
Once vetted, then have the frozen tagged updates applied to the staging environment, which should be 'as close to as what is on production' as possible. If all goes well, great: becomes part of next release candidate.
Put tested release on a subset of production.
Once that seems to be doing well, then migrate production wide. (Certainly developers should have read access to server logs, as a good prod environment can even send prod logs to be duplicated to somewhere 'safe' for analysis.)
"Intel Corp (INTC.O) has agreed to stop using threats and bundled prices to hamper competition, settling charges that it illegally abused its market dominance in microprocessors, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday."
If geeks are doing a lot of one-handed-typing and the study is really proving high orgasm frequency, then _that_ would prove why/. has such an intellectual discussion range.
It is my opinion that the internet does not affect peoples' intelligence at all.
What I think the internet (in combination with excellent search engines like google) does, and is pretty wonderful at, is making a wide variety of communication and knowledge available at very low cost.
Examples: When I needed to find a procedure on how to change the clutch on my car, a bit of googling, and there was someone that had done it for my model car, step-by-step, with photographs! It _saved_ me.
Learning that there was an opensource anti-virus software that I could use for my Linux box (clamav) and that it had a M$ port (clamwin).
news.google.com for learning about things happening as news, globally.
I'd be saving about $300/month, as my wife insists on dirrectv and her... iPhone with all that extra cost of '3G' and a... gym membership that she rarely uses, but we pay for! (aaargh!):)
My only 'luxury costs' are dsl (I guess $50/month?) and netflix (gee a whole $10/month).
We have directtv, basic with the extra kids and science channels.
Personally, I am ready to no longer have dirrectv, as most things I like, I can find on netflix online.
My kids definitely like watching all the kids and family-friendly shows using netflix online on the wii. It doesn't even need to keep the netflix DVD in the machine, as long as you keep it powered up, so prevents my kids (7yr old and 4yr old) from scratching the disk.
My wife is the reason we still have dirrecttv. She considers her 'science shows' on mummies (yawn) and such as a 'must have.'
All this to say: We are pretty close, as a family, to not needing cable tv or satellite tv, thanks to netflix and the internet.
Slashdot Mirror
"I'd really like to see someone who can solve trivial problems in java. Maybe our internal recruitment team just sucks, but I just did yet another interview with a candidate who got stuck for almost 3 minutes trying to figure out why eclipse was complaining about their HashMap."
I would be curious about whether you were hiring someone stating they had years of work experience, or fresh out of school?
It is my opinion that the employers goal is to get the most work out of an employee at the least cost.
The employees goal is to get the most reward for the least effort.
If the expectations for a career in IT is constant downward pressure on salary with simultaneous increases in workload, then the employee (or candidate) should persue Plan B :)
I did WebSphere (J2EE stuff) for six years. Now I have a nice 3day telecommute job, and kept my salary.
My colleagues that stayed in IT had the CTO announce huge outsourcing to IBM in the past few years, and people that retire or leave... are not being replaced.
Might be a good time for others to persue Plan B until the economics of being in IT (or development) improve....
"Don't use Hadoop MapReduce until you have a solid reason why xargs won't solve your problem. Don't implement your own lockservice when Linux's advisory file locking works just fine. Don't do image processing work with PIL unless you have proven that command-line ImageMagick won't do the job. Modern Linux distributions are capable of a lot, and most hard problems are already solved for you. You just need to know where to look."
Ah, this last sentence is what made it a challenge. You get out of school, where most assignments were to code up projects from scratch, writing it all yourself.
Now you are a professional, and for me there was so much preexisting stuff _that_I_was_unaware_existed_.
I knew how to program using the languages and libraries of the language (C, C++, Java). I learned about Design Patterns. Yet it does not seem that there is a way for people to find reference material, or perhaps a catalog, of preexisting libraries or modules, or even other programs that can be used.
I now know Perl has one (CPAN). I didn't know about it when I was new.
I know PHP has one (PEAR). I didn't know about it when I was new.
etc.
So for the article's point about knowing there are things pre-built to use, like Image Magik: how does the programmer community go about informing each other about creating and using such repositories of preexisting programs, Freshmeat?!
Example: Maybe I can study the source code of Pidgin (I have) and see they are using gtk, and have a library in libpurple of how the program can interact with IM clients.
But, are we then supposed to have and find the time to analyse lots of programs, case-by-case to then ferret out the existance of things we can use that preexist?
I do not think I ever had that much time, unless I never get sleep, and never see my family, and work 20hr days... forever?
I do not think developers need access to the back-end of production servers. Being able to read the production logs, and having produciton code that can spew meaningful errors should be enough.
Be able to set a debug=true, or --verbose flag in the code, that spews a lot of information, as needed.
For a mid to large environment, web server type stuff, it is my opinion to go a route like this:
Ideally have the developer develop as its own version tag (cvs or such) on their work station in isolation, then move to a dev environment to vette out any gotchas.
Once vetted, then have the frozen tagged updates applied to the staging environment, which should be 'as close to as what is on production' as possible. If all goes well, great: becomes part of next release candidate.
Put tested release on a subset of production.
Once that seems to be doing well, then migrate production wide. (Certainly developers should have read access to server logs, as a good prod environment can even send prod logs to be duplicated to somewhere 'safe' for analysis.)
Kinda sounds like an adaptive traceroute. Perhaps traceroute was antlike before it became in vogue :)
=== to test equality
I think ADA was := [ http://groups.engin.umd.umich.edu/CIS/course.des/cis400/ada/array_summation.html ]
Java, C, and C++ use ==
Shell script, eq. ...If I am remembering correctly :)
In my opinion M$ cash cow is their 'all corporations seem forced to use' OS and their 'all corporations seem forced to use' office suite.
Anything else, based on the behavior during the company's history, fades away after big announcements that it will be 'the next big thing.'
Just follow the money.
It may be that students are also being informed about all the IT and programming offshoring that takes place.
Why take classes and study for a profession with currently low job prospects, unless you are in a country that is a popular offshoring provider?
I started in 1999, and got paid to do Java (J2EE stuff).
I wonder what the 'language de jour' is nowadays?
When I started being a professional programmer, I was naive.
I had no idea how demanding the work was, in terms of hours expected.
Perhaps they are being informed of more than just how to be a programmer, and therefore choosing other studies and career choices?
"Intel Corp (INTC.O) has agreed to stop using threats and bundled prices to hamper competition, settling charges that it illegally abused its market dominance in microprocessors, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6733I420100804
If geeks are doing a lot of one-handed-typing and the study is really proving high orgasm frequency, then _that_ would prove why /. has such an intellectual discussion range.
P0RN site ==> /. ==> /. posts ;)
It was easy to read the text on a standard (non-HD) TV screen.
Will it be FlexFuel? :)
Yep.
Now just waiting to see if the ARM netbooks continue to evolve to the point they become widely available, and easy to both install and run Debian on.
Then the x86 market can be competed with via ARM for netbooks and low power mobile computing.
They both get caught.
They both get punished.
Yet, they are teflon, and seem to come out unscathed. Still monopolists, too. (sad sigh)
All I can do is continue to use AMD and Linux, advocate AMD and Linux.
Wish Intel and Microsoft would fade away....
groklaw is to sco as theoildrum is to bp :)
Agreed!
Groklaw is the authoritive place for this case, in my opinion.
It is my opinion that the internet does not affect peoples' intelligence at all.
What I think the internet (in combination with excellent search engines like google) does, and is pretty wonderful at, is making a wide variety of communication and knowledge available at very low cost.
Examples:
When I needed to find a procedure on how to change the clutch on my car, a bit of googling, and there was someone that had done it for my model car, step-by-step, with photographs! It _saved_ me.
Learning that there was an opensource anti-virus software that I could use for my Linux box (clamav) and that it had a M$ port (clamwin).
news.google.com for learning about things happening as news, globally.
I haven't forgotten the pentium 90 math bug fiasco.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug
I have used AMD exclusively since then, and will continue to do so.
I recommending following the news stories and discussions at the news blog http://theoildrum.com/
They have some excellent coverage, in my humble opinion.
...is procreation probability approaches zero?
I'd be saving about $300/month, as my wife insists on :)
dirrectv and her...
iPhone with all that extra cost of '3G' and a...
gym membership that she rarely uses, but we pay for! (aaargh!)
My only 'luxury costs' are dsl (I guess $50/month?) and netflix (gee a whole $10/month).
We have directtv, basic with the extra kids and science channels.
Personally, I am ready to no longer have dirrectv, as most things I like, I can find on netflix online.
My kids definitely like watching all the kids and family-friendly shows using netflix online on the wii. It doesn't even need to keep the netflix DVD in the machine, as long as you keep it powered up, so prevents my kids (7yr old and 4yr old) from scratching the disk.
My wife is the reason we still have dirrecttv. She considers her 'science shows' on mummies (yawn) and such as a 'must have.'
All this to say: We are pretty close, as a family, to not needing cable tv or satellite tv, thanks to netflix and the internet.
It is my opinion that the proof of existance of other sentient communications would be profound, akin to proof of religious dieties existances.
You mean the 'wow signal'?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow_signal