Trouble Keeping Up?
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I hope that I'm not the only one otherwise I'm gonna start interviewing at the fast food chains. Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up? I work 9 hours a day with an hour for lunch, a 45 minute commute each way. This doesn't leave much time for trying to keep up with Microsoft changing everything every couple of months! If asked, I couldn't even tell you what all the new technologies' acronyms mean! I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it. "Would you like fries with that?"..."Would you like to large size for only 39 cents more?" Just practicing! :wtf:
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
JamminJimE wrote:
I hope that I'm not the only one otherwise I'm gonna start interviewing at the fast food chains. Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up? I work 9 hours a day with an hour for lunch, a 45 minute commute each way. This doesn't leave much time for trying to keep up with Microsoft changing everything every couple of months! If asked, I couldn't even tell you what all the new technologies' acronyms mean! I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it.
As most of the new stuff builds on what went before, I don't find the learning curve too hard. As long as you have good solid development practises, you'll find you can cope with almost anything Microsoft throw at you.
Michael CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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I hope that I'm not the only one otherwise I'm gonna start interviewing at the fast food chains. Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up? I work 9 hours a day with an hour for lunch, a 45 minute commute each way. This doesn't leave much time for trying to keep up with Microsoft changing everything every couple of months! If asked, I couldn't even tell you what all the new technologies' acronyms mean! I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it. "Would you like fries with that?"..."Would you like to large size for only 39 cents more?" Just practicing! :wtf:
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
JamminJimE wrote:
Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up?
Indeed I do. If it weren't for CP and fellow CPians to wake me up to newfangled ways of doing things, I would be flipping burgers.
JamminJimE wrote:
I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it.
Frankly, things were changing just as fast then too. But the good 'ol days did not include a couple ex-wives, a kid, a girlfriend, tuition, 2 cats, a mortgage, a car loan, and medical bills and (playable) online gaming. It did not include terrabytes of data store transmitted at gigabit rates viewed on megapixel monitors over kilometer-wide networks. ;P The problem today is not with the rate of change, but the bandwidth that change is consuming. We used to have time to read a chapter in a softback microprocessor manual when transferring a file at 9600 baud. Now we don't even have time to load the DVD-only, PDF version of the manual! Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith -
I hope that I'm not the only one otherwise I'm gonna start interviewing at the fast food chains. Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up? I work 9 hours a day with an hour for lunch, a 45 minute commute each way. This doesn't leave much time for trying to keep up with Microsoft changing everything every couple of months! If asked, I couldn't even tell you what all the new technologies' acronyms mean! I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it. "Would you like fries with that?"..."Would you like to large size for only 39 cents more?" Just practicing! :wtf:
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
I just focus on C# and the CLR. I don't worry about every little API or language. I study hard on the basics and skim over other things so I can research later when I encounter a time when I need that technology.
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I hope that I'm not the only one otherwise I'm gonna start interviewing at the fast food chains. Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up? I work 9 hours a day with an hour for lunch, a 45 minute commute each way. This doesn't leave much time for trying to keep up with Microsoft changing everything every couple of months! If asked, I couldn't even tell you what all the new technologies' acronyms mean! I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it. "Would you like fries with that?"..."Would you like to large size for only 39 cents more?" Just practicing! :wtf:
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
It's two things really, first is focusing only on what is relevant to you and what you do or want to do. Second is as it always has been: a professional developer *has* to spend time auditing new technology, there's just no way around that. The very nature of the job demands it. Time has to be put aside to do it. If I had a dime for every bit of technology I learned over the years that was at one time extremely important and is now utterly irrelvant I'd be rich.
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JamminJimE wrote:
Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up?
Indeed I do. If it weren't for CP and fellow CPians to wake me up to newfangled ways of doing things, I would be flipping burgers.
JamminJimE wrote:
I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it.
Frankly, things were changing just as fast then too. But the good 'ol days did not include a couple ex-wives, a kid, a girlfriend, tuition, 2 cats, a mortgage, a car loan, and medical bills and (playable) online gaming. It did not include terrabytes of data store transmitted at gigabit rates viewed on megapixel monitors over kilometer-wide networks. ;P The problem today is not with the rate of change, but the bandwidth that change is consuming. We used to have time to read a chapter in a softback microprocessor manual when transferring a file at 9600 baud. Now we don't even have time to load the DVD-only, PDF version of the manual! Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh SmithFinally, someone who agrees with me. I remember 2400 baud modems. Heck, I remember connecting to my first BBS (Bulletin Board System for the younger readers) with a 300 baud modem in a Commodore 64. I don't remember VB6 changing this stinkin' fast. It was pretty much the same environment for about 3 years. Then, you could actually get up to speed without getting fired or divorced! :laugh: Writing applications used to be so simple (compared to now). It was fun! Now, I'm getting some "snow on the ol' roof" and can't absorb it as fast as people in their early 20's. :~
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
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It's two things really, first is focusing only on what is relevant to you and what you do or want to do. Second is as it always has been: a professional developer *has* to spend time auditing new technology, there's just no way around that. The very nature of the job demands it. Time has to be put aside to do it. If I had a dime for every bit of technology I learned over the years that was at one time extremely important and is now utterly irrelvant I'd be rich.
John Cardinal wrote:
first is focusing only on what is relevant to you and what you do or want to do
Right now, I'd be happy finding a company that is looking for a good developer who can find the answer to pretty much anything he/she needs without having to regurgitate it in an interview. I've had 3 or 4 dozen phone interviews since December and the wide variety of information that they want you to know is becoming ridiculous!
John Cardinal wrote:
Second is as it always has been: a professional developer *has* to spend time auditing new technology
My boss, who pays me to work on HIS code and HIS application, would be quick to disagree. I can't spend any time at work learning the new stuff. with the 10.5 hours a day devoted to work, the 7 hours a night devoted to sleep, .5 hrs for dinner, 1 hr to "TRY" to unwind from the day and commute, I am RAPIDLY running out of hours in the day! That's all I'm saying.:->
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
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John Cardinal wrote:
first is focusing only on what is relevant to you and what you do or want to do
Right now, I'd be happy finding a company that is looking for a good developer who can find the answer to pretty much anything he/she needs without having to regurgitate it in an interview. I've had 3 or 4 dozen phone interviews since December and the wide variety of information that they want you to know is becoming ridiculous!
John Cardinal wrote:
Second is as it always has been: a professional developer *has* to spend time auditing new technology
My boss, who pays me to work on HIS code and HIS application, would be quick to disagree. I can't spend any time at work learning the new stuff. with the 10.5 hours a day devoted to work, the 7 hours a night devoted to sleep, .5 hrs for dinner, 1 hr to "TRY" to unwind from the day and commute, I am RAPIDLY running out of hours in the day! That's all I'm saying.:->
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
JamminJimE wrote:
My boss, who pays me to work on HIS code and HIS application, would be quick to disagree.
I understand but your only harming yourself in the long run. A boss doesn't define your career, only you can do that. If you don't take the time on your own time to further your career you could end up working for that boss for many years, suddenly get laid off or the company could go under and your left with no relevant skills for the market. As a career programmer it's really important that you separate your career from whatever work that you happen to be doing at the moment. Consider that upgrading your skills could lead to a work environment where you have more time for yourself.
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I hope that I'm not the only one otherwise I'm gonna start interviewing at the fast food chains. Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up? I work 9 hours a day with an hour for lunch, a 45 minute commute each way. This doesn't leave much time for trying to keep up with Microsoft changing everything every couple of months! If asked, I couldn't even tell you what all the new technologies' acronyms mean! I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it. "Would you like fries with that?"..."Would you like to large size for only 39 cents more?" Just practicing! :wtf:
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
JamminJimE wrote:
I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it.
Back in the day.... always wanted to say that. ;) We used to make our own tools, every dev environment might be more stable, per se, but they were all very different. I might have some great doc tools and a Nice DOS based RAD GUI system I wrote myself before the VB days (see, we even had acronyms back then too). But you might have some great memory diagnostic tools I never had time to write. What has happened, and what seems like things are constantly in a state of flux is a lot of these custom tools, 3rd party tools, etc. are all coming into the main Development IDE and compilers as just "part of the system." This is good, per se, because more programmers get to use them, bad because it increases state of change and learning curves. Just remember, you still have your choices, and I am not talking about fries or no fries. :) Although encouraged to use these new tools, and I do strongly encourage their uses, in most cases there is a fair amount of backward compatibility. Writing a console app hasn't changed much from the DOS days, so you can be as archaic as you need to be. In fact console apps make for good unit testing environments in some cases. :) Just take a deep breath, grab a can of SOBE Adrenaline Rush (Sugar Free if you are like me), and keep plodding along. Every morning is a learning experience, you don't stop learning out of school, and you will learn your entire life. Think of it as opportunity.... well and money. Back in college you paid a school for the right to learn from them, now you are being paid to learn... hey, that is a much better perspective. :-D oh... and no thank you. I'll take a side-salad instead of fries. but give me the biggest diet coke you offer. ;P
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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John Cardinal wrote:
first is focusing only on what is relevant to you and what you do or want to do
Right now, I'd be happy finding a company that is looking for a good developer who can find the answer to pretty much anything he/she needs without having to regurgitate it in an interview. I've had 3 or 4 dozen phone interviews since December and the wide variety of information that they want you to know is becoming ridiculous!
John Cardinal wrote:
Second is as it always has been: a professional developer *has* to spend time auditing new technology
My boss, who pays me to work on HIS code and HIS application, would be quick to disagree. I can't spend any time at work learning the new stuff. with the 10.5 hours a day devoted to work, the 7 hours a night devoted to sleep, .5 hrs for dinner, 1 hr to "TRY" to unwind from the day and commute, I am RAPIDLY running out of hours in the day! That's all I'm saying.:->
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
JamminJimE wrote:
My boss, who pays me to work on HIS code and HIS application, would be quick to disagree. I can't spend any time at work learning the new stuff. with the 10.5 hours a day devoted to work, the 7 hours a night devoted to sleep, .5 hrs for dinner, 1 hr to "TRY" to unwind from the day and commute, I am RAPIDLY running out of hours in the day!
As John said, this is very short sighted. One of the reasons I talk work into sending our team to conferences is to stay on the forfront of technology. There is the leading edge, where you are using the latest tested tools in technology, this is a constant state of flux.... then there is the bleeding edge, where you are using tools as they are developed, often before they are released and helping them reach the state of release -- or worse, back to writing your own tools again. Take your pick, but the farther back you go the less likely you are to keep up with the competition. If your boss doesn't like business, sales, or competing against others, by all means, keep the learning off-line. My ex-boss was like that. He ended up selling the business because he couldn't stay in business. His short-sightedness finally caught up with him, so he retired and sold out. If that is the goal, no problem, but if that is not the goal then some long-range plans need to be examined. :)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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I hope that I'm not the only one otherwise I'm gonna start interviewing at the fast food chains. Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up? I work 9 hours a day with an hour for lunch, a 45 minute commute each way. This doesn't leave much time for trying to keep up with Microsoft changing everything every couple of months! If asked, I couldn't even tell you what all the new technologies' acronyms mean! I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it. "Would you like fries with that?"..."Would you like to large size for only 39 cents more?" Just practicing! :wtf:
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
Not really. I don't bother trying any more. When I need to solve a problem that I've not dealt with before, I research it. A lot of the time I get information from CP. I now tend to steer clear of bleeding edge technologies. I will only touch them if I absolutely have to. Oh well - I guess I'm just an old f*rt. I'm one section away from being a COBOL programmer.
the last thing I want to see is some pasty-faced geek with skin so pale that it's almost translucent trying to bump parts with a partner - John Simmons / outlaw programmer
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before. -
JamminJimE wrote:
Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up?
Indeed I do. If it weren't for CP and fellow CPians to wake me up to newfangled ways of doing things, I would be flipping burgers.
JamminJimE wrote:
I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it.
Frankly, things were changing just as fast then too. But the good 'ol days did not include a couple ex-wives, a kid, a girlfriend, tuition, 2 cats, a mortgage, a car loan, and medical bills and (playable) online gaming. It did not include terrabytes of data store transmitted at gigabit rates viewed on megapixel monitors over kilometer-wide networks. ;P The problem today is not with the rate of change, but the bandwidth that change is consuming. We used to have time to read a chapter in a softback microprocessor manual when transferring a file at 9600 baud. Now we don't even have time to load the DVD-only, PDF version of the manual! Marc
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh SmithMarc Clifton wrote:
couple ex-wives, a kid, a girlfriend, tuition, 2 cats, a mortgage, a car loan, and medical bills and (playable) online gaming
And a partridge in a pear tree....
Why is common sense not common? Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level where they are an expert. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to be lazy
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Finally, someone who agrees with me. I remember 2400 baud modems. Heck, I remember connecting to my first BBS (Bulletin Board System for the younger readers) with a 300 baud modem in a Commodore 64. I don't remember VB6 changing this stinkin' fast. It was pretty much the same environment for about 3 years. Then, you could actually get up to speed without getting fired or divorced! :laugh: Writing applications used to be so simple (compared to now). It was fun! Now, I'm getting some "snow on the ol' roof" and can't absorb it as fast as people in their early 20's. :~
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
JamminJimE wrote:
300 baud modem in a Commodore 64
Hehehehe I remember those days.... I recall how astonishing it was to flip from 300 baud to 1200 baud and wonder about how blazingly fast it was.
Why is common sense not common? Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level where they are an expert. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to be lazy
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JamminJimE wrote:
I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it.
Back in the day.... always wanted to say that. ;) We used to make our own tools, every dev environment might be more stable, per se, but they were all very different. I might have some great doc tools and a Nice DOS based RAD GUI system I wrote myself before the VB days (see, we even had acronyms back then too). But you might have some great memory diagnostic tools I never had time to write. What has happened, and what seems like things are constantly in a state of flux is a lot of these custom tools, 3rd party tools, etc. are all coming into the main Development IDE and compilers as just "part of the system." This is good, per se, because more programmers get to use them, bad because it increases state of change and learning curves. Just remember, you still have your choices, and I am not talking about fries or no fries. :) Although encouraged to use these new tools, and I do strongly encourage their uses, in most cases there is a fair amount of backward compatibility. Writing a console app hasn't changed much from the DOS days, so you can be as archaic as you need to be. In fact console apps make for good unit testing environments in some cases. :) Just take a deep breath, grab a can of SOBE Adrenaline Rush (Sugar Free if you are like me), and keep plodding along. Every morning is a learning experience, you don't stop learning out of school, and you will learn your entire life. Think of it as opportunity.... well and money. Back in college you paid a school for the right to learn from them, now you are being paid to learn... hey, that is a much better perspective. :-D oh... and no thank you. I'll take a side-salad instead of fries. but give me the biggest diet coke you offer. ;P
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
I am hooked on the Dew. I am into the Code Red Mtn Dew right now. Can't drink the green anymore. Too many stomach problems. I completely understand the need to keep learning. However, recently it seems to me to be alot like trying to take a sip from a fire hose! I have 4 new .NET 2.0 books at the house (advanced and core topics) that I can't even get the cover open on yet. Don't get me wrong, my boss is great. However, the pace of business (telecomm) seems to dictate what gets done and at what pace. Right now, this shop is 3 developers (including myself). There are something like 9 or 10 applications (all web) that we are working on and patching. All of it is in .NET 1.1. I don't have any position to dictate what version of .NET we are writing in and the other developers are experienced with 1.1 and no experience with 2.0. We won't be changing anytime soon! BTW, I didn't go to college. I was Active Duty US Military, but that's a different topic! ;)
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
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Not really. I don't bother trying any more. When I need to solve a problem that I've not dealt with before, I research it. A lot of the time I get information from CP. I now tend to steer clear of bleeding edge technologies. I will only touch them if I absolutely have to. Oh well - I guess I'm just an old f*rt. I'm one section away from being a COBOL programmer.
the last thing I want to see is some pasty-faced geek with skin so pale that it's almost translucent trying to bump parts with a partner - John Simmons / outlaw programmer
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.Pete O`Hanlon wrote:
I now tend to steer clear of bleeding edge technologies
Pete, That's a good idea. However, like I said in one of the other replies, that's the kind of questions coming up in my recent interviews! They want a Programmer/DBA/Architect expert in C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET, Classic ASP, VBScript, Oracle, SQL Server, Underwater Basket Weaving, Astronomy, etc. If you can't answer the questions, they'll find some 20something who can. My debtors don't like to hear "I'm betwen contracts." ;)
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
-
I hope that I'm not the only one otherwise I'm gonna start interviewing at the fast food chains. Does anyone else feel that software development is changing so fast that you can't keep up? I work 9 hours a day with an hour for lunch, a 45 minute commute each way. This doesn't leave much time for trying to keep up with Microsoft changing everything every couple of months! If asked, I couldn't even tell you what all the new technologies' acronyms mean! I miss the good ol' days when a dev environment was around a couple of years before they started changing it. "Would you like fries with that?"..."Would you like to large size for only 39 cents more?" Just practicing! :wtf:
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
I 'build in' learning time while I work. I'd say (on average) I spend 30 minutes to 1 hour each day reading/researching/practicing new techniques and technologies.
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John Cardinal wrote:
first is focusing only on what is relevant to you and what you do or want to do
Right now, I'd be happy finding a company that is looking for a good developer who can find the answer to pretty much anything he/she needs without having to regurgitate it in an interview. I've had 3 or 4 dozen phone interviews since December and the wide variety of information that they want you to know is becoming ridiculous!
John Cardinal wrote:
Second is as it always has been: a professional developer *has* to spend time auditing new technology
My boss, who pays me to work on HIS code and HIS application, would be quick to disagree. I can't spend any time at work learning the new stuff. with the 10.5 hours a day devoted to work, the 7 hours a night devoted to sleep, .5 hrs for dinner, 1 hr to "TRY" to unwind from the day and commute, I am RAPIDLY running out of hours in the day! That's all I'm saying.:->
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
10.5 + 7 + 1 + .5 == 19 You've got 5 hours of learning time !!!
Christian Graus - C++ MVP 'Why don't we jump on a fad that hasn't already been widely discredited ?' - Dilbert
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David Kentley wrote:
In what alternate universe was this ever the case?
During the early DOS days with GWBASIC, Turbo C (not C++), and MASM (or TASM) I guess.
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)Boy was it easy to be a developer back then! ;)
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: SQL Server Express Warnings & Tips Latest Tech Blog Post: Scratch: fun for all ages for free!
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JamminJimE wrote:
300 baud modem in a Commodore 64
Hehehehe I remember those days.... I recall how astonishing it was to flip from 300 baud to 1200 baud and wonder about how blazingly fast it was.
Why is common sense not common? Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level where they are an expert. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to be lazy
Yeah, I remember.. While i was sitting with my little 300 baud Hes Modem, I dooled over those other guys that had laid out the big bucks for their 9,000 baud modems. Thought that would be all the speed I would ever need :)
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: SQL Server Express Warnings & Tips Latest Tech Blog Post: Scratch: fun for all ages for free!
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10.5 + 7 + 1 + .5 == 19 You've got 5 hours of learning time !!!
Christian Graus - C++ MVP 'Why don't we jump on a fad that hasn't already been widely discredited ?' - Dilbert
Christian Graus wrote:
You've got 5 hours of learning time !!!
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you're single, aren't you? ;)
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
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Pete O`Hanlon wrote:
I now tend to steer clear of bleeding edge technologies
Pete, That's a good idea. However, like I said in one of the other replies, that's the kind of questions coming up in my recent interviews! They want a Programmer/DBA/Architect expert in C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET, Classic ASP, VBScript, Oracle, SQL Server, Underwater Basket Weaving, Astronomy, etc. If you can't answer the questions, they'll find some 20something who can. My debtors don't like to hear "I'm betwen contracts." ;)
JamminJimE Microsoft Certified Application Developer.NET
JamminJimE wrote:
C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET, Classic ASP, VBScript, Oracle, SQL Server,
Why ? Maybe you need to steer clear of agencies, who look for an expert in everything, to ensure they get someone who knows the job at hand ?
Christian Graus - C++ MVP 'Why don't we jump on a fad that hasn't already been widely discredited ?' - Dilbert