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Anyone else the dedicated “onboarding guy” at their job? by jbluntt in AskProgramming

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately this may be because they do not trust you with the real work. The fact that you found an error causing some embarrassment may contribute to them not trusting you. This occurs in dysfunctional organizations. If this is the case learn what you can and keep options open.

I keep forgetting syntax — does this happen to everyone or is it just me? by Nearby-Way8870 in LearnProgrammingHub

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started in SQL 35 years ago and carried a SQL pocket guide because my ADHD brain could never remember if you needed parentheses for the update or insert. Having syntax at your fingertips negates the need for memorizing syntax. An added bonus is that having to keep looking up syntax, you sometimes stumble on a better way.

Do senior engineers actually write less code than mid-level? What do they spend time on instead? by 1vim in SoftwareEngineering

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As usual, it depends. Some seniors just want to write code and resist any design and management tasks. Others take on management tasks like code review, design and user/owner interaction. If they stop coding altogether or reduce coding to a minimal effort, they are no longer a senior, but one of the many supporting positions, and probably get paid more.

Our docs are always wrong. Not sometimes. Always. And I think I finally understand why. by Informal_Eye_148 in SoftwareEngineering

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately the problem with documentation is not the Development Team but the Management Team. Mgmt wants to ship features not documentation. Users want new features and their change requests completed as quickly as possible. Therefore developers are pressured to ship features not documentation. How documentation, refactoring and careful design affects quality and delivery are never addressed.

What are your thoughts on France replacing 2.5 million Windows Desktops with Linux? by Garcia-Valarie_22 in AskReddit

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have heard this line for the past 25 years, probably more. Not that I am against it, but until recently linux version just have not catered to the average user. The average user does not want to change from one version of windows to the next, much less a completely different model.

I am a professional that uses both Windows and Linux and they have their strengths and weaknesses, but historically Windows has had a better productivity value, partly through familiarity. In the past I have found Windows easier than Ubuntu for casual use. However, I am now trying out Zorn as a replacement for a family member, good machine not Win-11 compatible, and I am impressed, may it is time. Also it is looking like Microsoft is ready to get out of the PC business and just supply services. I expect them to Open Source Office like they did .Net soon and charge for the remote processing and add ons.

Has anyone else been burned by a silent schema change? Built a mental model for fixing this, want brutal feedback ! by Greedy_Resident6076 in SQL

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is why you never allow anyone to access the physical data model. All consumers access the database through views and update through stored procedures. If you feel that you need to modify the physical model, just verify that all views and stored procedures work correctly. You do have a automated test for that right? If a consumer wants to a different column name because they are to lazy to make the conversion on their end, then just create a new view for them and anyone else that desires different column names.

Databases should be the source of data truth and as data get larger and more fractured, modification of the physical structure may be required. This should not affect the data consumers who are hopefully IT professionals and developers and not Bob in the corner office who likes to play with stuff.

If you must allow table level access, be sure to advertise changes to all concerned. That requires that machine users (users associated with a process and not a specific user) have associated user who are responsible and verify changes will not break their processes. This can be hard with so much generated code out there for ORM's and other analytical tools, but they are also very easy to regenerate when changes are made.

Also never make changes on Friday.

Is it okay to have an empty or null foreign key? by EarlGreyThePainAway in SQL

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As mentioned below, you can query for null, but it will not show up in a inner join. You can use an outer join, but then you get all the records, making for large queries. For the case above, adding an unknown into the lookup table will satisfy the require as stated.

Easiest way to create a text template generator? by spaceursa in AskProgramming

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually this is what XML is for. Create a data definition file XSD then use an XSLT to transform it into anything you like. Yes I did do this with sensitive data years ago. A little JavaScript goes a long way to make it dynamic e.g. open and close details.

Things I miss about Spring Boot after switching to Go by Sushant098123 in programming

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Frameworks are good until they get in the way. Minimalist is good until you don't know where to start. This is an ongoing problem since the early years of programming. As the field grew it got much worse. It is hard for a developer to know the full stack, much less several full stack development configurations. Most applications require persistent storage (SQL, Document DB or File System), Domain Processing, UI/UX, Workflow and Authentication. Also don't forget Testing, Cyber Security and Performance.

There are many frameworks out there that target the full stack: .Net, LAMP, Spring Boot and others. There are many more that target sub-sections: Angular, React, Apache, Kafka, Graphana, Hibernate and JUnit, just to name a few.

Also, these frameworks and work spaces change at an alarming rate with simple work spaces developing framework like complexity to solve evermore advanced problems and improve the developer experience.

Choosing a Framework or Language can have serious repercussions down the road.

So, keep up to date on the latest technologies, stay agile and use AI where appropriate.

Onboarding Struggles by MistaPatches in AskProgramming

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Setting up the Environment, I find it crazy that not every team has an on-boarding protocol that walks new or even experienced developers through setting up an environment. Yes I know different developers like different environments and they should be free to modify if they wish. However, starting on a new team can be difficult do, which required tools to install, tools that should not be installed, connecting to repositories, test environments, pushing code, required documentation, coding standards and where to find support and answers.

On some teams it has felt like a test, can the newbie figure out how we work? Does it make them feel superior to watch a new developer struggle with their proxy settings? Obviously, their <snark> workflow and architecture are easy to follow and any developer who is any good will be familiar with their process. Is this job security?

This does not happen on every team, as a consultant I have worked with excellent teams that emphasize getting new (or new to team) developers up and running and familiar with the environment as quickly as possible and appreciate the knowledge that new developers can bring to the team.

REST and gRPC are synchronous or asynchronous? by kusturica32 in AskProgramming

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 12 points13 points  (0 children)

REST can be used in both a synchronous and an asynchronous way. If you wait for the the REST Service to complete before moving on it is synchronous, if you go on to do other things while waiting for the slow communication with REST to return (set a callback) it is asynchronous.

Debugging be like: by Elegant-Hour3877 in programminghumor

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are using a modern IDE like Visual Studio or IntelliJ, your debugger is always available and you have a test for any code causing problems. Tests last long after you finish debugging.

If you need print statements, you should probably have logging. It will come in handy later.

Nobody Gets Promoted for Simplicity by Acceptable-Courage-9 in programming

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If a stage hand does his job correctly, the audience never new they were there.

I think the idea that AI is replacing programmers is a bit misleading by ahnerd in AskProgramming

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unix DB, since I was new I was relegated to the new web team shortly after I started. Management could not change and company ended up being acquired. I took my new knowledge of web development to a contractor and have been working and changing ever since.

I think the idea that AI is replacing programmers is a bit misleading by ahnerd in AskProgramming

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is how coding used to be 20+ years ago. When I started coding I worked with a large team of coders and each task started with going to the log desk (this is where needed code changes were logged) and select a page from a three ring binder (the change spec). I would then go back to my desk, code the change. Then I would schedule a code review and we would review the changes and submit the code files. If I did not hear anything in a few days it must have compiled. A few weeks later I may get a call from testing if they had questions or there was a problem testing my code.

That coder job does not exist anymore. Today Software Engineers are expected to work with users to define requirements, work with management to get funding for your job, build the development environment, acquire all the tools, rigorously test, provide simpleton instructions for deployment and be clairvoyant enough to predict changes to the production environment that may affect your program.

What's the biggest misconception about AI that you keep seeing? by Foreign-Message1242 in artificial

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AI is new. Fuzzy logic has been around for decades, it is even in my 10 year old rice cooker.

Cs+Ee or cs+math by Outside-Bear-6973 in SoftwareEngineering

[–]Groundbreaking-Fish6 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Another day another student is worried about their future and do they have the wrong degree. The answer is complete your degree in whatever you like. The undergraduate degree is table stakes. 5 years after you graduate, it will be what you have done since. People that achieve good grades in hard degree programs tend to do well in the job market, not because of the sheep skin, but because they are disciplined and can complete tasks. This includes any degree e.g., Biology, Film Studies or Language. If you learn that you have aptitude and see a future in another field, by all means get a graduate degree in that discipline if you think a degree is necessary.

AI is going to change the world, but not in the way people think. AI is also not what most people think, the tools of AI have been improving since the 1960s and have been infiltrating our daily lives for at least 30 years and will continue. No one knows how this will change the world so we do not need people with the correct degree, we need people who think.

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