Software Engineering Stack Exchange
Software Engineering Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
64
votes
8 answers

How can I salvage my internship?

I'm currently working as an intern at a very large, non-software development company. The position I applied for wasn't specifically a development position, but the team that hired me wanted a CS major to help try to develop some internal projects…
bhamlin
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64
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4 answers

Why is Java version 1.X referred to as Java X?

I saw that Java 1.2 is also known as Java 2. Do "Java 1.x" and "Java x" (for example "Java 1.6" and "Java 6") refer to the same version of Java? And if yes, why the need for this duality?
Federico Zancan
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64
votes
11 answers

How can I convince my boss that ANSI C is inadequate for our new project?

A few months ago, we started developing an app to control an in-house developed test equipment and record a set of measurements. It should have a simple UI, and would likely require threads due to the continuous recording that must take place. This…
rick
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64
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4 answers

Reasons NOT to use JSF

I am new to StackExchange, but I figured you would be able to help me. We're crating a new Java Enterprise application, replacing an legacy JSP solution. Due to many many changes, the UI and parts of the business logic will completely be rethought…
Bruno Schäpper
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64
votes
22 answers

Why do some programmers think there is a contrast between theory and practice?

Comparing software engineering with civil engineering, I was surprised to observe a different way of thinking: any civil engineer knows that if you want to build a small hut in the garden you can just get the materials and go build it whereas if you…
Giorgio
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64
votes
17 answers

Completion time on a company where the supervisors don't know programming

We are in a small company with around 10 developers. I am the team leader and responsible for the development process. Supervisors and salesmen are close to us since we are a small team, but have no clue on how software is developed. When they ask…
Odys
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64
votes
15 answers

When do you drop old technologies from your resume?

I have been reviewing several resumes we have for a new position. I noticed that a few of them had many old programming language versions and old applications on their resume (e.g. SQL 4.2, VB5, Lotus 123, Novell). This left their list of computer…
Scott Wylie
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64
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1 answer

What task did Dijkstra give volunteers, which was mentioned in his paper "The Humble Programmer"?

In Dijkstra's paper "Humble Programmer", he mentions that he gave some volunteers a problem to solve: “I have run a little programming experiment with really experienced volunteers, but something quite unintended and quite unexpected turned up.…
user712092
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64
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10 answers

Where to look for challenging jobs with a relaxed atmosphere?

I'm a dev at one of the big-name tech companies. I like the job for many reasons: I do interesting work on a cool product I solve challenging problems and use a lot of high-level skills (quantitative, creative, writing, presenting) It pays…
RBTree
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63
votes
14 answers

How long do programmers generally stay in industry?

One thing that I've heard a lot over the years is that those working in the IT world generally don't make life time careers out of it, but tend to "burn out" and start a new career doing something else unrelated (e.g. going from software development…
rjzii
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63
votes
15 answers

Co-worker renamed all of my queries

I don't know if I should be very irritated or what. I single handedly built over 300 queries for a large database, and developed a naming convention so I could find them later. No one else in my office even knows how to build a query, but I came in…
anon
63
votes
11 answers

Have you dealt with space hardening?

I am very eager to study best practices when it comes to space hardening. For instance, I've read (though I can't find the article any longer) that some core parts of the Mars rovers did not use dynamic memory allocation, in fact it was forbidden.…
Tim Post
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63
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17 answers

Why use an OO approach instead of a giant "switch" statement?

I am working in a .Net, C# shop and I have a coworker that keeps insisting that we should use giant Switch statements in our code with lots of "Cases" rather than more object oriented approaches. His argument consistently goes back to the fact that…
James P. Wright
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63
votes
10 answers

I never use pointers in my C++ code. Am I coding C++ wrong?

This question may sound strange to you, but I am learning C++ all by myself. I have nobody whom I could ask for mentoring and I would be very glad for some advice. I have started recently to program in C++ (about 3 - 4 intensive months with about 6…
curiouscupcake
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63
votes
9 answers

Novice programmer(s) frustrated by lack of a glossary of compiler errors

A friend of my family asked me for a bit of help as he learns to program (in the C language). As we were talking, he expressed frustration about having a hard time understanding the error messages his compiler (GCC) is giving him when he makes…
einpoklum
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