1. hire the best lawyer you can find (not locally, at a national level). 2. be the BA and write the requirements. 3. hire other people who weren't involved in the company to actually execute on your design. 4. get sued by previous employer. If you did a good job during step 1 and step 2, then this step should be easy (but will still happen). 5. enjoy your new business.
Joel Spolsky is in the same boat as you (as am I, for that matter). He was great technically, so they made him a manager. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/ has some wonderful tips about managing technical folks.
But really, the best advice I have is: Quite and find a job where you can still write code. Management is dreadful, especially if you are one of those people who likes to do things themselves.
It's been my experience that most good developers will adopt a standard practice because a) it makes sense and/or b) the new standard doesn't require any more effort than the old way, so it doesn't hurt to play the game.
So, make it easy to adopt and make an effort to educate.
Remember, though, that this is a two-way street; if it's hard to adopt or hard to argue for, then maybe management/architects should rethink their reasons for requiring the standard.
Also -- a training program might be a good carrot to help get the more junior devs onboard (at least with more complex standards like unit testing or patterns-based development).
I've lived (and been job-hunting) in both san francisco and seattle, and there's a huge difference.
I was looking for work in SF about a year ago and I had an offer (which I subsequently passed on to move back up here) about two weeks after I started looking.
I've been looking, with a higher LOE, for several months for a new opportunity in Seattle, and have had very few bites.
Maybe it's just bad luck, but Seattle has always seemed more economically depressed to me than most other major metropolitan areas.
Yes, I know we all hate microsoft -- but the reference clearly explains (at the bottom of each entry) whether the widget is CSS1/CSS2/IE-only compliant.
I could do my job without a reference like this, but it's nice to have something to peek at when you start feeling insecure about your abilities
I am well aware of MSDN and use it on almost an hourly basis when I am writing code in VB. I think the MSDN documentation is a start, but it doesn't touch the documentation for language structures that don't cause page faults and blue screens. I don't like having to back up my work because I know the control I'm about to add to my project has about a 90% chance (based on my experience) of crashing my box.
Frankly I don't care whether or not "everybody else is doing it", I just want something that works and doesn't cost me my first born (last time I checked, MS couldn't deliver either). I really don't care about the whole "open source" thing, other as just a way of bragging if you wrote something good (IMO, the real reason Windows is closed source).
Linux users fall broadly into three categories
You missed one: (IMO, the biggest)
Those who want something that works reliably.
The fact is that Microsoft has MADE the world of computing you now enjoy
As I think I've already made clear, I don't care who made computers popular at home, and I don't feel that MS deserves any special homage for doing so.
As for me not being able to use a computer w/o MS, I was raised an Apple, I taught myself to program on a mac, as well as discovered the joys of networking on a mac. MS hasn't given me anything but blue-screens and headaches.
Pretty much my point was that I trashed it 'cause I was fiddling with stuff as root (trying to install a different window manager or something), without having the patience to read the abundant documentation available online.
Since those days, I have learned both patience and a love of docs. I guess I wasn't clear, but pretty much I view my ability to now accept and use these products (such as mySQL, PHP, Linux) without breaking my box a sign of maturity as a CS Student/geek/whatever.
Actually, it's a command much older than C/C++, without which control statements such as loops would not be possible (loops only work 'cause we use goto's in assembly).
please define "serious business" for me. I think that somebody who runs a "serious business" would be interested in using FREE tools that work.
I am trying to run several deals (read: small business) at the same time right now, and although I have to keep Win on my box for legacy stuff (no time to play with VM or Wine, or whatever), I still have the option of doing my new development using FREE, open source tools that work (read: PHP, mySQL, Xitami).
Another important point is that, although I am no longer a college student, I still fit into the economic defenition of one (i.e. - broke). Even if I suddenly decided that I wanted to do all my development on Win2000 server pro using the new snazzy.NET and IIS, there is no way in hell I could ever afford it. I'd rather spend an extra 1/2 hour setting up the crap and have it work than pay n-thousand dollars and have to "administrate" the damn thing instead of doing productive work like getting clients.
I've been down that road w/NT 4.0. If you are 1/3 of a business, it doesn't make sense to have you spending half of your time maintaining your website.
I didn't mean to flame VB, but since you asked... Most of my objection to VB6 (which is, despite my reservations, nice due to it's high-speed development capabilities) has to do with the number of bugs that they are "aware of, but not fixing". I think the core language works OK, but lots of the beneficial controls (i.e. ADO) seem kinda 3/4 functional. And, believe me, I love MSDN, it's great. I just think the online docs @ php.net are better.
As far as.NET goes, I can't speak to that since I have no experience with it (some of the features sound like fun, though. Hope they work.)
I am a recently retired (read: graduated) CS student. While I was in school, I fiddled with Linux a bit, but got tired of trashing my install every week and having to start fresh.
Since then, I have learned patience, and am getting increasingly fed-up with MS.
This is why I think the baby-CS folks will go with open source: MS doesn't document well, and they don't follow guidelines.
I thought VB was pretty OK, till I started developing with PHP and realized that a language (even though it is just a scripting language) can actually work exactly how the documenatation says it should. And besides that, the documentation is searchable, and organized gasp.
I am about ready to dump Windows for good, just because I like PHP/mySQL way better than anything MS can throw together (read: ASP).
To summarize, I think CS folks goto Linux 'cause it is written with functionality, not profitability, in mind.
Operator overloading is just fine. As long as you follow the logic of the other uses of the operator. Sometimes you don't even have to do that.
Look at the '+' operator for strings in the C++ standard library. That is definitely an overloaded operator, and it does something way different. I think that this operator is definitely a good thing (sure beats the pants off of strcat).
I think operator overloading is a good idea. Just use the power wisely.
Some software I wrote recently stood inspection by the College of American Pathologists. They actually inspected the whole information system. But their means for criteria I thought applied to this discussion.
They have two types of problems that they can cite you for. They are called deficiencies. A "Type I" deficiency isn't terrible, but you still have to provide them with a solution to the cause of the deficiency. A "Type II" deficiency is more severe. If you are cited with a Type II, you have 30 days to fix it, or else they shut you down.
I think even something as simple as this method (where "Type I" bugs are allowable, but the software is not allowed to be released if it has any "Type II" bugs.) could easily be extended to the software industry (and not just the part that overlaps into medicine).
Slashdot Mirror
1. hire the best lawyer you can find (not locally, at a national level).
2. be the BA and write the requirements.
3. hire other people who weren't involved in the company to actually execute on your design.
4. get sued by previous employer. If you did a good job during step 1 and step 2, then this step should be easy (but will still happen).
5. enjoy your new business.
Joel Spolsky is in the same boat as you (as am I, for that matter). He was great technically, so they made him a manager. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/ has some wonderful tips about managing technical folks.
But really, the best advice I have is: Quite and find a job where you can still write code. Management is dreadful, especially if you are one of those people who likes to do things themselves.
It's been my experience that most good developers will adopt a standard practice because a) it makes sense and/or b) the new standard doesn't require any more effort than the old way, so it doesn't hurt to play the game.
So, make it easy to adopt and make an effort to educate.
Remember, though, that this is a two-way street; if it's hard to adopt or hard to argue for, then maybe management/architects should rethink their reasons for requiring the standard.
Also -- a training program might be a good carrot to help get the more junior devs onboard (at least with more complex standards like unit testing or patterns-based development).
I think it's a regional thing
I've lived (and been job-hunting) in both san francisco and seattle, and there's a huge difference.
I was looking for work in SF about a year ago and I had an offer (which I subsequently passed on to move back up here) about two weeks after I started looking.
I've been looking, with a higher LOE, for several months for a new opportunity in Seattle, and have had very few bites.
Maybe it's just bad luck, but Seattle has always seemed more economically depressed to me than most other major metropolitan areas.
Hi Guys. Love the strip.
Do either of you have any professional-geek backgrounds? Or are you merely game enthusiasts with a penchant for making comics?
I find this link useful http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url= /workshop/author/dhtml/reference/dhtml_reference_e ntry.asp
Yes, I know we all hate microsoft -- but the reference clearly explains (at the bottom of each entry) whether the widget is CSS1/CSS2/IE-only compliant.
I could do my job without a reference like this, but it's nice to have something to peek at when you start feeling insecure about your abilities
I am well aware of MSDN and use it on almost an hourly basis when I am writing code in VB. I think the MSDN documentation is a start, but it doesn't touch the documentation for language structures that don't cause page faults and blue screens. I don't like having to back up my work because I know the control I'm about to add to my project has about a 90% chance (based on my experience) of crashing my box.
Frankly I don't care whether or not "everybody else is doing it", I just want something that works and doesn't cost me my first born (last time I checked, MS couldn't deliver either). I really don't care about the whole "open source" thing, other as just a way of bragging if you wrote something good (IMO, the real reason Windows is closed source).
Linux users fall broadly into three categories
You missed one: (IMO, the biggest)
Those who want something that works reliably.
The fact is that Microsoft has MADE the world of computing you now enjoy
As I think I've already made clear, I don't care who made computers popular at home, and I don't feel that MS deserves any special homage for doing so.
As for me not being able to use a computer w/o MS, I was raised an Apple, I taught myself to program on a mac, as well as discovered the joys of networking on a mac. MS hasn't given me anything but blue-screens and headaches.
Since those days, I have learned both patience and a love of docs. I guess I wasn't clear, but pretty much I view my ability to now accept and use these products (such as mySQL, PHP, Linux) without breaking my box a sign of maturity as a CS Student/geek/whatever.
Actually, it's a command much older than C/C++, without which control statements such as loops would not be possible (loops only work 'cause we use goto's in assembly).
It was a pun.
I am trying to run several deals (read: small business) at the same time right now, and although I have to keep Win on my box for legacy stuff (no time to play with VM or Wine, or whatever), I still have the option of doing my new development using FREE, open source tools that work (read: PHP, mySQL, Xitami).
Another important point is that, although I am no longer a college student, I still fit into the economic defenition of one (i.e. - broke). Even if I suddenly decided that I wanted to do all my development on Win2000 server pro using the new snazzy
I've been down that road w/NT 4.0. If you are 1/3 of a business, it doesn't make sense to have you spending half of your time maintaining your website.
I didn't mean to flame VB, but since you asked... Most of my objection to VB6 (which is, despite my reservations, nice due to it's high-speed development capabilities) has to do with the number of bugs that they are "aware of, but not fixing". I think the core language works OK, but lots of the beneficial controls (i.e. ADO) seem kinda 3/4 functional. And, believe me, I love MSDN, it's great. I just think the online docs @ php.net are better.
As far as
Since then, I have learned patience, and am getting increasingly fed-up with MS.
This is why I think the baby-CS folks will go with open source: MS doesn't document well, and they don't follow guidelines.
I thought VB was pretty OK, till I started developing with PHP and realized that a language (even though it is just a scripting language) can actually work exactly how the documenatation says it should. And besides that, the documentation is searchable, and organized gasp.
I am about ready to dump Windows for good, just because I like PHP/mySQL way better than anything MS can throw together (read: ASP).
To summarize, I think CS folks goto Linux 'cause it is written with functionality, not profitability, in mind.
Operator overloading is just fine. As long as you follow the logic of the other uses of the operator. Sometimes you don't even have to do that.
Look at the '+' operator for strings in the C++ standard library. That is definitely an overloaded operator, and it does something way different. I think that this operator is definitely a good thing (sure beats the pants off of strcat).
I think operator overloading is a good idea. Just use the power wisely.
Some software I wrote recently stood inspection by the College of American Pathologists. They actually inspected the whole information system. But their means for criteria I thought applied to this discussion.
They have two types of problems that they can cite you for. They are called deficiencies. A "Type I" deficiency isn't terrible, but you still have to provide them with a solution to the cause of the deficiency. A "Type II" deficiency is more severe. If you are cited with a Type II, you have 30 days to fix it, or else they shut you down.
I think even something as simple as this method (where "Type I" bugs are allowable, but the software is not allowed to be released if it has any "Type II" bugs.) could easily be extended to the software industry (and not just the part that overlaps into medicine).