This is hands down one of my favorite books. I happen to run across it at a used book store, and thought I'd give it a try, aka no way this will be any good. It blew my mind. I need to dust it off and re-read it. Are there any other books out there as good as this? Please share!

Which one is preferred by *nix folks? Java at least has open versions of JDK. With C# you're a bit stuck in the .Net ecosystem. Not sure if Mono is still a thing anymore. I guess is python to modern take?

I think there's a lot of great reasons here that focus on language alone, and a handful that talk about how software is released once it leaves the IDE. While Azure has implemented a lot of nifty features to make deployment easier, to me the biggest draw back is the release and management of applications in Prod. Working in a number of FinTech companies, they used C# but only in very limited ways. Who wants to support IIS servers and deal with the underlying Windows server? It's a nightmare. It took a long time to get decent config management tools to work with Windows. While linux goes bad too, patching issues and system failures feel more severe on Windows server. For the majority of applications especially anything customer facing Java rules the roost. I'm not thrilled about Java / Tomcat but I rather support that then anything C#. I've never seen a .net core deployment in the wild, though I would love for things to go that way. I've thought about specializing in that area to assist orgs trying to accomplish that but definitely a lot of sharp edges to consider. The horror stories seem to end in a full stop not compatible not supported by Microsoft.

Hi All, I have a thousand odd points of data, (city,state) describing the countries top high schools. I was wondering what an effective way to graph this would be. I have the data in a PDF, so I'm currently working on scraping that into .CSV form. Does the city/state location need to by long/latitude? I see a number of tools out there, just wondering what is the easiest to get started on a project like this. My background is Linux Admin, some HTML and of course bash scripting. I would like to learn how to do this using golang if possible. Thansk!

Hey k5054, Thanks. I think you made good points on C++ and C and that might be the best route forward. Those are always useful on *nix systems. I think I've been side tracked by the new and shiny... C# & Kotlin. And also can't escape the grasp of Java, which runs everywhere. Getting familiar with it's issues seemed like a useful lesson I could apply at work managing enterprise Java apps. Though the over complexity of Java and it's tools is cringe worthy, and I was hoping to find an alternative solution. As far as most portable and also most used, I'd have to agree is C & C++. Has it's faults but certainly not going anywhere. I will say freepascal is fun, and extremely readable/easy. I'd say more than python even. Might play with that some more also. :)

Hi all, I'm looking to dive a bit deeper into programming, and I have a few app ideas I'd like to build. The market is flooded with different languages for different tasks. I am hoping to find the language that will pay off the most in the end for me, one that will help me in my day job of Linux Administration as well as help me build useful cross platform applications. Java/Kotlin seems most directly tied to the Unix/Linux platform. Java all over industry, and Kotlin starting to make a bigger splash. Kotlin would at least bring familiarity to the JVM and it's quirks. C# is moving .Net core to be the new standard that is Linux, Mac and Windows friendly. At this point this is not commonly used in enterprise to my experience (.Net on Linux). Html5 or JavaScript seems to be a great way to make webapps or even mobile apps in some cases. Very Linux friendly, but don't know how useful long term... C++ is pretty happy on all platforms, and there are tools for building GUIs or just cmdline tools. Pascal/Delphi, this is a unique choice that is home on all platforms including all types of mobile. Under represented and not really prevalent in Enterprise industry at all. Any votes?

Thanks OG, that's my concern is cross platform is still no man's land to some degree. The hacky/easiest way I could think of is hook up speakers to my server (Raspberry Pi clone) and toggle music on and off with mpg123. I would at least like the option for both, play on local device or server. I read a little about bringing webapps to Amazon Fire. Are there any ways to bring a web app onto iOS? My concern is that a web app would not have capability to reach out to a local (not internet facing) NFS share.

I am plotting out how to design an app I have in mind, but I wanted to get advice on what the best path to success would be. End Format -> iOS, Amazon Fire TV App Purpose -> Music player, organize playlists. Two methods of playback are play on the server using something like mpg123, or easier method will be playback on device that is accessing files over the network. The music sits on a Samba share but I would like any kind of NFS style share comparability. This is partially a programming exercise, as I'm sure plenty of options already exist. My first thoughts on approach: C# -> Very Verbose and I only know basics Delphi / Free Pascal -> Much more readable, though far fewer guides to help. JS/PHP -> WebApp maybe the easiest to write, I have some PHP experience. Though get the impression my execution would be "hacky". Lots of ducktape.

Ok great, that's exactly what I was looking for. Knowing that it's possible is half the battle! I briefly read about Git Lab, I'll look into that. Fortunately the projects that are on the Windows and Linux Dev Box will be different so no need for code sharing. I plan to have the Git server VM run on a Raid 1 setup on a pair of new WD Red drives, plenty of snapshots for emergency backups. Thanks all!

I'm looking to setup a multipurpose local git server, but I wanted to make sure I was heading down the right path. I have a mixed environment with Windows 10 VS2015 development as well as some Linux servers using VIM and Atom the text editor. Is there a git magic bullet that would work in a mixed environment like this? Is it as simple as pointing everything to my Linux git server and making periodic commits using Windows and Linux command line?

Thanks for so many great replies. Currently my whole team is spread across the country so going into the office is mainly a social event. Unfortunately I don't get that much mentoring as a result but I have been able to work with some great people. Unfortunately my current job won't allow for expanding my time working from home, which leads me to my next question.. Are there any jobs which are more suited for WFH? Or at least have the most openings for the best salary. I really would like to make the transition into it 100%, or at least 4 out of 5 days. Would trying to transition to more Cloud Engineer or Network Engineer work offer more opportunities? I love working with VM's, Linux and Managing Backups. Any suggestions?

Currently my job offers me a 1-2 days a week working from home, and I really enjoy that setup. Actually I would love to move to a 100% work from home setup. I'm rather early in my career, 2 years of experience and graduated with my bachelor's 6 months ago. I get the impression working from home is usually a privilege reserved for employees who have been with the company for many years (unless their local office closes and they're forced into it, I should be so lucky). Does anyone work from home now, and how would they rate the opportunities out there for someone just starting out? I'm a Systems Engineer and I do a mix of Dev Ops, Linux & Windows Administration, VMware Administration and Cloud Administration. Is there any specific niche anyone could recommend where WorkFromHome jobs are plentiful, and rank isn't so heavily discriminated? Thanks, :java:

No idea if that would work, I've briefly read about limitations with apple products connecting to Bluetooth devices, in your experience what is the safest / most reliable Bluetooth version to use. The Raspberry Pi I imagine is flexible, and it would be on me to program that end to serve the Bluetooth side properly. But I'm new to all this so I'm very interested in hearing pros and cons to my idea.

Yea that sounds like a good alternative. Just thought of this option too, what about just connecting to the Rasp Pi via Bluetooth. I believe I would just have to enable connectivity to the device before hand and then I could try to use that to move data back and forth. I haven't used it before but would be fun to try. I wonder if there are any potential restrictions there. Thanks!

Hi Afzaal, Thanks for the reply, I was afraid of that. It's a unique situation for sure, my Raspberry pi is in the shed and away from any Ethernet or wifi connections. Hmm, I'll have to think which is more convenient manually switching wifi networks and use the network check you provided the link for or getting a wifi extender for the pi and connecting the pi to my router. I may try both. See what's easier. Thanks!

I have a project that has all kinds of sensors collecting data and sending it to a raspberry pi which saves everything. Now I want to make an interface to read that collected data in an easy and clear way. I was wondering if the iPhone is able to do this before getting too deep into building an app. Could my iPhone app change the wifi network I'm connected to so that it could connect to the ad hoc network I have running from my pi? This way i can just hit a single button on my iPhone app (if I'm in range of the pi's network) and connect to that network, access the collected data and display it in a nice easy to ready way. It'd be a great way to view my data, now I have to manually switch networks, type in IP addresses and it's a real pain. I'm hoping to build my app using ionic and angular. If anyone has any guidance I'm all ears!!

I've setup a server I need to manage to allow RDP over the Internet. I would like to use this server to access and manage some of the other servers on my local network (ESXi 6.0 host). For some reason when I RDP over the Internet to my Win 2012 server I'm unable to putty from that server to other local servers. Are there security settings that I'm missing? Thanks,

Hi All, I'm trying to expand my development setup. I have a win10 laptop that handles the average stuff, but being tied down with extra monitors and a real keyboard and mouse it's lost a lot of its mobility. That and a lack of desk space has got me dreaming of other expanses of unused surfaces around my apartment. I'm looking to do more embedded programming on a Linux o.s., and I currently have an ESXi host with a few vm's that can do the job. My spare laptop is an arm based chromebook. Not much I can do to connect to the vm's other than vlc and the like. Any ideas on how I could hook USB dev boards to my chromebook and program them through a remotely accessed VM ?? I haven't been able to find many tools for this purpose. Thanks

Thanks Richard, it's a good point, I probably should make a few apps first.

Ok, overlooking my naivety in things Android, I'm looking to get into Android development and am thinking it maybe a good idea to get a phone to test with. I don't otherwise have anything Android so would it be worth getting a physical device? Is there a specific device anyone can recommend? There seem to be a lot of cheapie Walmart/Walgreen specials that seem like they might fit the bill. Is there a minimum threshold to look for? Example nothing below Lollipop(5.0)? Thanks, :)