Please guide me
I am a programmer working with .Net environment .I downloaded DevForce Express after seeing it highlighted at http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework. I also went to the website and saw how to write an application in 15-20 minutes. Now I want to know the following questions
Will this really help me increase my programming skills and speed as I saw on the site?
And secondly , my friend says, I will get more value for writing code as I go along in my career but more compensation in my job by using productivity tools. Is that right?
I am new to programming (first job) so guidance and suggestions are always welcome, please
Thx
Venky
[666 byte] By [
whyvenky] at [2007-11-11 8:06:29]
# 1 Re: Please guide me
hi venky,
working in the service industry, its true that companies have a soft corner for people who have knowledge of productivity tools and quality tools. This is especially true for smaller and mid size firms who use quality and quick timelines(faster development) as their sole usp. as far as your first querry goes, i doubt any advantage. It's look good on your resume though.
# 2 Re: Please guide me
Productivity and quality tools are nice to know. But for most of the smaller companies (ignoring software houses) they aren't used that often. It's a money issue. Many small companies don't see the need for those tools, and consider them a waste of money.
FYI: A software house is a company that writes and sells software. Vs a programming job at say a grocery store or water purification plant (or any other industry).
# 3 Re: Please guide me
What I have gathered from all discussion on this topic is that I should have the knowledge of productivity tools like DevForce which can be used for meeting deadlines.
Ed I dont understand the statement " But for most of the smaller companies (ignoring software houses) they aren't used that often. It's a money issue" . Are not most of these tools free?
Guns, If you are right about small companies hiring people who know such things do you suppose the bigger companies prefer people with more hand coding knowledge?
# 4 Re: Please guide me
Some of the tools are free. Many are not. Sometimes there are free versions of the paid ones that work almost as well, but are a bit harder to understand.
In all of the small programming shops I have worked in, the issue was money. The companies didn't want to pay for a tool to help fix problems. It wasn't a direct and immediate money-saving benefit to use the tool. The only exception to this was when I worked for a place that wrote and sold software. Then it wasn't an issue. Almost any tools we wanted, we got. But for all the other places (manufacturing industry and such) the "IT" dept did the software development, and buying tools wasn't in the budget.
Oh, and the name is Eric. :)
# 5 Re: Please guide me
some other various consideratons to keep in mind:
1) you have to spend time evaluating these tools, and then learning how to use them. you could have used that time to learn a new language in more details, and sometimes small companies don't have that time to give you
2) I stay away from tools that generate code. first, I will never know how much optimized that code will be and second when something goes wrong you have to debug and deal with unknown code (MFC anyone?)
3) some tools can be useful, but if you know to do *that* job only by using them, you will have hard time to be hired by a company that either does not have them or that does not like them. I saw people using only the class wizard and who are not able to write a class property by hand.
4) a company hires you not because you know how to use DevForce (or even SourceSafe...) but because of your programming skills. If you are skilled, you can learn any other tool they want you to use
5) if you are self employed, feel free to try any tools you wish. but remember: what it comes for "free", you get "as is"
6) The companies that sell those tools are doing it for profit, so they will always try to convince you that their tools are the best. Always read reviews on "trusted" web sites (like dev-archive) before buying them.
Marco
mstraf at 2007-11-11 21:52:07 >
# 6 Re: Please guide me
Good points Marco.
Where I work, if the tools are free, I usually get to use them. Otherwise I have to write up a blurp on why I want it, what it does and (the hard part) a cost savings estimate.
Fortunately, my favorite source code repository tool (Vault from SourceGear) has a free Single Developer edition. :)
