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So many developers and OS manufacturers (read Microsoft) have become obsessed with tablets as being the "ultimate new thing." Be careful! Latops and desktops will be around for a very long time. Tablets may be fine for "touch and tap" applications; but certainly can't and never will be able to replace a full-size keyboard for serious data entry.
Yes, the desktop computing paradigm will be with us for quite some time, but there's really no skills for that development work that anyone doing the work already needs to learn going forwards. Even with the upcoming Windows 8 release, there is literally nothing new for "legacy" Windows desktop developers.
J.Ja
J.Ja
11. Productivity UI Development for Laptops and Desktops
Honestly, almost all UI work over the last decade or so has been heading down a screamingly steep downhill luge ride as far as productivity-enhancing design is concerned. In short, the more "modern" the UI, the less you can get done with it, the more confusing it gets for any but the simplest and most pointless uses, and the less efficient it is even for the things you can do once you get used to it enough to actually figure out how to accomplish something.
Oh, yeah . . . and beyond the UI (though I think UI decisions end up dictating a lot of this), applications get more and more prone to favoring gimmicky, useless (or even harmful) "features" over flexible core functionality. Example:
Scriptable? Yeah! You can script button-clicks! No way do you get a comprehensive API or command line interface, though. (Wait . . . really? This stuff is so stupid I couldn't make it up. I've seen that approach to application scripting built into some applications.)
Honestly, almost all UI work over the last decade or so has been heading down a screamingly steep downhill luge ride as far as productivity-enhancing design is concerned. In short, the more "modern" the UI, the less you can get done with it, the more confusing it gets for any but the simplest and most pointless uses, and the less efficient it is even for the things you can do once you get used to it enough to actually figure out how to accomplish something.
Oh, yeah . . . and beyond the UI (though I think UI decisions end up dictating a lot of this), applications get more and more prone to favoring gimmicky, useless (or even harmful) "features" over flexible core functionality. Example:
Scriptable? Yeah! You can script button-clicks! No way do you get a comprehensive API or command line interface, though. (Wait . . . really? This stuff is so stupid I couldn't make it up. I've seen that approach to application scripting built into some applications.)
Hi TsarNikky
That;s right now most of the developers are focusing on TAB and Ipad rather then laptops. The main compilation is in building the new and advance features for TAB.
That;s right now most of the developers are focusing on TAB and Ipad rather then laptops. The main compilation is in building the new and advance features for TAB.
I'm actually on track to know probably eight or nine of those by something like mid-2013 (and I already know about half of them at least a little -- or to a level of professional competence in some cases). Win8 development is the only hole -- and, depending on what kind of software I end up writing in the next 18 months, it's possible I might even have to learn a little bit of that just for portability purposes.
Chances are good, though, that my only connection to Win8 development will be writing platform-neutral libraries that other people with Win8 dev skills can use. As a friend once complained to me, "The only thing worse than X Window System programming is Windows programming," and I don't foresee that changing any time soon. What I've seen and read of Metro is that it's a bit like one of those increasingly popular IDE/Framework/multilanguage development toolsets that looks and feels like a toy plastic hammer that people are expected touse to build houses -- and the development model aims at houses as difficult to build as a good, sturdy earthquake-proof structure, but ends up with all the charm and convenience of those plastic houses people buy and put in the backyard for the kids.
Chances are good, though, that my only connection to Win8 development will be writing platform-neutral libraries that other people with Win8 dev skills can use. As a friend once complained to me, "The only thing worse than X Window System programming is Windows programming," and I don't foresee that changing any time soon. What I've seen and read of Metro is that it's a bit like one of those increasingly popular IDE/Framework/multilanguage development toolsets that looks and feels like a toy plastic hammer that people are expected touse to build houses -- and the development model aims at houses as difficult to build as a good, sturdy earthquake-proof structure, but ends up with all the charm and convenience of those plastic houses people buy and put in the backyard for the kids.
I've been on the sys admin and helpdesk side of I.T. for a long time, but I have been a part of our Web team as well, mostly doing HTML / CSS / JavaScript stuff. My question is, if I wanted to make the leap and learn more (AJAX, HTML5, CSS3) where do I go? Where do you all go? Do you just buy books and read? Does your company send you off to learn (like Learning Tree or something?) do you go to school? Just curious where do most serious developers go when they want to pick up a new skillset...
Honestly, "we" (that is, serious code geeks) tend to go to the web for this stuff -- generally by way of Google. That's especially the case for web technologies (as opposed to pure programming stuff, like learning Ruby and/or Python or picking up some test-driven development skills, where there are a lot of excellent books worth reading). In particular, you might want to take a look at sites like http://w3schools.com to get started, find some community resources (mailing lists, et cetera) to use for when you have questions, and find your way from there based on your own specific needs.
That really covers it. This question comes up a LOT, and really, there's no mystery to it. I would NOT pay for "training", the amount of time it takes to learn a basic level of competency would cost a small fortune.
J.Ja
J.Ja
Paying for "training" with something like HTML, CSS, and basic markup-embedded JavaScript is a waste of money. It's like going to class to learn stuff like mail merge in MS Word -- a skill one could pick up in an hour (at most) of experimentation.
Unit testing is a sad sham compared to what it used to be, much more primitive than in the days of serial communications to the display. I mean, come on!, the ratio of LOC to errors has been fairly constant for a long time. We make as many errors in our unit tests, especially now that it's just more of the same kind of code, and in the actual production software, twice the code generates twice the bugs, which means it drives down net productivity.
"The cloud" and SAAS are just recycling of old ways... at lower quality and with far more/worse negatives added.
JavaScript is just plain evil. Want to break a web site? Re-implement it to rely on JavaScript.
Python's kind of OK.
"The cloud" and SAAS are just recycling of old ways... at lower quality and with far more/worse negatives added.
JavaScript is just plain evil. Want to break a web site? Re-implement it to rely on JavaScript.
Python's kind of OK.
The benefits of unit testing are many and significant. What are you smoking?
One of the benefits of test-driven development is that it gives you some regression testing for free. Another is that it serves as a way to double-check what a given block of code is supposed to do, thus helping get up to speed when you're new to a project or have forgotten what you were doing with some old code. Another is that it forces you to think about your implementation somewhat without forcing you into a waterfall BDUF approach to software development. Another is that it catches whole new bugs you weren't even aware might arise while you're developing code. Another is that it encourages good software design because there's such a broad overlap between good software design and designs that work well with unit tests. Another is . . .
I could go on for hours. I can only assume you've never really given it a serious try. Maybe you prefer waterfall BDUF, or just hacking away until you have a snarl of hair for a codebase.
"Cloud" and SAAS are important use-cases. They aren't things that should be used everywhere, or even in most cases (yet; "cloud" systems have some potential for nearly universal application, though a lot of how it's done has to be rethought first), but there are definitely cases where they're the best options for the task at hand. If you don't work within such circumstances, fine, but that doesn't mean nobody else does.
There are huge problems with JavaScript, not least of which being the fact it has one of the most brain-dead type systems known to man. Many of the problems can be worked around, though, such as graceful degradation for clients without JavaScript support and some significant care taken when dealing with numeric types. We shouldn't have to work around them, but it can be done -- and sometimes it needs to be done, because JavaScript is pretty much the only widespread means of getting "real" client-side scripting with web technologies.
I agree about Python. It's not even all that important to learn it. I'd recommend Ruby first, and a couple of other languages, unless you have a specific need for Python. Even for professional reasons, knowing Python isn't a big deal: most shops that require you to use Python also assume you can learn it on the job, as long as you also know other programming languages and generally suit the requirements of working there in other ways.
One of the benefits of test-driven development is that it gives you some regression testing for free. Another is that it serves as a way to double-check what a given block of code is supposed to do, thus helping get up to speed when you're new to a project or have forgotten what you were doing with some old code. Another is that it forces you to think about your implementation somewhat without forcing you into a waterfall BDUF approach to software development. Another is that it catches whole new bugs you weren't even aware might arise while you're developing code. Another is that it encourages good software design because there's such a broad overlap between good software design and designs that work well with unit tests. Another is . . .
I could go on for hours. I can only assume you've never really given it a serious try. Maybe you prefer waterfall BDUF, or just hacking away until you have a snarl of hair for a codebase.
"Cloud" and SAAS are important use-cases. They aren't things that should be used everywhere, or even in most cases (yet; "cloud" systems have some potential for nearly universal application, though a lot of how it's done has to be rethought first), but there are definitely cases where they're the best options for the task at hand. If you don't work within such circumstances, fine, but that doesn't mean nobody else does.
There are huge problems with JavaScript, not least of which being the fact it has one of the most brain-dead type systems known to man. Many of the problems can be worked around, though, such as graceful degradation for clients without JavaScript support and some significant care taken when dealing with numeric types. We shouldn't have to work around them, but it can be done -- and sometimes it needs to be done, because JavaScript is pretty much the only widespread means of getting "real" client-side scripting with web technologies.
I agree about Python. It's not even all that important to learn it. I'd recommend Ruby first, and a couple of other languages, unless you have a specific need for Python. Even for professional reasons, knowing Python isn't a big deal: most shops that require you to use Python also assume you can learn it on the job, as long as you also know other programming languages and generally suit the requirements of working there in other ways.
I joined last weak.
I am working in PHP , Joomla and Druple.
I will be my future.
Is it have any scope.
How can i survive in IT.
how to learn these language.
Pls Help me
I am working in PHP , Joomla and Druple.
I will be my future.
Is it have any scope.
How can i survive in IT.
how to learn these language.
Pls Help me
This is not the year that unit testing moves from nice to have to must have on the resume. That was back when they invented the first programmable computer. Any developer worth a damn is assumed to be familiar with unit testing (complete integrated systems testing might be a different story) If you have been in this business any length of time, and you are just getting around to learning how to unit test, I really do feel sorry for all of your former employers and I am glad I have never had to follow up and maintain or enhance any of your code.
Yes, any developer worth the title should have unit testing in his skillset. In fact, it should be such an assumed skill by now that it should not have to be on the resume. It's only recently becoming a must-have, though, for the purpose of getting a job -- because we're probably lucky if even half the professional developers out there have ever done it, and hiring managers are even less informed about the importance of unit testing (and, in particular, test-driven development).
With declining market value and failure to stay current.
A real 2012 strategy is to win the RIM target market.
The reluctance to jump off the dying dinosaur is our conditioning nature.
The idea is to change the thinking and create/steer them in a direction that
Will put them back in the race, on top again or back on track.
Those millions of potential clients won a race (talk about dinosaurs...remember the palm pilot) and were on top.
So, if were a betting man...
and my guess is they want to win another race
A real 2012 strategy is to win the RIM target market.
The reluctance to jump off the dying dinosaur is our conditioning nature.
The idea is to change the thinking and create/steer them in a direction that
Will put them back in the race, on top again or back on track.
Those millions of potential clients won a race (talk about dinosaurs...remember the palm pilot) and were on top.
So, if were a betting man...
and my guess is they want to win another race
* I think that NoSQL is a little overhyped. Most experienced developers I know are not that excited about it because they see the disadvantages and are less prone to immediately hopping onto any bandwagon they see. That being said, it can be beneficial in certain contexts.
* I think that mobile is the big trend of the future. Its now within the realm of possibility to do a lot of serious work on a tablet or even a phone. A few more years from now, I would not be surprised to see these tablets completely overtaking traditional PC use.
* Look back to one of the oldest languages making a comeback. I don't know if its this year or down the road, but whether its Clojure or Arc or something else, Lisp is eventually going to make a serious comeback just because it has expressive power that is unmatchable by any language.
* JavaScript, as the language of the web, is here to stay for a while. And while jQuery is ridiculously dominant right now, I see the potential for another library to hit the sweet spot with not only managing DOM manipulation but also focus on structuring larger projects with maintainable code. jQuery doesn't do the latter and there are some great libraries that do the former and latter. So despite its current dominance, it feels a little like PHP in that most people use it, but eventually some new stuff might overtake it.
* I think that mobile is the big trend of the future. Its now within the realm of possibility to do a lot of serious work on a tablet or even a phone. A few more years from now, I would not be surprised to see these tablets completely overtaking traditional PC use.
* Look back to one of the oldest languages making a comeback. I don't know if its this year or down the road, but whether its Clojure or Arc or something else, Lisp is eventually going to make a serious comeback just because it has expressive power that is unmatchable by any language.
* JavaScript, as the language of the web, is here to stay for a while. And while jQuery is ridiculously dominant right now, I see the potential for another library to hit the sweet spot with not only managing DOM manipulation but also focus on structuring larger projects with maintainable code. jQuery doesn't do the latter and there are some great libraries that do the former and latter. So despite its current dominance, it feels a little like PHP in that most people use it, but eventually some new stuff might overtake it.
quote: Its now within the realm of possibility to do a lot of serious work on a tablet or even a phone. A few more years from now, I would not be surprised to see these tablets completely overtaking traditional PC use.
How does this keep coming up?
A major revolution in UI design for mobile devices -- including something better than touchscreens for the actual physical UI -- will be necessary for us to see "tablets completely overtaking traditional PC use." The current mobile UI paradigm is quite simply inferior in a major way to more traditional UIs for critical tasks like composing business documents, dealing with numbers, and . . . well, basically every task that makes up the core of an office worker's job. Until we can match the efficiency, flexibility, and power of the keyboard-and-mouse input interfaces, we're stuck with "traditional PC use." Even the absurd notion that docking stations will somehow replace the "traditional PC" won't help, because the major benefit of mobile computing is that you do not have hardware tied to specific locales -- and docking stations just give you a way to feel just as constrained when you want to get real work done, but the tablets you'd use with those docking stations provide the added bonus of greatly reduced computing power. A much more likely scenario is either of:
1. seamless syncing of certain subsets of working data between a tablet and a workstation system or two at endpoints where real work gets done
2. laptops that double as tablets without being particularly more bulky than current tablets
How does this keep coming up?
A major revolution in UI design for mobile devices -- including something better than touchscreens for the actual physical UI -- will be necessary for us to see "tablets completely overtaking traditional PC use." The current mobile UI paradigm is quite simply inferior in a major way to more traditional UIs for critical tasks like composing business documents, dealing with numbers, and . . . well, basically every task that makes up the core of an office worker's job. Until we can match the efficiency, flexibility, and power of the keyboard-and-mouse input interfaces, we're stuck with "traditional PC use." Even the absurd notion that docking stations will somehow replace the "traditional PC" won't help, because the major benefit of mobile computing is that you do not have hardware tied to specific locales -- and docking stations just give you a way to feel just as constrained when you want to get real work done, but the tablets you'd use with those docking stations provide the added bonus of greatly reduced computing power. A much more likely scenario is either of:
1. seamless syncing of certain subsets of working data between a tablet and a workstation system or two at endpoints where real work gets done
2. laptops that double as tablets without being particularly more bulky than current tablets
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