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Ian, that is *exactly* how I am going to be approaching my part of this. I have offered an idea for a web application, and am coaching on the basics. I enjoy the coaching part.
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Have a look at Pluralsight.com - they do a free trial, month subscription and annual. At least you can try before you buy. Reasonably large catalogue of courses.
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I have always heard good things about Pluralsight.
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They have great authors. 
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The only thing i see those sites offering in return, at the most; is a reference to say that you've been there. I'd go with the majority of people here and agree, to spend productive time in a good programming book. Which would be time better spent!
Regards,
CodingK
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Hi Kurt,
I went through : freecodecamp [^]
It feels like code project, i mean the discussion etc are almost the same.
So why not join code project it self.
I would better suggest either W3Schools or may be tutorials Point to learn the basics.
You have a try it editor there, so you can very well practice as well.
I would then recommend going to such sites for advancing to the next level.
Thanks,
Rahul
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I've recently been promoted to Director of IT, and have the responsibility of creating a bonus plan for my employees. The company owner has laid out some criteria:
* Bonuses are only paid out in months when the company is profitable
* Bonuses should be based on an objective measurement and not on subjective perceptions
* The measurement should be based on the employee's individual performance
But I'm stuck because I can't quite figure out the objectives by which to measure my (so far) sole employee.
I don't want to base it on the number of bugs fixed, because that means the bonus will decline as the products (two websites) improve, and it will also decline if bugs go undiscovered (and therefore, unfixed).
I don't want to base it on the number of paying subscribers because this particular employee's work is mostly unrelated, or only peripherally related, to the subscriber count.
Basing it on the number of programming tasks completed is problematic because that can be subjective, dependent on how one defines "complete". The owner doesn't like subjective.
How do you measure programmer performance? What criteria do you use in your work to determine bonuses?
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Matt Maynard wrote: How do you measure programmer performance?
You mean "average" performance. Well, there's no agreement on that one yet, but most of us agree that measuring LOC/day isn't a very valuable metric.
I'd recommend it though if I was on your team; copy/pasting a lot of comments would surely get me that bonus 
See, there's the problem with metrics - if you start taking things like the amount of bugs solved, you'll get a lot of bugs solved, just not the ones that the customer really needs. People will game the system.
I've seen lot of experienced developers bite on hard stuff with little progress. I've also seen people who were merely "faking it". It may take a while for an outsider to distinguish both.
I also do not see how a bonus makes programmers write better stuff. Training does that. 
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Well, officially one seventh of my salary is a "performance bonus". But in fact, it is fixed. Fortunately.
Nowhere have I seen a useful way of setting goals for developers and measuring the result.
measuring LOC/day isn't a very valuable metric Then I'd get a "negative bonus" because I often clean up terrible copy/paste code, thus reducing LOC.
When it comes to bugfixes, have fun with Dilbert:
http://search.dilbert.com/comic/Bug%20Bonus[^]
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Matt Maynard wrote: Bonuses should be based on an objective measurement
This of course means that you must in fact be able to measure something.
And it means that you must be able to demonstrate that those are relevant to actual productivity.
It also means that you must normalize it some how.
Matt Maynard wrote: I don't want to base it on the number of bugs fixed, because that means the bonus will decline as the products (two websites) improve,
The ratio of bugs to lines of code.
More code means more bugs. More care means less bugs but maybe less code.
In terms of QA you could also include ratio of customer reported bugs versus in house discovered bugs.
Matt Maynard wrote: and it will also decline if bugs go undiscovered (and therefore, unfixed).
Err..undiscovered bugs are not really bugs. If it doesn't impact the customers then it doesn't matter.
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Senior developers say that, Communication skills is as important as Programming skills to complete a project.
For example:
If we don't take requirements properly, we can't develop a software properly or we need to do rework again.
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Communication skills have nothing to do with programming. It is about how you give information to otheres and how you receive information from them. Training in communication skills is a fairly specific subject and you should research courses available in your local area.
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Very poor communication skils also puts you in difficult situation. But it is not true always. One must be good at both communication as well s technical skills.
Yes, especially as you are into requirements gathering then you must have to understand their business perspective. Especially when you speak with foreign clients, you must able to understand their accent and also business terms.
Try to read more articles on requirement gathering or else read about requirements of specific product what you are dealing now. This is atleast give you a rough idea of what needs to be done and also helps you to get a quick idea if clients speaks any of the words that you read.
And don't worry much about it. Its just a part of work life 
Regards,
Ganesh
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Yes both things are required. If you will face problem for communicating other then you will not able to understand the requirements and work related issues which will hamper your work. Most priority is your technology if you strong in this fields then you can manage in communication.
Take spoken English course and keep practice with friends then you can improve yourself
Sankarsan Parida
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I suggest along with spoken English course, start watching English movies (First with subtitles).
Join a chat room or something. Frequent chatting in English (and only in English) will make you think in the same language.
Think in English, the language in which you think also molds your communication skills
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I'm in a very unfortunate situation, and I'm hoping to hear some concrete advice to help me choose a direction for my programming career. Here's a summary of where I am in life: I just finished a Computer Science degree at a small college in my small hometown. My parents were very unsuccessful in life, and can't offer me real-world advice besides "Get any job you can!" I managed to graduate without retaining much information, and I completely failed to prepare for my life ahead. Now that I'm out of school, I can clearly see how unprepared I am for working with people in a corporate environment. I'm also very reluctant to move somewhere else to find work because 1) I basically already own my own small dream home in a decent neighborhood, and 2) my mother is getting old and won't be able to support herself much longer. She doesn't have any retirement savings, and I'm the only one left in her life to support her.
So, now I'm trying to grow up real fast and make some responsible decisions. I feel like my only hope is to find a way to make money remotely online. I would love to do freelance work, but I can't afford to travel to meet with clients, and I'm afraid I won't understand the projects I'm lucky enough to get.
Alternatively, I'm considering developing my own software/apps and marketing them myself. I'm creative enough to design novel and useful software, and I'm not afraid to handle the marketing and business aspects, but I don't know what "running a business" really involves.
I want to make it clear that I'm not looking for an easy way out. And I don't need to make loads of money to maintain my lifestyle. We've been supporting ourselves on minimum wage income for years. I'm just looking for a feasible plan to support a modest life without risking poverty.
I would welcome any realistic ideas/perspectives about my situation, or a better website to post my questions.
Thank you for anything you can offer.
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Hi Conway,
after reading your story, I understood that you need a job near by your home town or else you want to do a freelancing job.
Well, let me explain you one thing here as you said, you are just a graduate passed out. Freelancing on your own is a little difficult. Freelancing is the thing that people will do who has got a good experience.
I am not going to discourage you in this point. I am telling what a freelancing is. Even if you said to some one that you want to do freelancing, the first question that comes from them is "How many years of IT experience do you have?"
So trying for a own freelancing is really a tough at this point of time. rather I suggest you can go work under some one who does freelancing.
I wanted to know - Where do you stay? Why can't you go for a job search as you are fresher - No one is going to ask you to write a program on how a nuclear reactor works?
My real suggestion is go and search a good job - once you got a good job you can bring your mom to your living place.
Yes, I would agree you have own a good home. But people who works need to travel from one place to another place.
The scenario works for an experienced freelancer as they will have a lot of projects in hand and they can work from home (in their own decent home).
But as you are a fresher and I think you opinion on living in your village and asking that you wanted to do or wanted to achieve seems to be not a right track that your are in actually.
There are many freelancing sites available in internet. Just do a simple google search - freelancing websites list. That's it you will find a hundred's of pages giving a list of freelancing web sites.
Here are the some of the top most list
1. Elance
2. oDesk
3. Freelancer.com
4. Guru.com
5. PeoplePerHour.com
6. freelancermap.com
7. Fiverv
many many are there... only thing we must have enough knowledge on how to bid on projects and how to mange the projects once it is assigned. Might be delivering the projects in right time or some other key factors.
If you need any more help, feel free to ask us.
Regards,
Ganesh
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I'm a recruiter for a global translation company and have some tough positions to fill. Recent applicants have been under-qualified. I'm proactively looking for people and sourcing resumes. Besides the traditional craigslist, indeed, monster, dice, etc - what other sites are popular for the tech community to look on when looking for a new job? I like strong tech community sites like stackoverflow, for example, because the people who frequent those sites are usually constant learners vs posting on craigslist and having a less passionate candidate apply.
To get an idea of our needs, example of positions are "localization engineering manager", "OneLink Website Engineer", "IT Server Engineer", ".NET Developer", "Application Developer", "Junior Software Developer"
Any thoughts and input are appreciated! Thanks!
Victoria F
modified 19-Jun-14 16:35pm.
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Most of the community here is one of .Net developer, Application developer or Junior software developer.
For those roles you really need to have a good grasp of what technologies your client is using before writing a job spec and contacting prospective candidates.
In the UK I personally only really use jobserve.com or efinancialcareers.com. Most ads on stakoverflow or craigslist are not serious opportunities and the salaries reflect that.
-Nick
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Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it. Haven't heard of jobserve before (probably bc I am in the US), but I'll pass it on to our London team, thanks!
Victoria F
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I deleted my LinkedIn, haven't looked at monster in years - not even when looking for jobs. Most recruiters are poorer at matching keywords than Google's search engine.
Please, explain me the difference between the ".NET Developer" and the "Application Developer". And how much engineering/managing do you reckon is needed to localize an application?
Victoria Feng wrote: having a less passionate candidate apply.
I can become extremely religious when talking about development; but that's not the passion that's meant here, is it?
A tip; less marketing, less fluff, less positive political correct SH*T, and more facts. Where is the job? What's the pay? And what's your score on the Joel-test?
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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How about linkedin @Feng?
I have used many sites for search in job, right now point I forgot those. Once I got remember it I will post it back again.
I think linkedin is good source for many developers.
And I am a .Net developer actively looking for a change.
If you have a position for me, feel free to send JD to my official mail id - ganeshcse@live.com
Regards,
Ganesh
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What would your advise be on perusing a form of agile certification at this point? My main points of concern are whether the knowledge base and methodology has matured enough for the courses to provide value, whether the market has developed an appreciation for certified agile professionals (ROI)?
Naturally if you motivate for certification it would also be nice to know which body you can vouch for.
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The only reason to go for certification in any subject is to help you progress in your career. The first thing you need to research is how many businesses are asking for this qualification in their job requirements.
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So you have a certificate as an "Agile ..." - how much work experience do you then have with this or that technique / role in an Agile Team?
Depends on the employer: some might prefer certificates over experience, others might do it the other way round (and I'd prefer the latter style!).
Some certificates may provide a different kind of value: they make sure that people of different teams use the same "language", i.e. they certifiy that you understand a set of technical terms in a defined way. That's important when some work is sourced out to different companies.
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