For me, 50 years ago, I was programming using punch cards. Sure glad those went away. Computers back then weren't exactly fast either, I doubt they had the power of a modern calculator. Gratefully, we have come a long way and computers have become far more powerful and easier to work with. Might I also add, a lot more fun. mvarey

For me, it was a case that my chosen profession (Electronics Design) was just not a viable profession in the city where I lived, so I took programming as a way to expand my options for employment and have been programming ever since. It has it's own type of excitement and sense of accomplishment which I have found is different from the sense of accomplishment with creating an electronic gizmo. I was smart as a kid too, and still can learn anything I put my mind to some 40 years later. Having said that, I really like creating corporate intranet sites as it is very rewarding to make people happy/excited for what they can accomplish with the right solution. mvarey

I took the toptal test as well and ended up failing due to "additional" requirements not shown on the test. Of course the test itself is, as you point out, really just a series of questions that have no meaning related to programming. It's too bad that companies fall into these traps of thinking that tricky math questions can show whether you can program or not. I myself tried this in the past with people I hired, and found out the hard way that you end up with people who show off well, but do not have good coding skills. mvarey

Yes, we have been forced to the conclusion that McAfee might just be the biggest virus out there. Have any of you had issues like we are having, that McAfee causes about 90% of our PC issues (drive corruption, slowness, system hangs, lockouts while it does scans that aren't scheduled, blocking of reboots due to it's endpoint encryption, etc. etc. etc.). We are really, really struggling with this product and wonder if any one else is having the same issues. What are your choices for a better solution? mvarey

Let's see: Canadian English and I believe it was Fortran in high school for the first computer language. Don't think I ever used it after that though. Prefer coding in C# these days. mvarey

On the other hand, McAfee, while being good, is itself one of the worst culprits for interfering with system operation, sometimes so bad that the system might as well be bricked cause it is unusably slow. It's too bad that antivirus software is sometimes almost as bad as the software it is protecting you against. mvarey

I believe that Microsoft has actually addressed the productivity issue head on, where Oracle with it's Java platform have not. Since cost of development is currently the foremost concern of management, it makes it almost a no brainer to choose the .Net platform. It's unfortunate that Java has not progressed the same way to provide a head on competition to Microsoft as I believe that would have furthered both platforms. I have extensive experience in both platforms and have to admit that for me, the winner is hands down Microsoft. They did their homework and continually improve the product based on what the customers are seeking. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

mvarey