Shouldn't programmers know how to fix computers?
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Does it drive anyone else bonkers when developers keep complaining about their windows PC blue screening? If you know how to program why can't you figure out how to fix your own computer, or at least start researching?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
Because fixing computers takes a fucking lot of time, we are to expensive for that.
FILETIME to time_t
| FoldWithUs! | sighist | WhoIncludes - Analyzing C++ include file hierarchy -
If you move to Norfolk, you could have the one in the middle instead!
Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water
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Unless ryanb31 comes with an ample selection of the mentioned.
FILETIME to time_t
| FoldWithUs! | sighist | WhoIncludes - Analyzing C++ include file hierarchy -
you ryanb31, are a boob.
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) -
Does it drive anyone else bonkers when developers keep complaining about their windows PC blue screening? If you know how to program why can't you figure out how to fix your own computer, or at least start researching?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Fixed your title What drives me even more bonkers are developers who don't know how to put a shortcut to an app on the desktop. :doh: True story, that.
There was this one time when I created a desktop shortcut on a Windows server only to have users complain that there is no shortcut. Ofcourse, what I had not thought about was different people use different logins and I should have placed the shortcut at the appropriate location. :-O
SG Aham Brahmasmi!
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So you expect anyone who programs computers to also be a hardware technician? Most automobiles have many computerized systems in them. Do you expect the mechanic to be a computer technician? Do you expect them to be a materials engineer to determine why the brake pads have worn out?
Failure is not an option; it's the default selection.
Mark Nischalke wrote:
Most automobiles have many computerized systems in them. Do you expect the mechanic to be a computer technician?
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. In at least so far that he knows how to run a diagnostic on those computerized system. If he can't do that, then he isn't qualified to work on my car, and he should stick to fixing VW's ;)
Mark Nischalke wrote:
Do you expect them to be a materials engineer to determine why the brake pads have worn out?
No, but I do expect him to be able to tell me that the brake pads are indeed worn out, not just simply "Uh, your car won't stop.... I don't know why!"
Mark Nischalke wrote:
So you expect anyone who programs computers to also be a hardware technician?
So, by definition, a programmer is someone who makes a computer system do his bidding. Whether it be via a provided API, or direct to metal, makes no difference. If something goes wrong, I expect them to be able to find the problem, even if it turns out that the problem lies in the API... ie, if a "programmer" ever came to me and said "It doesn't work... I don't know why!", he loses all credibility in my eyes In short, I don't expect the programmer to fix the hardware issue, or the driver issue either. Just to be able to point to it, and say "This is what is causing the problem... Can you help me fix it?"
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That is because you are a user of the car. Not what I am talking about.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
I think I know where you are coming from in terms of the ideal. When I studied for my degree back in 1988 we were taught computer science. I have come across people with recent IT degrees who do not understand the workings of a hard drive - now someone may be a DBA and think that they don't need to know about hard drive architecture but nothing could be further from the truth - as the way data is physically stored on the disk will have a huge impact on database performance. Now for the reality - I work with many programmers and find myself again and again explaining why global variables are not generally a good idea and why decreasing coupling is also a good idea for the long run(making maintenance so much easier) - however the number of times I get blank faces and people disagreeing has got to the point where I no longer get frustrated. I now just quietly repeat my point and then wait for a few weeks after which I see them grimace in frustration when someone has named a global variable with the same name they want to use in their local variable... A good programmer will have a thirst for information and will learn more than they immediately need to know to perform their job - so yes ideally programmers need to know about hardware too(the decision to recently build my own desktop was one of the best choices I ever made with regards to IT). I also just gave you a +5 in sympathy for how frustrating it can be sometimes when other people have a limited scope of interest :)
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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But your finished product runs on a computer. Not only is it a tool, it is also the delivery platform for your finished product therefore you need to know a lot more about it. The carpenter is not delivering or building a nail gun.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
So you know all the configurations of every pc the software will run on? you must work on apple
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Does it drive anyone else bonkers when developers keep complaining about their windows PC blue screening? If you know how to program why can't you figure out how to fix your own computer, or at least start researching?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
I have worked for companies that lock down the machine so tightly that even programmers havent got the access to do anything but report an issue. If my program was cause the BSOD then thats one thing, if it was something else then that something is corporate standard and I could be classed as unauthorised modification of company equipment, which in turn is a dismissable act in my T&C's. The company pays people to maintain the hardware, if I do it I am taking work from them and I know if a techie started writing software then I would be miffed.
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Doesn't that confuse (or at least disappoint) teenage boys a bit?
Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water
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Doesn't that confuse (or at least disappoint) teenage boys a bit?
Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water
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Does it drive anyone else bonkers when developers keep complaining about their windows PC blue screening? If you know how to program why can't you figure out how to fix your own computer, or at least start researching?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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you ryanb31, are a boob.
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011)LOL - Agree :)
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sock puppet account?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) -
Does it drive anyone else bonkers when developers keep complaining about their windows PC blue screening? If you know how to program why can't you figure out how to fix your own computer, or at least start researching?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
Shouldn't drivers know how to fix their cars? (Since I was beat to that statement, replace this with: ) Shouldn't guests in the restaurant know how to cook?
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Does it drive anyone else bonkers when developers keep complaining about their windows PC blue screening? If you know how to program why can't you figure out how to fix your own computer, or at least start researching?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
Har-dee-har har...
Let us return now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when the operating system was delivered as a spool of paper tape, when we toggled in the bootstrap program from memory via the front panel switches, and when we patched everything, including the OS, in hexadecimal. When source-code-aware debuggers were a glint in some atavism’s eye, and “structured programming” was still an absurd new notion of the ivory-tower types. When the men were men, and the sheep slept with one eye open.
C'mon, now. A blue screen almost always means a fault in something:
- That you didn’t produce;
- That you don’t have the source code for;
- That’s poorly documented in some barely-recognizable dialect of English;
- That you understand dimly if at all;
- That some overworked Indian grad student turned out on his lunch hour for a total compensation of fifty bucks and a free copy of Flight Simulator;
- That’s you’d probably get in trouble for meddling with, even if you knew how to fix it, which you don’t.
There are occasional exceptions. If you’re working on a new device driver (whether or not you’re an overworked grad student, Indian or otherwise), you might encounter one of those exceptions. But in the main, contemporary computer systems are far too obscure, and too multifarious in their provenance, to allow us to fix faults outside our own applications. Especially since we aren’t all that good at fixing the faults that occur inside our own applications.
(This message is programming you in ways you cannot detect. Be afraid.)
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Does it drive anyone else bonkers when developers keep complaining about their windows PC blue screening? If you know how to program why can't you figure out how to fix your own computer, or at least start researching?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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So you expect anyone who programs computers to also be a hardware technician? Most automobiles have many computerized systems in them. Do you expect the mechanic to be a computer technician? Do you expect them to be a materials engineer to determine why the brake pads have worn out?
Failure is not an option; it's the default selection.
I would expect any tradesman to know how to maintain the tools he works with. I wouldn't hire a carpenter with blunt chisels to put in a new kitchen. So why should a programmer be any different? Their PC is the primary tool they need to do their work so they should at least know the basics of how to maintain it.
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Does it drive anyone else bonkers when developers keep complaining about their windows PC blue screening? If you know how to program why can't you figure out how to fix your own computer, or at least start researching?
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
I assume your are a support tech. Please forgive me if I am wrong. Developers do know how to fix their computers, the competent ones, but it is not cost-efficient to do it. If you are a tech you can probably program in one or two languages. However, a good full-time developer cranks many more lines than you a day. On the other hand, while he is doing that, you fix many more computers. Even though a programmer can fix his computer, he knows, or at least I know that my techs can do it faster than me. I am sorry if you are working with incompetent developers. But, even a good one would not waste his time with fixing a blue screen unless from experience he knows that it is faster to fix it than to call you. The difference between a bad developer and a good one is that the good one will use that time to work, no excuses no complains, and a bad one will go tell the manager that the techs messed it all up and the cat eat his source code. The programmer and the tech should act as a team. The Programmer makes sure the code is as close to perfect as possible within the time constrains, so the company is profitable, and the tech makes sure the programmer can do that without any distraction. It's called team work. I am sorry that you guys have to work with people who don't know what a shortcut is and such. They really need to asses their careers. However, please don't generalize. Respectfully, Di
