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  • Question about unions and heap allocated memory

    - by Dennis Miller
    I was trying to use a union to so I could update the fields in one thread and then read allfields in another thread. In the actual system, I have mutexes to make sure everything is safe. The problem is with fieldB, before I had to change it fieldB was declared like field A and C. However, due to a third party driver, fieldB must be alligned with page boundary. When I changed field B to be allocated with valloc, I run into problems. Questions: 1) Is there a way to statically declare fieldB alligned on page boundary. Basically do the same thing as valloc, but on the stack? 2) Is it possible to do a union when field B, or any field is being allocated on the heap?. Not sure if that is even legal. Here's a simple Test program I was experimenting with. This doesn't work unless you declare fieldB like field A and C, and make the obvious changes in the public methods. #include <iostream> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdio.h> class Test { public: Test(void) { // field B must be alligned to page boundary // Is there a way to do this on the stack??? this->field.fieldB = (unsigned char*) valloc(10); }; //I know this is bad, this class is being treated like //a global structure. Its self contained in another class. unsigned char* PointerToFieldA(void) { return &this->field.fieldA[0]; } unsigned char* PointerToFieldB(void) { return this->field.fieldB; } unsigned char* PointerToFieldC(void) { return &this->field.fieldC[0]; } unsigned char* PointerToAllFields(void) { return &this->allFields[0]; } private: // Is this union possible with field B being // allocated on the heap? union { struct { unsigned char fieldA[10]; //This field has to be alligned to page boundary //Is there way to be declared on the stack unsigned char* fieldB; unsigned char fieldC[10]; } field; unsigned char allFields[30]; }; }; int main() { Test test; strncpy((char*) test.PointerToFieldA(), "0123456789", 10); strncpy((char*) test.PointerToFieldB(), "1234567890", 10); strncpy((char*) test.PointerToFieldC(), "2345678901", 10); char dummy[11]; dummy[10] = '\0'; strncpy(dummy, (char*) test.PointerToFieldA(), 10); printf("%s\n", dummy); strncpy(dummy, (char*) test.PointerToFieldB(), 10); printf("%s\n", dummy); strncpy(dummy, (char*) test.PointerToFieldC(), 10); printf("%s\n", dummy); char allFields[31]; allFields[30] = '\0'; strncpy(allFields, (char*) test.PointerToAllFields(), 30); printf("%s\n", allFields); return 0; }

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  • visual analysis of web pages in ruby

    - by Clint Miller
    I'm looking to write some code that does visual analysis of web pages, preferably using Ruby. My code will need to be able to determine the top, left, width, height, background color, color, and font size for all the elements in the DOM. Of course, these values can only be calculated once all CSS is applied. So, I don't think that Nokogiri is up for the job. Ultimately, I'm trying to use this data in a VIPS-like (Vision-Based Page Segmentation) algorithm in an attempt to find the main content in downloaded news articles. I've considered using Watir to drive Chrome or Firefox and then extract the data. The problem is that browsers can't be run headless through Watir (I think). Ultimately, this code will be running on an array of Linux servers in a data center. So, the code won't have easy access to an X Server for displaying the browser. I suppose one solution is to use Watir and run a headless X Server on the Linux servers. That's a bit of a pain, but it looks like my best option right now. Does anyone have any better ideas?

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  • C++ OOP - Can you 'overload a cast' <- hard to explain in 1 sentence

    - by Brandon Miller
    Well, the WinAPI has a POINT struct, but I am trying to make an alternative class to this so you can set the values of x and y from a constructor. /** * X-Y coordinates */ class Point { public: int X, Y; Point(void) : X(0), Y(0) {} Point(int x, int y) : X(x), Y(y) {} Point(const POINT& pt) : X(pt.x), Y(pt.y) {} Point& operator= (const POINT& other) { X = other.x; Y = other.y; } }; // I have an assignment operator and copy constructor. Point myPtA(3,7); Point myPtB(8,5); POINT pt; pt.x = 9; pt.y = 2; // I can assign a 'POINT' to a 'Point' myPtA = pt; // But I also want to be able to assign a 'Point' to a 'POINT' pt = myPtB; Is it possible to overload operator= in a way so that I can assign a Point to a POINT? Or maybe some other method to achieve this? Thanks in advance.

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  • jQuery: preventdefault does not work

    - by Kent Miller
    I somehow cannot achieve that the a-tag looses its default action when clicking it: <a href="#" class="button dismiss">dismiss</a> $(document).ready(function() { $('.dismiss').click(function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $('#output').empty(); $('#MyUploadForm .button').show(); }); }); When I click the button, the browser window scrolls to the top. What is wrong here?

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  • How to get a collection of divs with jquery?

    - by Gal Miller
    I want to get the second img: <form id="formElem" name="formElem" action="" method="post"> <fieldset class="step"> <img src="1.jpg" > </fieldset> <fieldset class="step"> <img src="2.jpg" > </fieldset> <fieldset class="step"> <img src="3.jpg" > </fieldset> </form> I tried doing something like: var imgSRC = $("div[id ='step']").get(1).find('img').attr('src'); alert(imgSRC); Got nothing....

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  • Split string on first two colons

    - by Mark Miller
    I would like to split a column of strings on the first two colons, but not on any subsequent colons: my.data <- read.table(text=' my.string some.data 12:34:56:78 -100 87:65:43:21 -200 a4:b6:c8888 -300 11:bb:ccccc -400 uu:vv:ww:xx -500', header = TRUE) desired.result <- read.table(text=' my.string1 my.string2 my.string3 some.data 12 34 56:78 -100 87 65 43:21 -200 a4 b6 c8888 -300 11 bb ccccc -400 uu vv ww:xx -500', header = TRUE) I have searched extensively and the following question is the closest to my current dilemma: Split on first comma in string Thank you for any suggestions. I prefer to use base R.

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  • Silverlight Cream for March 11, 2010 -- #812

    - by Dave Campbell
    In this Issue: Walter Ferrari, Viktor Larsson, Bill Reiss(-2-, -3-, -4-), Jonathan van de Veen, Walt Ritscher, Jobi Joy, Pete Brown, Mike Taulty, and Mark Miller. Shoutouts: Going to MIX10? John Papa announced Got Questions? Ask the Experts at MIX10 Pete Brown listed The Essential WPF/Silverlight/XNA Developer and Designer Toolbox From SilverlightCream.com: How to extend Bing Maps Silverlight with an elevation profile graph - Part 2 In this second and final tutorial, Walter Ferrari adds elevation to his previous BingMaps post. I'm glad someone else worked this out for me :) Navigating AWAY from your Silverlight page Viktor Larsson has a post up on how to navigate to something other than your Silverlight page like maybe a mailto ... SilverSprite: Not just for XNA games any more Bill Reiss has a new version of SilverSprite up on CodePlex and if you're planning on doing any game development, you should check this out for sure Space Rocks game step 1: The game loop Bill Reiss has a tutorial series on Game development that he's beginning ... looks like a good thing to jump in on and play along. This first one is all about the game loop. Space Rocks game step 2: Sprites (part 1) In Part 2, Bill Reiss begins a series on Sprites in game development and positioning it. Space Rocks game step 3: Sprites (part 2) Bill Reiss's Part 3 is a follow-on tutorial on Sprites and moving according to velocity... fun stuff :) Adventures while building a Silverlight Enterprise application part No. 32 Jonathan van de Veen is discussing debugging and the evil you can get yourself wrapped up in... his scenario is definitely one to remember. Streaming Silverlight media from a Dropbox.com account Read the comments and the agreements, but I think Walt Ritscher's idea of using DropBox to serve up Streaming media is pretty cool! UniformGrid for Silverlight Jobi Joy wanted a UniformGrid like he's familiar with in WPF. Not finding one in the SDK or Toolkit, he converted the WPF one to Silverlight .. all good for you and me :) How to Get Started in WPF or Silverlight: A Learning Path for New Developers Pete Brown has a nice post up describing resources, tutorials, blogs, and books for devs just getting into Silveright or WPF, and thanks for the shoutout, Pete! Silverlight 4, MEF and the DeploymentCatalog ( again :-) ) Mike Taulty is revisiting the DeploymentCatalog to wrap it up in a class like he did the PackageCatalog previously MVVM with Prism 101 – Part 6b: Wrapping IClientChannel Mark Miller is back with a Part 6b on MVVM with Prism, and is answering some questions from the previous post and states his case against the client service proxy. Stay in the 'Light! Twitter SilverlightNews | Twitter WynApse | WynApse.com | Tagged Posts | SilverlightCream Join me @ SilverlightCream | Phoenix Silverlight User Group Technorati Tags: Silverlight    Silverlight 3    Silverlight 4    MIX10

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  • The Latest Dish: Black Eyed Peas to Headline at Appreciation Event

    - by Justin Kestelyn
    If you're coming to Oracle Develop Conference to fill up on content, collaboration, and community, be sure to save room for dessert. At the Wednesday evening "Appreciation Event," which is open to Oracle Develop, JavaOne, and Oracle OpenWorld Full Conference attendees, you'll be savoring the music of the world's hottest funk pop band, Black Eyed Peas, plus superstar rock legends Don Henley (of the Eagles) and Steve Miller. Save the date now: When: Wednesday, September 22, 8 p.m.­12 a.m. Where: Treasure Island, San Francisco Get all the details here!

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  • Encrypting your SQL Server Passwords in Powershell

    - by laerte
    A couple of months ago, a friend of mine who is now bewitched by the seemingly supernatural abilities of Powershell (+1 for the team) asked me what, initially, appeared to be a trivial question: "Laerte, I do not have the luxury of being able to work with my SQL servers through Windows Authentication, and I need a way to automatically pass my username and password. How would you suggest I do this?" Given that I knew he, like me, was using the SQLPSX modules (an open source project created by Chad Miller; a fantastic library of reusable functions and PowerShell scripts), I merrily replied, "Simply pass the Username and Password in SQLPSX functions". He rather pointed responded: "My friend, I might as well pass: Username-'Me'-password 'NowEverybodyKnowsMyPassword'" As I do have the pleasure of working with Windows Authentication, I had not really thought this situation though yet (and thank goodness I only revealed my temporary ignorance to a friend, and the embarrassment was minimized). After discussing this puzzle with Chad Miller, he showed me some code for saving passwords on SQL Server Tables, which he had demo'd in his Powershell ETL session at Tampa SQL Saturday (and you can download the scripts from here). The solution seemed to be pretty much ready to go, so I showed it to my Authentication-impoverished friend, only to discover that we were only half-way there: "That's almost what I want, but the details need to be stored in my local txt file, together with the names of the servers that I'll actually use the Powershell scripts on. Something like: Server1,UserName,Password Server2,UserName,Password" I thought about it for just a few milliseconds (Ha! Of course I'm not telling you how long it actually took me, I have to do my own marketing, after all) and the solution was finally ready. First , we have to download Library-StringCripto (with many thanks to Steven Hystad), which is composed of two functions: One for encryption and other for decryption, both of which are used to manage the password. If you want to know more about the library, you can see more details in the help functions. Next, we have to create a txt file with your encrypted passwords:$ServerName = "Server1" $UserName = "Login1" $Password = "Senha1" $PasswordToEncrypt = "YourPassword" $UserNameEncrypt = Write-EncryptedString -inputstring $UserName -Password $PasswordToEncrypt $PasswordEncrypt = Write-EncryptedString -inputstring $Password -Password $PasswordToEncrypt "$($Servername),$($UserNameEncrypt),$($PasswordEncrypt)" | Out-File c:\temp\ServersSecurePassword.txt -Append $ServerName = "Server2" $UserName = "Login2" $Password = "senha2" $PasswordToEncrypt = "YourPassword" $UserNameEncrypt = Write-EncryptedString -inputstring $UserName -Password $PasswordToEncrypt $PasswordEncrypt = Write-EncryptedString -inputstring $Password -Password $PasswordToEncrypt "$($Servername),$($UserNameEncrypt),$($PasswordEncrypt)" | Out-File c:\temp\ ServersSecurePassword.txt -Append .And in the c:\temp\ServersSecurePassword.txt file which we've just created, you will find your Username and Password, all neatly encrypted. Let's take a look at what the txt looks like: .and in case you're wondering, Server names, Usernames and Passwords are all separated by commas. Decryption is actually much more simple:Read-EncryptedString -InputString $EncryptString -password "YourPassword" (Just remember that the Password you're trying to decrypt must be exactly the same as the encrypted phrase.) Finally, just to show you how smooth this solution is, let's say I want to use the Invoke-DBMaint function from SQLPSX to perform a checkdb on a system database: it's just a case of split, decrypt and be happy!Get-Content c:\temp\ServerSecurePassword.txt | foreach { [array] $Split = ($_).split(",") Invoke-DBMaint -server $($Split[0]) -UserName (Read-EncryptedString -InputString $Split[1] -password "YourPassword" ) -Password (Read-EncryptedString -InputString $Split[2] -password "YourPassword" ) -Databases "SYSTEM" -Action "CHECK_DB" -ReportOn c:\Temp } This is why I love Powershell.

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  • WORK PLANS in 10 Minutes

    Most productive people use some form of a work plan to sort out what they need to do and to guide them when they are doing the work. People generally agree that they need a work plan for new work, b... [Author: Dr Neil Miller - Computers and Internet - August 24, 2009]

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  • Apple publie une mise à jour de sécurité qui colmate la faille mise à jour lors du Pwn2Own 2010

    Apple a publié une mise à jour de sécurité pour Mac OS X Leopard et Mac OS X Snow Leopard, que ce soit la version normale ou la version Serveur. Cette mise à jour de sécurité colmate la faille que Charlie Miller avait mis à jour lors du Pwn2own 2010 qui s'était tenu fin mars. Voir http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4131 pour plus d'information sur la mise à jour sécurité 2010-003 Voir également Jusqu'ici, aucun navigateur ne résiste aux attaques des experts en séc...

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  • Guide To Be An Active Facebook Member With Safety

    These days many people from all over the world have a fun time by browsing online social networking websites like Facebook. The reason is that they are the superb means to be in contact with friends ... [Author: Susan Miller - Computers and Internet - May 17, 2010]

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  • D&rsquo;Arcy&rsquo;s Book Club - The New Strategic Selling

    - by D'Arcy Lussier
    The New Strategic Selling Miller and Heiman Amazon.ca Amazon.com Chapters Everybody is a salesmen. Every day, without knowing it, we sell something to someone. Now, the typical vision people think of when they hear the word “sales” is the sleazy used car salesperson who does whatever they can to get you to buy the clunker on their lot. But selling is not an action tied to money and products. Selling is about convincing people to see your point of view and act on it. If you want your company to cover a trip to a conference, you may have to sell the idea to your boss. If you want to buy that new big screen TV, you have to sell the idea to your significant other. If you want to go on a weekend fishing trip with the boys you might be called in to help sell the idea to your buddies wife. We all sell, but we don’t all sell very well. So enter The New Strategic Selling, a book based on the sales course put on by the Miller-Heiman group. In fact, this isn’t really a “New” strategy to selling as its been around for a number of years. But the concepts they present, the ideas about selling, these are still very radical based on what most of us have experienced. Gone are the high pressure, win at all cost, GlenGarry-GlenRoss style of sales…instead the book presents a framework to switch to need-based selling. It’s the idea that instead of going in raving about a product or service, you build a relationship where the buyer expresses what their needs are and your response is to present a solution that best fits that need. Instead of focussing on the amount of money you can squeeze out of a client, you focus on whether everyone wins, that they receive win-results from the engagement, that repeat business is developed over time delivering value over and over again. The great thing about the book is that what it teaches…things like how to identify different buying influencers, how to prepare for meetings, techniques to solicit information about what the buyer is really thinking/feeling…these things are entirely applicable in *any* situation that you need to sell to someone…and remember: selling is convincing people to see your point of view and act on it. So that new big screen TV you want to buy but need to convince your wife on? This book can help you. That training opportunity you want your company to send you on? This book can help you. The upgrade to your community park that you want to lobby the local civic authorities for? This book can help you. The book is a bit wordy. I found that the length could have been reduced and the points still have gotten across. That’s really the only knock that I have though; the insight that it provides is so worthwhile that having to chew through extra words is well worth it. You definitely don’t have to be a professional salesperson to benefit from this book. Rating: 4/5

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  • Translating EventAggregators usage of SynchronizationContext to VB.Net

    - by Phil Sayers
    Working with a fairly large VB.Net back office winforms application. 1 million+ LOC. Big ball of mud, 90% of all code is in Forms & other UI controls. Slowly introducing better architecture as time & recources allows, We've been using ideas from the EventAggrgator by Jeremy Miller. http://codebetter.com/blogs/jeremy.miller/archive/2008/01/11/build-your-own-cab-extensible-pub-sub-event-aggregator-with-generics.aspx Initially I stripped out the usage of SynchronizationContext. Now I'm trying to introduce it back, and I'm struggling with the translation of the lamda stuff from c# to vb.net. Specifically this line of c# _context.Send(delegate { receiver.Handle(subject); }, null); This is the vb.net I have so far: _context.Send(New SendOrPostCallback(AddressOf listener.Handle(message)), Nothing) The error I'm getting is listener.Handle(message) <-- AddressOf operand must be the name of a method. I'm sure I'm missing something simple, but after staring at this for 2 days, I'm lost.

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  • ERB Template removing the trailing line

    - by KandadaBoggu
    I have an ERB template for sending an email. Name: <%= @user.name %> <% unless @user.phone.blank? %> Phone: <%= @user.phone %> <% end %> Address: <%= @user.address %> When the user hasn't set the phone then the email body is as follows: Name: John Miller Address: X124 Dummy Lane, Dummy City, CA I am trying to remove the blank line between Name and Address when Phone is empty. Name: John Miller Address: X124 Dummy Lane, Dummy City, CA I have tried to use <%--%> tags(to remove the trailing new line) without any success. Name: <%= @user.name %> <%- unless @user.phone.blank? -%> Phone: <%= @user.phone %> <%- end -%> Address: <%= @user.address -%> How do I work around this issue?

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  • Finding which OS a software requires?

    - by Kannan
    How to find a (ie., Portable single executable) software requires a particular OS (Win98, Win98SE, WinME, Win2000, WinXP, Linux). I am using Win98SE in one pc and WinXP in another PC. If I copy/install a portable software or package in win98se, only after installing / executing that software, that program tell us it requires WinXP,. Is any software to find a particular software needs to run only in win98SE or greater. I tried Dependency Walker by Steve Miller but no results. Kindly help to solve this problem.

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  • LIVE WEBCAST March 24 2pm PT- Why Switch from Red Hat and SUSE Linux to Oracle Linux?

    - by Zeynep Koch
    Oracle has been offering affordable Linux support since 2006 and more than 6,000 customers already use it. Oracle's Unbreakable Linux support program draws on the expertise of a world-class support organization that understands how to diagnose and solve Linux issues integrated with the applications being deployed on it. Find out how you can save 50-90% on your support costs. Join Oracle's Monica Kumar, Sr.Director of Linux, Oracle VM and MySQL and Avi Miller, Principal Sales Consultant, Linux and Virtualization on Thursday, March 24, 2pm PT to hear:The "Why and how" of switching to Oracle LinuxTesting and integration with systems and applicationsFree management and high availability toolsReal life customer scenariosIf you are going to get free access to the most advanced Linux operating system, along with world-class support at a fraction of the cost, better testing and integration with your server and applications, why wouldn't you do it? Register Now

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  • Découverte d'une faille de sécurité critique dans iOS, une application malveillante se retrouve sur l'App Store

    Découverte d'une faille de sécurité critique dans iOS une application malveillante se retrouve sur l'App Store Charlie Miller, un ancien analyste de la NSA, reconnu pour avoir déjà trouvé plusieurs vulnérabilités dans les systèmes d'Apple, vient de révéler une nouvelle faille critique dans les terminaux iOS. La faille se situe au niveau du moteur JavaScript du navigateur Safari dans la politique de restriction de la signature de code, qui permet d'exécuter des commandes non autorisées dans un espace de la mémoire du dispositif. La vulnérabilité peut-être exploitée par des pirates pour exécuter du code distant, voler ou détruire les données des utilisateurs et envoy...

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  • Allowing the specific format of email address in MVC input

    - by user219315
    Hi I have a page in MVC where i want to take the email adddress as the input which can be of format like:"Jone Davi" <[email protected]>, "Ben Miller" <[email protected]>, "Jane Ton" <[email protected]>, Then from this I want to parse the valid emailaddress.But on click of the submit button getting error message" A potentially dangerous Request.Form value was detected from the client " Thus is there any way to take the input of email address in above format and bypass the security error for that specific page. Thanks in advance.

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  • How can I fall in love with Math? Again?

    - by gotts
    After reading How to not sort by average rating by Evan Miller I was really inspired to learn some more math. But after thinking about it for a while I didn't find a way I can use beyond-trivial math in my pet projects.. Or probably it is a moment like "You are not aware that you are not aware" and I should learn more math before I can start to see great examples of how I can apply it?

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  • UPK Professional Customer Success Story: Medtronic

    - by [email protected]
    In case you missed the live event, be sure to listen to last week's UPK Customer iSeminar featuring Medtronic. This was the first iSeminar in our quarterly series to showcase UPK Professional (UPK and Knowledge Pathways). Donna Miller and Staci Gilbert gave viewers an inside look at samples of Medtronic's content as they shared their experiences, methodology and best practices for use of the solution. Here are some highlights of the call: • Medtronic initially purchased UPK Professional to support a multi-year, global SAP rollout for 9,000 end users located in 24 countries. • As time went on, they expanded their use of UPK Professional to include several of their other enterprise applications: PeopleSoft, Siebel CRM, Hyperion Financial Management, a number of SAP bolt-ons, Documentum, TrackWise, and many others. • In combination with their Saba LMS, UPK Professional has allowed Medtronic to create, deploy, track and certify consistent end user training for critical transactions and processes across their organization worldwide - essential for a company in a heavily regulated industry. • For key pieces of content or certain end user populations, some Medtronic business units localize/translate the global UPK content. Staci demonstrated examples of their SAP content which has been translated into Japanese. • In the live SAP environment, end users rely on UPK's context sensitive in-application performance support. Medtronic has found this to be very helpful post go-live, giving just-in-time support so end users are confident in a new system or when performing tasks they don't often touch (at quarter or year end). UPK also serves as Medtronic's internal Google. • Medtronic has realized savings on many fronts: reduction in support calls due to in-application performance support, elimination of their training clients, and speedier training (1.5 days rather than 5-7 days) of temporary workers by moving from ILT to a blended solution that includes UPK simulations for eLearning. Thanks again to Donna and Staci for an exceptional presentation. They offered so many great examples for anyone who's looking for ways to get more out of UPK or interested in learning about UPK Professional: Knowledge Pathways. - Karen Rihs, Oracle UPK Outbound Product Management

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  • Craftsmanship is ALL that Matters

    - by Wayne Molina
    Today, I'm going to talk about a touchy subject: the notion of working in a company that doesn't use the prescribed "best practices" in its software development endeavours.  Over the years I have, using a variety of pseudonyms, asked this question on popular programming forums.  Although I always add in some minor variation of the story to avoid suspicion that it's the same person posting, the crux of the tale remains the same: A Programmer’s Tale A junior software developer has just started a new job at an average company, creating average line-of-business applications for internal use (the most typical scenario programmers find themselves in).  This hypothetical newbie has spent a lot of time reading up on the "theory" of software development, devouring books, blogs and screencasts from well-known and respected software developers in the community in order to broaden his knowledge and "do what the pros do".  He begins his new job, eager to apply what he's learned on a real-world project only to discover that his new teammates doesn't use any of those concepts and techniques.  They hack their way through development, or in a best-case scenario use some homebrew, thrown-together semblance of a framework for their applications that follows not one of the best practices suggested by the “elite” in the software community - things like TDD (TDD as a "best practice" is the only subjective part of this post, but it's included here due to a very large following of respected developers who consider it one), the SOLID principles, well-known and venerable tools, even version control in a worst case and truly nightmarish scenario.  Our protagonist is frustrated that he isn't doing things the "proper" way - a way he's spent personal time digesting and learning about and, more importantly, a way that some of the top developers in the industry advocate - and turns to a forum to ask the advice of his peers. Invariably the answer I, in the guise of the concerned newbie, will receive is that A) I don't know anything and should just shut my mouth and sling code the bad way like everybody else on the team, and B) These "best practices" are fade or a joke, and the only thing that matters is shipping software to your customers. I am here today to say that anyone who says this, or anything like it, is not only full of crap but indicative of exactly the type of “developer” that has helped to give our industry a bad name.  Here is why: One Who Knows Nothing, Understands Nothing On one hand, you have the cognoscenti of the .NET development world.  Guys like James Avery, Jeremy Miller, Ayende Rahien and Rob Conery; all well-respected and noted programmers that are pretty much our version of celebrities.  These guys write blogs, books, and post videos outlining the "correct" way of writing software to make sure it not only works but is maintainable and extensible and a joy to work with.  They tout the virtues of the SOLID principles, or of using TDD/BDD, or using a mature ORM like NHibernate, Subsonic or even Entity Framework. On the other hand, you have Joe Everyman, Lead Software Developer at Initrode Corporation - in our hypothetical story Joe is the junior developer's new boss.  Joe's been with Initrode for 10 years, starting as the company’s very first programmer and over the years building up a little fiefdom of his own until at the present he’s in charge of all Initrode’s software development.  Joe writes code the same way he always has, without bothering to learn much, if anything.  He looked at NHibernate once and found it was "too hard", so he uses a primitive implementation of the TableDataGateway pattern as a wrapper around SqlClient.SqlConnection and SqlClient.SqlCommand instead of an actual ORM (or, in a better case scenario, has created his own ORM); the thought of using LINQ or Entity Framework or really anything other than his own hastily homebrew solution has never occurred to him.  He doesn't understand TDD and considers “testing” to be using the .NET debugger to step through code, or simply loading up an app and entering some values to see if it works.  He doesn't really understand SOLID, and he doesn't care to.  He's worked as a programmer for years, and that's all that counts.  Right?  WRONG. Who would you rather trust?  Someone with years of experience and who writes books, creates well-known software and is akin to a celebrity, or someone with no credibility outside their own minute environment who throws around their clout and company seniority as the "proof" of their ability?  Joe Everyman may have years of experience at Initrode as a programmer, and says to do things "his way" but someone like Jeremy Miller or Ayende Rahien have years of experience at companies just like Initrode, THEY know ten times more than Joe Everyman knows or could ever hope to know, and THEY say to do things "this way". Here's another way of thinking about it: If you wanted to get into politics and needed advice on the best way to do it, would you rather listen to the mayor of Hicktown, USA or Barack Obama?  One is a small-time nobody while the other is very well-known and, as such, would probably have much more accurate and beneficial advice. NOTE: The selection of Barack Obama as an example in no way, shape, or form suggests a political affiliation or political bent to this post or blog, and no political innuendo should be mistakenly read from it; the intent was merely to compare a small-time persona with a well-known persona in a non-software field.  Feel free to replace the name "Barack Obama" with any well-known Congressman, Senator or US President of your choice. DIY Considered Harmful I will say right now that the homebrew development environment is the WORST one for an aspiring programmer, because it relies on nothing outside it's own little box - no useful skill outside of the small pond.  If you are forced to use some half-baked, homebrew ORM created by your Director of Software, you are not learning anything valuable you can take with you in the future; now, if you plan to stay at Initrode for 10 years like Joe Everyman, this is fine and dandy.  However if, like most of us, you want to advance your career outside a very narrow space you will do more harm than good by sticking it out in an environment where you, to be frank, know better than everybody else because you are aware of alternative and, in almost most cases, better tools for the job.  A junior developer who understands why the SOLID principles are good to follow, or why TDD is beneficial, or who knows that it's better to use NHibernate/Subsonic/EF/LINQ/well-known ORM versus some in-house one knows better than a senior developer with 20 years experience who doesn't understand any of that, plain and simple.  Anyone who disagrees is either a liar, or someone who, just like Joe Everyman, Lead Developer, relies on seniority and tenure rather than adapting their knowledge as things evolve. In many cases, the Joe Everymans of the world act this way out of fear - they cannot possibly fathom that a “junior” could know more than them; after all, they’ve spent 10 or more years in the same company, doing the same job, cranking out the same shoddy software.  And here comes a newbie who hasn’t spent 10+ years doing the same things, with a fresh and often radical take on the craft, and Joe Everyman is afraid he might have to put some real effort into his career again instead of just pointing to his 10 years of service at Initrode as “proof” that he’s good, or that he might have to learn something new to improve; in most cases the problem is Joe Everyman, and by extension Initrode itself, has a mentality of just being “good enough”, and mediocrity is the rule of the day. A Thorn Bush is No Place for a Phoenix My advice is that if you work on a team where they don't use the best practices that some of the most famous developers in our field say is the "right" way to do things (and have legions of people who agree), and YOU are aware of these practices and can see why they work, then LEAVE the company.  Find a company where they DO care about quality, and craftsmanship, otherwise you will never be happy.  There is no point in "dumbing" yourself down to the level of your co-workers and slinging code without care to craftsmanship.  In 95% of these situations there will be no point in bringing it to the attention of Joe Everyman because he won't listen; he might even get upset that someone is trying to "upstage" him and fire the newbie, and replace someone with loads of untapped potential with a drone that will just nod affirmatively and grind out the tasks assigned without question. Find a company that has people smart enough to listen to the "best and brightest", and be happy.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT waste away in a job working for ignorant people.  At the end of the day software development IS a craft, and a level of craftsmanship is REQUIRED for any serious professional.  When you have knowledgeable people with the credibility to back it up saying one thing, and small-time people who are, to put it bluntly, nobodies in the field saying and doing something totally different because they can't comprehend it, leave the nobodies to their own devices to fade into obscurity.  Work for a company that uses REAL software engineering techniques and really cares about craftsmanship.  The biggest issue affecting our career, and the reason software development has never been the respected, white-collar career it was meant to be, is because hacks and charlatans can pass themselves off as professional programmers without following a lick of good advice from programmers much better at the craft than they are.  These modern day snake-oil salesmen entrench themselves in companies by hoodwinking non-technical businesspeople and customers with their shoddy wares, end up in senior/lead/executive positions, and push their lack of knowledge on everybody unfortunate enough to work with/for/under them, crushing any dissent or voices of reason and change under their tyrannical heel and leaving behind a trail of dismayed and, often, unemployed junior developers who were made examples of to keep up the facade and avoid the shadow of doubt being cast upon them. To sum this up another way: If you surround yourself with learned people, you will learn.  Surround yourself with ignorant people who can't, as the saying goes, see the forest through the trees, and you'll learn nothing of any real value.  There is more to software development than just writing code, and the end goal should not be just "shipping software", it should be shipping software that is extensible, maintainable, and above all else software whose creation has broadened your knowledge in some capacity, even if a minor one.  An eager newbie who knows theory and thirsts for knowledge can easily be moulded and taught the advanced topics, but the same can't be said of someone who only cares about the finish line.  This industry needs more people espousing the benefits of software craftsmanship and proper software engineering techniques, and less Joe Everymans who are unwilling to adapt or foster new ways of thinking. Conclusion - I Cast “Protection from Fire” I am fairly certain this post will spark some controversy and might even invite the flames.  Please keep in mind these are opinions and nothing more.  A little healthy rant and subsequent flamewar can be good for the soul once in a while.  To paraphrase The Godfather: It helps to get rid of the bad blood.

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  • ArchBeat Link-o-Rama for October 17, 2013

    - by OTN ArchBeat
    Oracle Author Podcast: Danny Coward on "Java WebSocket Programming" In this Oracle Author Podcast Roger Brinkley talks with Java architect Danny Coward about his new book, Java WebSocket Programming, now available from Oracle Press. Webcast: Why Choose Oracle Linux for your Oracle Database 12c Deployments Sumanta Chatterjee, VP Database Engineering for Oracle discusses advantages of choosing Oracle Linux for Oracle Database, including key optimizations and features, and talks about tools to simplify and speed deployment of Oracle Database on Linux, including Oracle VM Templates, Oracle Validated Configurations, and pre-install RPM. Oracle BI Apps 11.1.1.7.1 – GoldenGate Integration - Part 1: Introduction | Michael Rainey Michael Rainey launches a series of posts that guide you through "the architecture and setup for using GoldenGate with OBIA 11.1.1.7.1." Should your team use a framework? | Sten Vesterli "Some developers have an aversion to frameworks, feeling that it will be faster to just write everything themselves," observes Oracle ACE Director Sten Vesterli. He explains why that's a very bad idea in this short post. Free Poster: Adaptive Case Management in Practice Thanks to Masons of SOA member Danilo Schmiedel for providing a hi-res copy of the Adaptive Case Management poster, now available for download from the OTN ArchBeat Blog. Oracle Internal Testing Overview: Understanding How Rigorous Oracle Testing Saves Time and Effort During Deployment Want to understand Oracle Engineering's internal product testing methodology? This white paper takes you behind the curtain. Thought for the Day "If I see an ending, I can work backward." — Arthur Miller, American playwright (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) Source: brainyquote.com

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