In middle school (early 80s), I went to an all-day Saturday training class in the back of a Radio Shack in Sherman, Texas (town of about 30,000 at the time). 4 students. I was the only person there one under 30. The programming was BASIC and nothing that you hadn't already learned from the manual that came with my TRS80. A total waste of $10. If it had been a camp (or if I wasn't 20 miles from home without a car), I would have gone AWOL.
Brian Gastineau Manager of Business Applications [cid:[email protected]]<http://www.giveblood.org/> Phone: 713-791-6354 Toll Free: 1-888-482-5663 Fax: 713-791-6681 www.giveblood.org<http://www.giveblood.org/> ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of James Dismukes Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 3:12 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [houcfug] Re: Are you a good programmer? Computer camp when I was 10 consisted of gathering at my house every day so we could figure out each other's Syntax Error messages on the "games" we were creating in BASIC. I never thought of a real camp back then, to be honest I didn't think computers would ever be more than just nerd toys, but then that Us Festival got all my friends interested... Anyway, I'm with Aaron - I feel kinda jealous now missing out on a summer computer camp :-p James / Angeli Wahlstedt wrote: This is gonna date me, but computer camps didn't exist when I was 9. Neither did personal computers, come to think of it. :) Angeli From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Aaron Rouse Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:18 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [houcfug] Re: Are you a good programmer? You got to go to computer camp?!?!?! We just got to sit at home and mess with BASIC and Assembly and a handful of other things we could get our hands on. On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 1:03 PM, John M Bliss <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Another interesting point the author makes is that a good programmer should be programming before college. When I was, like, 8 or 9 and all my friends were going to normal summer camp, I was attending "computer camp" and learning the joy of BASIC. My mom kept the paper with my little kid handwriting, in crayon: 10 do something 20 do something else 30 GOTO 10 etc On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 12:57 PM, Angeli Wahlstedt <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Interesting. Many things on the list make sense, and I'm glad that the author pointed out that certification (such as MSCE) doesn't mean you are good at what you do. I'd also suggest that one look at the prospect's job history as well. It seems to me that in general, a good programmer almost always stays employed. (Yeah, there are exceptions like recessions where even the best programmer can get laid off, et cetera, but you know what I mean.) Another interesting point the author makes is that a good programmer should be programming before college. I suppose there is some truth in this -- I had done programming for 3 years before I entered college -- but some people don't discover their passion until after college. I know one guy who started off as a technical writer, but ended being one of the best programmers around. (He had took up web design, which led to web development, which in turn led to other programming languages.) At one company I worked at, one guy started off in sales but then found out he loved databases and through a combination of self-education and training courses, became a kick-*ass DBA. -- Angeli -----Original Message----- From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Seth Bienek Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:55 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [houcfug] Are you a good programmer? Once in a while, I am asked to evaluate another developer. Here are the guidelines I generally use: http://www.inter-sections.net/2007/11/13/how-to-recognise-a-good-programmer/ I wanted to share this with the group, because I think it's critical for us to periodically take a step back and evaluate ourselves through the eyes of a hiring manager, or our boss, or a prospective business partner. If we don't like what we see, it is up to us to tune-up the areas we need work in. This is so important, especially in these uncertain times. Enjoy. Seth -- John Bliss IT Professional LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jbliss -- Aaron Rouse http://www.happyhacker.com/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Houston ColdFusion Users' Group" discussion list. To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit http://groups.google.com/group/houcfug?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
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