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• Should a software developer get a yearly equipment budget?

  - by CrazyDart

  I am looking at a new position with a new company. I have talked to some people in the past (in general, not at this company) that they had been given a yearly budget to buy new computer stuff to keep up to date. Now why I feel this question is worth asking here is that Joel comes right out and says an employer should pay for the best equipment money can buy... within reason of course. From The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code 9. Do you use the best tools money can buy? Writing code in a compiled language is one of the last things that still can't be done instantly on a garden variety home computer... Top notch development teams don't torture their programmers. Even minor frustrations caused by using underpowered tools add up, making programmers grumpy and unhappy. And a grumpy programmer is an unproductive programmer... Does anyone know if the industry has such a standard to offer an allowance or budget? I have never worked for a company like this, but I am thinking I should toss this in the ring for negotiations. Seems reasonable. How do bigger companies like MS, Google, and Apple handle this? If you say yes, give a range... I have been told numbers from $5k to $10k. Seems high to me, but hey I would gladly take it.

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• CMS and Databases vs. DIY

  - by hozza

  I have been programming for many years now, primarily in PHP and the like and would consider myself an intermediate programmer. Some of my online projects have now gone global and very widely used, i am now in deep thought about scalability etc. All of my systems so far are written in PHP, no known database structure such as MySQL etc. Instead our databases use an 'operating system style' method of storing information, files and folders if you will. We also do not use any outside/third-party software or CMS, so far this has work out extremely well. Most people, when they hear about the way we do things, criticize and say that is an idiotic idea but normally after seeing our systems in more dept are converted to our way of doing things. Is it really that bad to not use a standard databasing systems and only using the one (slightly heavier than others) language of PHP? How well on the face of it will this kind of setup scale? N.B. Our systems include things such as account and user management, documentation development and task/project managing.

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• What is a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)?

  A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS)  can also be called a traditional database that uses a Structured Query Language (SQL) to provide access to stored data while insuring the integrity of the data. The data is stored in a collection of tables that is defined by relationships between data items. In addition, data permitted to be joined in new relationships. Traditional databases primarily process data through transactions called transaction processing. Transaction processing is the methodology of grouping related business operations based predefined business events. An example of this can be seen when a person attempts to purchase an item from an online e-tailor. The business must execute specific operations for a related  business event. In this case, a business must store the following information: Customer Info, Order Info, Order Item Info, Customer Payment Data, Payment Results, and Current Order Status. Example: Pseudo SQL Operations needed for processing an online e-tailor sale. Insert Customer into Customers Insert New Order into Orders Insert Each New Order Item into OrderItems Insert Customer Payment Info into PaymentInfo Insert Payment Processing Result into PaymentDetails Update Customer for Current Order Status Common Relational Database Management System Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft Access Oracle MySQL DB2 It is important to note that no current RDBMS has fully implemented all of the Relational Principles. Common RDBMS Traits Volatile Data Supports Transaction Processing Optimized for Updates and Simple Queries 

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• Free Xsigo Technical Pre-sales workshop for Selected Partners !

  - by mseika

  In 2012 Oracle acquired Xsigo, a developer of network I/O virtualisation solutions. This acquisition compliments Oracle’s extensive virtualisation portfolio. With Oracle Virtual Networking products (Xsigo) you can: Virtualise connectivity from any server to any storage and any network. Reduce datacentre complexity by 70% Cut infrastructure expenses by up to 50% Benefits to Channel Partners: Offer a unique proposition that your competitors can’t match. Provide an innovative solution that delivers more performance at less cost. High margins that help sell more products and services. This course is aimed at Technical Pre-Sales Consultants equipping them to provide detailed demos, and architect RFP feedback and customer solutions. The language of this event is French. WHEN24th September 2013 WHEREOracle France 15, boulevard Charles De Gaulle92715 COLOMBES FEESFree of charge 09.00: Welcome, Coffee & Introduction 09.30: Value Propositions, Architecture & Use Cases 11.30: Build a OVN Web Quote & TCO 12.30: Lunch 13.30: Competitive Summary 14.00: Design Scenario Workshop 15.45: Questions/Opportunities  REGISTRATION: Register via this link as soon as possible, 14th june, latest. Note that we have only 20 seats in total for this event. Note that after 14th june we will release free seats for other organizations to register. We look forward to your participation! What we expect from you: You will bring your own laptop. Recommended browser is Firefox 10 ESR. You have checked the material and conducted the assessments. You will be flexible in terms of Agenda and Progress as we intend this to be more of a Workshop having Dialogue rather than sticking tightly into the tentative timeline. What this is not: This PartnerLab does not replace Oracle University Trainings. This PartnerLab does not lead to a Certification as such. This PartnerLab does not enable Partners to full and complete implementation skills.

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• How To Figure Out Your PC’s Host Name From the Command Prompt

  - by The Geek

  If you’re doing any work with networking, you probably need to know the name of your computer. Rather than diving into Control Panel, there’s a really simple way to do this from the command prompt. Note: If you haven’t already, be sure to read our complete guide to networking Windows 7 with XP and Vista. To see the hostname… all you have to do is type hostname at the command prompt. Go figure, eh? The same thing works in Linux or OS X, though you can see that most of the time the hostname is part of the prompt anyway. Note: you can also change the hostname by simply typing “hostname <newhostname>”. Of course, the easiest way to see your computer name in Windows is to just hit the Win+Break key combination, which will pop up the System pane from Control Panel.   If you want to change it instead, you can always change your computer name easily through Control Panel. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips MySql: Give Root User Logon Permission From Any HostUse "Command Prompt Here" in Windows VistaKeyboard Ninja: Scrolling the Windows Command Prompt With Only the KeyboardVerify the Integrity of Windows Vista System FilesFind Path of Application Running on Solaris, Ubuntu, Suse or Redhat Linux TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Home Networks – How do they look like & the problems they cause Check Your IMAP Mail Offline In Thunderbird Follow Finder Finds You Twitter Users To Follow Combine MP3 Files Easily QuicklyCode Provides Cheatsheets & Other Programming Stuff Download Free MP3s from Amazon

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• Are there any good resources for refactoring existing C# code to use LINQ while keeping your tests passing?

  - by Paddyslacker

  I've been teaching myself a little LINQ and an exercise I thought would be useful was to take my existing Project Euler C# code, which I built using Test Driven Development and gradually convert it to LINQ. I realise that LINQ is not always the best solution for all of the Project Euler problems, but I don't want to get into that here. I'm wondering whether or not it's feasible to refactor "traditional" OO C# code to use LINQ and functional programming syntax whilst keeping all of your tests passing. I can't find a way to make the tiny steps I'm used to making using TDD when converting to LINQ and this is a roadblock for me. I seem to have to make large changes to come up with a single function that I then replace whole chunks of my code with. I realise I could write this from scratch in LINQ, but in the real world, I'd like to be able to replace parts of my existing C# code to take advantage of LINQ where appropriate. Has anyone been successful with this approach? What resources did you find useful for refactoring existing C# code to use LINQ whilst taking a Test Driven Development approach?

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• What's a good way to check that a player has clicked on an object in a 3D game?

  - by imja

  I'm programming a 3D game (using C++ and OpenGL), and I have a few 3D objects in the scene, we can say they are boxes for this example. I want to let the player click on those boxes to select them (ie. they might change color) with the typical restriction like if more than one box is located where the user clicked, only the one closest to the camera would get selected. What would be the best way to do this? The fact that these objects go through several transforms before getting to window coordinates is what makes this a bit tricky. One approach I thought about was that if the player clicks on the screen, I could normalize the x,y coordinates of mouse click and then transform the bounding box coordinates of the objects into clip-space so that I could compare then to the normalized mouse coordinates. I guess I could then do some sort of ray-box collision test to see if any objects lie as the path of the mouse click. I'm afraid I might be over complicating it. Any better methods out there?

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• Reverse-Engineer Driver for Backlit Keyboard

  - by user87847

  Here's my situation: I recently purchased a Sager NP9170 (same as the Clevo P170EM) and it has a multi-colored, backlit keyboard. Under Windows 7, you can launch an app that allows you to change the color of the backlighting to any of a handful of colors (blue, green, red, etc). I want that same functionality under Linux. I haven't been able to find any software that does this, so I guess I'm going to have to write it myself. I'm a programmer by trade, but I've haven't done much low level programming, and I've certainly never written a device driver, so I was wondering if anyone could answer these two questions: 1) Is there any software already out there that does this sort of thing? I've looked fairly thoroughly but haven't found anything applicable. 2) Where would I start in trying to reverse engineer this sort of thing? Any useful articles, tutorials, books that might help? And just to clarify: The backlighting already works, that's not the problem. I just want to be able to change the color of the backlighting. This functionality is supported by the hardware. The laptop came with windows software that does this and I want the same functionality in Linux. I am willing to write this software myself, I just want to know the best way to go about it. Thanks!

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• Majoring in computer science, but i'm not to sure I'm in the right field [closed]

  - by user74340

  Throught out my high school years and first year in college, I never thought of studying computer science. I studied biology and chemistry during my first year, and I didn't like the research, nor any type of medical professionals. So I took an introductory CS course, and loved the diverse roles this field can have. So I declare CS as my major. I finished first, and second year CS courses. Then now, I'm doing my co-op(intern) as a web developer. During my first and second year, I was always just an average student. My grades is around low B. But I put so much effort to understand my course' materials. I see many brilliants peers who not only excel at what they do, but have the passion. So I always doubt myself if I don't belong in this field. I'm not good at math, I usually get Cs on my math courses. My internship (a corporate developer job) is okay. But doesn't want to work like this after my graduation). Some aspects of CS that I like is HCI. In my experience in programming, and group projects, I enjoyed designing User interface, and thinking of user experience. I'm also thinking of taking some psychology courses.. I would appreciate any criticism, or advices.

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• HTML5 - Does it have the power to handle a large 2D game with a huge world?

  - by user15858

  I have been using XNA game studio, but due to private reasons (as well as the ability to publish anywhere & my heavy interest in isogenic engine), I would like to switch to HTML5. However, I have very high 2D graphic demands for my game. The game itself will have a HDD size of anywhere between 6GB (min) to 12GB (max) which would be a full game deployed offline. The size of the images aren't significantly large, so streaming would be entirely possible if only those assets required were streamed as needed. The game has a massive file size because of the sheer amount of content. For some images or spritesheets, they would be quite massive. (ex. a very large Dragon, which if animated in a spritesheet would be split into two 4096x4096 sheets or one 8192x8192 sheet). Most assets would be very small, and about 7MB for a full character with 15 animations in every direction (all animations not required immediately) so in the size of a few hundred KB to download before the game loads. My question, however, is if the graphical power of HTML5 is enough to animate several characters on screen at once, when it flips through frames quite rapidly. All my sprites have about 25 frames per animation, 5 directions (a spritesheet for each direction & animation), and run at 30fps. Upon changing direction, animation, or a new character entering, spritesheets would change and be constantly loading/unloading. If I pack all directions in a single sheet, it would be about 2048x2048 per sheet. Most frameworks have no problem with this, but I am afraid from what I read that HTML5's graphical capabilities will limit me. Since it takes significant time simply to animate characters in any language, I'd like a quick answer.

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• Game planning and software design? I feel that UML is not convenient

  - by user1542

  In my university, they always emphasize and hype about UML design and stuff, in which I feel it is not going to work well with game structure design. Now, I just want a professional advice on how should I begin my game designing? The story is I have some skill in programming and have done many minor game such as getting some 2D platformer working to some extend. The problems that I find about my program is the poor quality design. After coding for a while, things start to break down due to poor planning (When I add new feature, it tends to make me have to recode the whole program). However, to plan everything out without a single design flaw is a bit too ideal. Therefore, any advice to how should I plan my game? How should I put it into visible pictures, so that me and my friends are able to overview the designs? I planned to start coding a game with my friend. This is going to be my first teamwork, so any professional advices would be a pleasure. Is there any other alternatives than UML? Another question is how does "prototyping" normally looks like?

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• Directing Multiple ccTLD's to 1 gTLD with a country specific subdirectory?

  - by Pascal Van Opzeeland

  We have multiple ccTLDomains and are thinking about how to best combine these into one. We want to do this to focus our link building efforts. We are running a website through which we offer a software-as-a-service. Therefore we could potentially sell to any country in the world. However, Germany is our most important market. We currently have a .com, .de, .nl. and .pl domain. All these domains have a high amount of unique content pages. What we are planning is to change everything to .com with language-based subdirectories, so .com/en/, .com/de/, etc. I have two questions concerning this issue: 1) How much of an advantage does a ccTLD have over a gTLD with country specific subdirectories in search rankings? So let’s say .de versus .com/de/? 2) How could we best redirect the visitors of our old ccTLD’s to our gTLD’s subdirectories? We would like to loose as few search engine rankings as possible. Thank you for your help.

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• Do input template languages exist?

  - by marczellm

  When I have to create some textual representation of data, I can use a template language, so that my code does not have to worry about the structure of the output file - I can sometimes even write code that's independent of whether the output is XML, LaTeX or any other plain text. A simple example: Template (in separate file): <someXmlTag> $variableName </someXmlTag> Code: Template(temstring).substitute(variableName="value") Result (written to output file): <someXmlTag> value </someXmlTag> I want to do the same, but in the opposite direction. I have XML or plain text or whatever files to input. I want to describe the input structure in a separate file that looks like the input but has these variable declarations in it, and I want to handle it with code that's independent of the structure. Is there a library for this concept? (We usually handle XML input by using an XML parser library to describe the input structure in program code, handle plaintext input by writing regexes in code, and don't handle LaTeX input because LaTeX can't really be parsed.)

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• High-level strategy for distinguishing a regular string from invalid JSON (ie. JSON-like string detection)

  - by Jonline

  Disclaimer On Absence of Code: I have no code to post because I haven't started writing; was looking for more theoretical guidance as I doubt I'll have trouble coding it but am pretty befuddled on what approach(es) would yield best results. I'm not seeking any code, either, though; just direction. Dilemma I'm toying with adding a "magic method"-style feature to a UI I'm building for a client, and it would require intelligently detecting whether or not a string was meant to be JSON as against a simple string. I had considered these general ideas: Look for a sort of arbitrarily-determined acceptable ratio of the frequency of JSON-like syntax (ie. regex to find strings separated by colons; look for colons between curly-braces, etc.) to the number of quote-encapsulated strings + nulls, bools and ints/floats. But the smaller the data set, the more fickle this would get look for key identifiers like opening and closing curly braces... not sure if there even are more easy identifiers, and this doesn't appeal anyway because it's so prescriptive about the kinds of mistakes it could find try incrementally parsing chunks, as those between curly braces, and seeing what proportion of these fractional statements turn out to be valid JSON; this seems like it would suffer less than (1) from smaller datasets, but would probably be much more processing-intensive, and very susceptible to a missing or inverted brace Just curious if the computational folks or algorithm pros out there had any approaches in mind that my semantics-oriented brain might have missed. PS: It occurs to me that natural language processing, about which I am totally ignorant, might be a cool approach; but, if NLP is a good strategy here, it sort of doesn't matter because I have zero experience with it and don't have time to learn & then implement/ this feature isn't worth it to the client.

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• Research useful for getting a job?

  - by Twirling Hearth

  I have recently started a BS program in Computer Science, in order to improve my employment prospects. I already possess a Master's in sociology (as part of a PhD program that I left early because I could not possibly sustain interest any longer). As such, I am trying to find my way in the grand world of computers. One option that has been suggested to me in the past is something to do with social networking. I already have a strong social sciences background, and my knowledge of programming is increasing as I go through my studies. I know there are some people in my city (Boston) who are doing research in that area, so it's possible I could get someone to take interest in me. For that matter, because research is something that I'm pretty good at, it's an option I'm considering, career-wise. I just have one question, is it a worthwhile use of my time career-wise? I have no burning intellectual passion for that topic, but I'm perfectly happy to do it, if it means $$$. Your thoughts are welcome.

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• Computer Science graduate. Master or full-time job? [closed]

  - by Alex

  Possible Duplicate: Is a Master's worth it? I have just gotten my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and I have to make choice. Whether to continue with my full-time job I just got or put the job slightly in the background and concentrate on getting a Master's degree. I am currently working as an embedded C developer in a small company. The cool thing is that, because the team is quite small, my engineering ideas really play a part in the final product. Not to mention that I get to work on very different areas of embedded programming: device drivers and development of a Real Time OS. I am very enthusiastic about my job and what I do. On the other hand, in my country there isn't really a master's degree that focuses on embedded development so my gain from getting this degree will mainly in the field of general computer science knowledge. That being said, is it worth giving up all my spare time which I now use to study different areas of embedded devices and work mainly to get a degree rather than pure knowledge and experience in the field I want to work in?

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• Making a Living Developing Games

  - by cable729

  I'm in my last year of high school, and I've been looking at colleges. I'm taking a C++ class at a local community college and I don't feel that it's worth it. I could have learned everything in that class in a week. This had me thinking, would a CS degree even be worth it? How much can it teach me if I can learn everything on my own? Even if I do need to learn more advanced subjects, many colleges put their material online AND I can buy a book. Will companies hire me if I don't have a CS degree? If I have a portfolio will I stand a chance? What kind of things are needed in the portfolio? I want to live doing what I love - programming. So I will do it. I'm just not sure that a CS degree will do anything to me. In addition, if there is a benefit to getting a CS degree, what places are the best?

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• How could there still not be a mysqldb module for Python 3? [closed]

  - by itsadok

  This SO question is now more than two years old. MySQL is an incredibly popular database engine, Python is an incredibly popular programming language, and Python 3 has been officially released two years ago, and was available even before that. What's more, the whole mysqldb module is just a layer translating Python's db-api to MySQL's API. It's not that big of a library. I must be missing something here. How come almost* nobody in the entire open source community has spent the (I'm guessing) two weeks it takes to port this lib? Is Python 3 that unpopular? Is the combination of python and mysql not as common as I assume? Or maybe it's just a lot harder to port mysqldb than I assume? Anyone know the inside story on this? * Now I see that this guy has done it, which takes some of the wind out of my question, but it still seems to little and too late to make sense. EDIT: OK, I'm aware that the stock answers for these kind of questions cover this one as well. Patches welcome, scratch your itch, we don't work for you and we don't have the time, etc. I actually took a shot at porting this about a year ago, but it was my first time doing anything with Python C extensions, and I failed. My point in writing this was not a plea for somebody to write it, but genuine curiosity: it seems that some much more complicated libraries have been ported to python 3 already, and in the poll for which libraries should be ported, mysqldb is not even nominated! That suggests that maybe (2) is the right answer. UPDATE: I found that there are several new libraries that provide mysql support under Python 3, I just wasn't googling hard enough. That explains everything.

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• Is there a better strategy than relying on the compiler to catch errors?

  - by koan

  I've been programming in C and C++ for some time, although I would say I'm far from being an expert. For some time, I've been using various strategies to develop my code such as unit tests, test driven design, code reviews and so on. When I wrote my first programs in BASIC, I typed in long blocks before finding they would not run and they were a nightmare to debug. So I learned to write a small bit and then test it. These days, I often find myself repeatedly writing a small bit of code then using the compiler to find all the mistakes. That's OK if it picks up a typo but when you start adjusting the parameters types etc just to make it compile you can screw up the design. It also seems that the compiler is creeping into the design process when it should only be used for checking syntax. There's a danger here of over reliance on the compiler to make my programs better. Are there better strategies than this? I vaguely remember some time ago an article on a company developing a type of C compiler where an extra header file also specified the prototypes. The idea was that inconsistencies in the API definition would be easier to catch if you had to define it twice in different ways.

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• What You Said: Are You A Second Screen Multi-Tasker?

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Earlier this week we asked you if you used a second screen while watching television or movies–such as a smartphone or tablet. Now we’re back to highlight how HTG readers are engaging (or disengaging) with their mobile devices. Image courtesy of Umani, a TV-companion application for iPad. By far and away the biggest trend was the use of the second screen as a filler for commercials and/or and outright diversion from lackluster programming. Jack in TN writes: Yes. I keep a laptop going 7×24 pretty much, and TV in going normally. Pretty much my ‘throne’ in the family room. I have almost always multi-tasked, before laptop it was a book or magazine or 3 at my side. My wife has accused me of using TV as a radio more than once, and I can’t say she is wrong. How to Get Pro Features in Windows Home Versions with Third Party Tools HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using? HTG Explains: What The Windows Event Viewer Is and How You Can Use It

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• Lubuntu 12.10: Icon Display Problems

  - by SlcBullseye

  First off, I would like to let you know that I am new to Linux. I finally decided to give it a try and my first project was installing Lubuntu on an old PC and using it for a media server for my PS3. So, one thing that I noticed right away is that my icons for applications, files, folders, etc...are not visible. If I move my mouse over the name of the application or file (It only works if I move the mouse up from the bottom of the name) then the icon will appear, but if I move my mouse back over any other place on the file the icon will disappear again. Also, if I open a folder sometimes an icon or two will be displayed but the rest won't, and like I said before if I move my mouse over the top of the application or file the icon will disappear. Is there any way to fix this? Is this normal? Or could it be a problem with my hardware? I never had this issue when I was running the last OS (Windows XP). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Remember, I am new to Linux so a thorough explanation would be helpful. Also, if there are any tips, tricks, references, or recommendations any of you have to help me jump in and become more familiar with using Linux that would be great! I'm very interested in taking advantage of the power Linux has. Currently I am studying computer programming so maybe one day I will be able to develop my own Linux distribution.

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• What is the steps to make a frame work for a company? [on hold]

  - by bbb

  we want to make a frame work for our company. Our company mission is developing web applications and CMS and websites. Till now we had a lot of problems with the various types of codding. we didnt have a frame work and every programmer codes as he wants and it was too hard for the others to edit them. Now we want to make a frame work for the company. We want to make an archive of dll files that are written by our self our other and make the programmers to use just from them and we want to make a frame work for the type of codding. WE NEED A STRUCTURE FOR THE COMPANY. I dont know how to do this and what is the first and second and third step to do this. I need some guidance about it. For example I say that the frame work should contains the followings: The base should be SOLID The method should be Code-First The standards should be Naming Convention The type should be 3 layer programming The method should be MVC We should use from our dll archive The UI should be with HTML and CSS And using from Bootstrap Am I right or not or is it complete or...???

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• Why do VMs need to be "stack machines" or "register machines" etc.?

  - by Prog

  (This is an extremely newbie-ish question). I've been studying a little about Virtual Machines. Turns out a lot of them are designed very similarly to physical or theoretical computers. I read that the JVM for example, is a 'stack machine'. What that means (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that it stores all of it's 'temporary memory' on a stack, and makes operations on this stack for all of it's opcodes. For example, the source code 2 + 3 will be translated to bytecode similar to: push 2 push 3 add My question is this: JVMs are probably written using C/C++ and such. If so, why doesn't the JVM execute the following C code: 2 + 3..? I mean, why does it need a stack, or in other VMs 'registers' - like in a physical computer? The underlying physical CPU takes care of all of this. Why don't VM writers simply execute the interpreted bytecode with 'usual' instructions in the language the VM is programmed with? Why do VMs need to emulate hardware, when the actual hardware already does this for us? Again, very newbie-ish questions. Thanks for your help

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• How to move from Programmer to Project Lead

  - by DoctaStooge

  At my job, I'm currently a programmer, but in the next few weeks I'll be taking control my own project. I was wondering if anyone else here has been in the same situation, and if so, what advice you can offer to help me be able to better run my project. Experience in dealing with contractors would be greatly appreciated. A little more info: Project will have 3 people including myself, with extra people coming in when needing testing. The project has been programmed mainly by 2 people I would like to contribute to the programming as I like doing it and think I can add to the program, but am afraid of how the contractors will react. I don't want to create bad feelings which may harm the project. EDIT: Forgot to mention that I'll have to be picking up communications with customers to make sure their needs are met. Any advice on talking to customers cold would be greatly appreciated. EDIT 2: This is not a new project, I'm picking it up around version 6. Sorry that I didn't make it clear before.

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• Is it reasonable to null guard every single dereferenced pointer?

  - by evadeflow

  At a new job, I've been getting flagged in code reviews for code like this: PowerManager::PowerManager(IMsgSender* msgSender) : msgSender_(msgSender) { } void PowerManager::SignalShutdown() { msgSender_->sendMsg("shutdown()"); } I'm told that last method should read: void PowerManager::SignalShutdown() { if (msgSender_) { msgSender_->sendMsg("shutdown()"); } } i.e., I must put a NULL guard around the msgSender_ variable, even though it is a private data member. It's difficult for me to restrain myself from using expletives to describe how I feel about this piece of 'wisdom'. When I ask for an explanation, I get a litany of horror stories about how some junior programmer, some-year, got confused about how a class was supposed to work and accidentally deleted a member he shouldn't have (and set it to NULL afterwards, apparently), and things blew up in the field right after a product release, and we've "learned the hard way, trust us" that it's better to just NULL check everything. To me, this feels like cargo cult programming, plain and simple. A few well-meaning colleagues are earnestly trying to help me 'get it' and see how this will help me write more robust code, but... I can't help feeling like they're the ones who don't get it. Is it reasonable for a coding standard to require that every single pointer dereferenced in a function be checked for NULL first—even private data members? (Note: To give some context, we make a consumer electronics device, not an air traffic control system or some other 'failure-equals-people-die' product.) EDIT: In the above example, the msgSender_ collaborator isn't optional. If it's ever NULL, it indicates a bug. The only reason it is passed into the constructor is so PowerManager can be tested with a mock IMsgSender subclass.

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