I picked up the iPad version of this puzzle game and was surprised at how much of my old coding brain cells it woke up. This sort of thing is a great way to introduce the concepts of programing without jumping right into code. I also concur with the RoboRally mentions out there.
Secondly, this article is in CIO. WTF does a CIO have to worry about languages for? That's the development manager's problem.
OK. So just throwing out a wild guess: You're not a CIO, right?
Look, if the code is doing anything in production, the CIO better have some idea of what it's written in and have some sort of an opinion on that. It is very much a strategic issue. Caring about those details (yes, without getting mired in them) is what a CIO should be doing.
But, maybe we're thinking the same thing but in different environments. I'm thinking mid-sized companies, maybe you're thinking much bigger. As the organization gets bigger, sure the CIO can't have his fingers in everything.
That is true, but less and less exclusively every day. The truth is, the majority of real business software (apart from standard "Office tools" like Doc editors, spreadsheets, etc; which are very cross-platform these days) are web-enabled to some degree, and many others are only available to typical users via other types of thin client (i.e. Citrix).
I took over running the IT dept for a small (~300 employees) company and there was really no reason why everyone had Windows on their desktop. Nothing specifically tied to job function (including a multi-module ERP system, reporting tools, etc) required Windows or couldn't have been run on some Linux variant. They just "always had it that way".
I think if people could get over the change issue, you could easily see a huge percentage of converts to Linux in the workplace.
I'd agree only if SpaceX was trying to do the exact same thing under the exact same conditions. I don't think they are. They are trying to make a new (derivative, yes, but new) device using an organization and modeling/design/support approach which is very different than that used by predecessors. Every aspect of their organization/approach/methodology that differs is a potential place where error can arise.
I see what you mean about specific problems encountered before cropping up again, but they shouldn't be considered in a vacuum (terrible space-pun. Sorry). The thing to remember is that the current solution to those problems must be made in a very new development environment. So just listing all previous design problems and original solutions is not enough. The current designers need to figure how to solve those issues in a way that works in the new environment. Assuming they don't have unlimited resources for attacking that task, error is at least expected.
No one is happy about these failures, especially when some of the mistakes made are basic, but this is the real world.
Merchandising and concert revenue, on the other hand, typically go into the bands' pockets.
Is that really true? I don't know much about that industry, but I recall many stories about bands touring for years and coming out broke. I thought the labels also managed and thereby profited from the tours.
It just doesn't seem likely that all the profits from a concert goes entirely into the band's pockets.
I respect your right to your view, but that's kind of a crazy position to take. There's nothing intrinsically good at rocket science that government has to offer, and there is nothing to support saying that entrepreneurs as a group are all not good at it. "Good at rocket science" comes from the individual experts doing the work. The organization supporting them, be it government, private industry, or druid commune will be successful or not based on the ability to learn from failures and move forward.
The failures we've seen are similar to the failures experience when the government space programs were taking off. Private groups will experience challenges that the government didn't but that cuts both ways. They will move past this and we'll see a successful launch. I also believe that the privatization of a large part of the space industry is inevitable. Maybe time for a Long Bet (There probably already is one; better check...)?
I've never seen such a complex array of technology outside a Hollywood or video game mock-up. It must be very exciting for the folks on the design team to see this coming together. And kudos to the photographer(s) who captured these. That was a smart move, collecting such high-res images. Very nice.
The search requires that the candidate's full name is found, along with at least one of the following 'keywords' not more than 7 words (that's the "w/7") away from the name; so in most cases it would be a pretty small return.
Actually, the syntax used seems to be incorrect (I've never used LexisNexus, but just did an exhaustive 30 second search for information on the syntax).
The "pre/2" control assures that the word preceding and the word following are found, with a maximum of 2 words in between. I think the "and" before the "pre/2" is incorrect, or at least superfluous.
I've never used LexisNexis, but the "!" seems to be a 'zero to many' length wildcard character, not an "and". It allows fragments like "blam!" to find words like "blame", "blamed", "blaming", etc.
So, it seems like you would enter the job candidate's name and it would find all instances of that person being mentioned in an article in the LN DB with any of those keywords/fragments.
Limited regular expression functionality.
Some of the items are valid for a job candidate review, like "arrest!", "fired", and "intox!"; but it's telling that they are listed after stuff like "bush", "democrat", and "spotted owl". So you see what the priority of the author was.
It's also a pretty sloppy search, given all the useless repetition.
The first thing I order in a new restaurant is the calamari. Because I happen to like good calamari and it gives me a baseline for comparison, albeit an admittedly arbitrary one.
The first word I look for in a new search engine is "Perl"; same reasons. This is, sadly, not on the menu at Bistro Cuil. They are serving "PERL", but that's kind of like having "Diced octopus" as my appetizer. That would be gross.
I think I'll let the Chef work on this for a bit more before I become a regular.
Agreed that this won't happen, but that's only part of the issue. The issue that WILL happen (probably HAS happened) is that tax dollars will be spent doing a study on the feasibility. I sometimes think the government secretly wants to turn all of us into Libertarians (respect to our Libertarian friends...). If they are spending our taxes on this, I'm all for getting rid of taxes all together. Madness...
Project Managers aren't concerned with what's devastating to a developer, at least not primarily. They are concerned with meeting business needs. If that means that a developer has to be stolen from a lower priority project for something more important, then that's what has to happen. It's not the same as saying they are all interchangeable, but it does mean that the developers who are more "mobile" than others will be valued a lot more.
Staff morale *is* very important, but if someone's morale hinges on not moving around despite the business need, then they just aren't as valuable to the organization.
Slashdot Mirror
That article was complete garbage. Just a mess. I'd really had my hopes up...
I picked up the iPad version of this puzzle game and was surprised at how much of my old coding brain cells it woke up. This sort of thing is a great way to introduce the concepts of programing without jumping right into code. I also concur with the RoboRally mentions out there.
I pass that test. I knew I had the right stuff. Now go get me a cup of coffee.
What is this strange thing of which you speak? "Penn-shun"??? Never heard of such a thing.
Not a single one does Unicode properly.
Perl handles Unicode just fine (since 5.6, that is).
Secondly, this article is in CIO. WTF does a CIO have to worry about languages for? That's the development manager's problem.
OK. So just throwing out a wild guess: You're not a CIO, right?
Look, if the code is doing anything in production, the CIO better have some idea of what it's written in and have some sort of an opinion on that. It is very much a strategic issue. Caring about those details (yes, without getting mired in them) is what a CIO should be doing.
But, maybe we're thinking the same thing but in different environments. I'm thinking mid-sized companies, maybe you're thinking much bigger. As the organization gets bigger, sure the CIO can't have his fingers in everything.
Augghh!! That was going to be my joke! Damn you!!! Well done.
That is true, but less and less exclusively every day. The truth is, the majority of real business software (apart from standard "Office tools" like Doc editors, spreadsheets, etc; which are very cross-platform these days) are web-enabled to some degree, and many others are only available to typical users via other types of thin client (i.e. Citrix).
I took over running the IT dept for a small (~300 employees) company and there was really no reason why everyone had Windows on their desktop. Nothing specifically tied to job function (including a multi-module ERP system, reporting tools, etc) required Windows or couldn't have been run on some Linux variant. They just "always had it that way".
I think if people could get over the change issue, you could easily see a huge percentage of converts to Linux in the workplace.
How durable is this new substance? How much pollution can the road suck up before it wears out? ...
I don't think that it sucks up anything. I think the material acts as a catalyst, not a sponge.
I see what you mean about specific problems encountered before cropping up again, but they shouldn't be considered in a vacuum (terrible space-pun. Sorry). The thing to remember is that the current solution to those problems must be made in a very new development environment. So just listing all previous design problems and original solutions is not enough. The current designers need to figure how to solve those issues in a way that works in the new environment. Assuming they don't have unlimited resources for attacking that task, error is at least expected.
No one is happy about these failures, especially when some of the mistakes made are basic, but this is the real world.
Merchandising and concert revenue, on the other hand, typically go into the bands' pockets.
Is that really true? I don't know much about that industry, but I recall many stories about bands touring for years and coming out broke. I thought the labels also managed and thereby profited from the tours.
It just doesn't seem likely that all the profits from a concert goes entirely into the band's pockets.
Nonsense.
I respect your right to your view, but that's kind of a crazy position to take. There's nothing intrinsically good at rocket science that government has to offer, and there is nothing to support saying that entrepreneurs as a group are all not good at it. "Good at rocket science" comes from the individual experts doing the work. The organization supporting them, be it government, private industry, or druid commune will be successful or not based on the ability to learn from failures and move forward.
The failures we've seen are similar to the failures experience when the government space programs were taking off. Private groups will experience challenges that the government didn't but that cuts both ways. They will move past this and we'll see a successful launch. I also believe that the privatization of a large part of the space industry is inevitable. Maybe time for a Long Bet (There probably already is one; better check...)?
I've never seen such a complex array of technology outside a Hollywood or video game mock-up. It must be very exciting for the folks on the design team to see this coming together.
And kudos to the photographer(s) who captured these. That was a smart move, collecting such high-res images.
Very nice.
They'll have it up to $1000.
Pesky decimal points....
The search requires that the candidate's full name is found, along with at least one of the following 'keywords' not more than 7 words (that's the "w/7") away from the name; so in most cases it would be a pretty small return.
Actually, the syntax used seems to be incorrect (I've never used LexisNexus, but just did an exhaustive 30 second search for information on the syntax).
The "pre/2" control assures that the word preceding and the word following are found, with a maximum of 2 words in between. I think the "and" before the "pre/2" is incorrect, or at least superfluous.
I've never used LexisNexis, but the "!" seems to be a 'zero to many' length wildcard character, not an "and". It allows fragments like "blam!" to find words like "blame", "blamed", "blaming", etc.
So, it seems like you would enter the job candidate's name and it would find all instances of that person being mentioned in an article in the LN DB with any of those keywords/fragments.
Limited regular expression functionality.
Some of the items are valid for a job candidate review, like "arrest!", "fired", and "intox!"; but it's telling that they are listed after stuff like "bush", "democrat", and "spotted owl". So you see what the priority of the author was.
It's also a pretty sloppy search, given all the useless repetition.
The first thing I order in a new restaurant is the calamari. Because I happen to like good calamari and it gives me a baseline for comparison, albeit an admittedly arbitrary one.
The first word I look for in a new search engine is "Perl"; same reasons. This is, sadly, not on the menu at Bistro Cuil. They are serving "PERL", but that's kind of like having "Diced octopus" as my appetizer. That would be gross.
I think I'll let the Chef work on this for a bit more before I become a regular.
Agreed that this won't happen, but that's only part of the issue. The issue that WILL happen (probably HAS happened) is that tax dollars will be spent doing a study on the feasibility. I sometimes think the government secretly wants to turn all of us into Libertarians (respect to our Libertarian friends...). If they are spending our taxes on this, I'm all for getting rid of taxes all together. Madness...
Project Managers aren't concerned with what's devastating to a developer, at least not primarily. They are concerned with meeting business needs. If that means that a developer has to be stolen from a lower priority project for something more important, then that's what has to happen. It's not the same as saying they are all interchangeable, but it does mean that the developers who are more "mobile" than others will be valued a lot more. Staff morale *is* very important, but if someone's morale hinges on not moving around despite the business need, then they just aren't as valuable to the organization.