StackOverflow is wonderful for Q&A style questions, but it is not in anyway a forum for discussing software engineering in general. Where do you go when you are not looking for a forum that is geared for helping people with problems, but just talking about design and development?
I've considered real life user groups (never been to one before, though). I don't know if these would be a good answer or not.
PS. I have searched SO quite a bit for a similar thread. We have tons covering other Q&A and also resource sites, but not any that I could find that are just for discussion. I've also searched online myself, but its difficult to filter through all of the dead communities that litter the web. Help me!
http://chipy.org no kidding. We rock. Point being find a local user group in something more specific.
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I'm a 24yo Web Developer trying to improve my knowledge in this field.
I've been working on web since I was 12 and feel like I lack some fundamentals.
Many times I'm being rejected in interviews not because lack of talent, programming knowledge or a small portfolio (In fact, my portfolio is pretty big for a 24 yo dev), but because I can't answer many fundamental questions such as difference between/terminology about CRUD, REST, SOAP, OOP-related questions and such..
Going to university right now is impossible for many reasons so I was trying to get my hands on some books about dev fundamentals (mainly oriented to web dev). What are the best ones, and why? Which resources (Shouldn't necessary be books) should I look deeply into? And in the end.. What suggestions could you give to become a better developer?
I can only share from my own experience. During technical interviews, i had a cheat sheet printed and ready. That helped a lot on the telephone interview but also as a study guide. I can recommend the "PHP Zend Certification Study Guide" and php-fig.org to freshen up on Design Patterns and other things.
When the interviewer thinks you are qualified, you need to write code anyway. During the code writing you will probably write in OOP PHP with no framework. Prepare a simple mvc with some simple crud functionality, sessions and user login.
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I am a recent graduate and got a job as a junior SharePoint developer few months ago. For the last few months, I have been working on SharePoint development, e.g. webparts, .Net Forms, K2, Lists, Features, for Moss and a little bit for SharePoint 2010 as well...
Now because I made a future plan to become a SharePoint architect, I am not sure what way I need to follow to become what I want to, As there are so many things to learn in SharePoint, I am looking for Book or a series of Book that will help me gain knowledge as a SharePoint Architect has.
I am a bit confused with SharePoint architecture as well, like If I want to develop a new SharePoint Solution, What hardware e.g. Servers, Do I need + Software, e.g. We use .Net Forms, but are they better then using Info-Path forms ?
Thanks (I know its not a Coding question but I think its somehow related to Programming so please dont close it.. Cheers)
There is a huge amount to learn in order to "become" an architect for SharePoint. Do not forget that you will need to learn how the SharePoint content database works, especially how documents are stored. You will also need to figure out the infrastructure part of the equation, especially how virtualised environments will affect server performance.
Essentially, there is not enough space to list all the books that could be useful.
You have set yourself a long term task, so go hard with the curiosity. Whenever you run across a subject that you do not know the details of, hit google and find out.
For example, the difference between .NET forms and Info path forms maybe available in a book, but you are going to learn more quickly and thoroughly by creating some Infopath forms and having a look at how both are implemented.
There is no real shortcut around the hard graft required to learn SharePoint (except perhaps finding someone who already is good at this and learning from them directly).
A free ebook downlodable from msdn :
Developing Applications for SharePoint 2010
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff770300.aspx
It's a good starting point.
I'm looking for some good tools that help to share tips, best practices, company standards, etc. amongs developers in my company. Two tools I'm currently considering are a wiki (screwturn wiki) or Sharepoint 2010. I'm wondering if there is something better suited to the task, or any input anyone has on this subject. I'd prefer something that's windows based (i.e. runs on IIS, can authenticate users against Active Directory etc) but I am open to anything.
Well, you're right, the most suitable computer tool is Wiki. There are many engines available. We use Atlassian Confluence. It is good to write down things that contains many formal details. Like client-server protocol description, or game-design / UI-design documents.
However for sharing tips, best-practices, interesting investigations etc no tool will overcome live talk! I've came to this conclusion for many times. Daily standups and pair programming lead to much much better information circulation than any computer-based tool I ever seen.
At my company we use a private MediaWiki installation. It works very well for our needs.
Publicly we share programming knowledge at DocForge.
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I have noticed some developers picking up new skills and moving from one platform to the other? How do they do it? How do they justify for the lack of experience in the said platform they get the job?
Is it based on relevance to their previous experience? do they get certified in the target platform and work at a junior level accepting a pay cut? is it simpler if you are into contracting/consulting? Or is it simply a matter of projecting the resume correctly?
Actually, a lot of seemingly different platforms are really very similar, if you understand what goes on "under the hood," as it were. Though I've barely touched a Microsoft platform for well over a decade, for example, I have little difficulty developing things there because deep knowledge of computer systems in general is quite transferable.
For me, moving from LAMP to .Net was a work necessity. The consulting company I work for needed a PHP guy right away which is how I got in, but that project completed abruptly and they did not have an PHP work on the horizon.
In the closing weeks of the PHP project, I took an online O'Reilly course in C# and worked closely with a more experienced developer on a Windows application for the same client. Once the PHP gig completed I was able to start right away on a .Net project and I've had .Net clients ever since.
The key for me was flexibility. I let my employer know immediately that I was interested in different technologies and platforms and have taken the initiative by requesting access to courses and taking advantage of our yearly book allowance to explore different areas. When opportunities arise for investigating new directions like Mobility (PDAs, specialty devices and tablets) I jumped at the chance.
If your employer doesn't have policies which promote this type of self-directed expansion, then try to build a type of application you are familiar with in a new platform. Once you have you have a decent grasp of the tech, get involved with open source projects in your target platform and look for paid outside opportunities (i.e. Craigslist, elance, etc.) while you are still learning.
Most likely it is a result of circumstances. In these touch economic times being able to move outside your comfort zones is crucial
I really haven't seen a lot of reluctance on anybody's part to put developers on platforms that are new to them. Changes in computer language tend to be far more worrisome to managers than platform changes.
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I am interested in learning about how hackers find and exploit vulnerabilities. Specifically about windows hacking and web hacking i.e. I’m NOT interested in linux/unix stuff.
Are there any good websites with technical articles about specifically how to find, exploit and block vulnerabilities with code samples and tools used.
I can do a quick search and there are a load of sites but i'm looking for something with a little more quality geared towards an audience with a programming and web background.
Even a good book but only if it's windows/web specific
Thanks a lot
Smashing the Stack for Fun and Profit is the classic Phrack article on writing buffer overflow exploits.
A good starting point for a web developper would be the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). They have a lot of ressources on the subject of Web Application Security and on some on application security in general. You can get some of the wisdom of that side in book form.
Try Simpson Garfinkel's book on web security first.
I highly recommend:
Hacking: The Art of Exploitation
Gray Hat Hacking, Second Edition: The Ethical Hacker's Handbook
I liked the Web Security Testing Cookbook. Some non-Windows stuff in there. The focus is on testing and using tools to find problems.
Subscribe to Schneier on Security. It's a great security blog.
For web hacking I recommend reading the book The Web Application Hacker's Handbook: Discovering and Exploiting Security Flaws (very good book with lots of examples. It also shows you the tools which will get you started).
Also for web hacking I recommend completing and understanding all the challenges you can solve by downloading the WebGoat
See the top 100 network security tools list at http://sectools.org/.
Don't get me wrong but if you really want to understand security stuff, Linux is really the way to go. There, you'll really learn the fundamental, i.e. things that is important everywhere (encryption, ASM, programming, protocols, [etc]). However, on Linux, you'll be able to read real code and use/find real exploit (and of course, send bug fix). You'll also find a lot more documentation and a really nice community.
I know I'm biased toward Linux and you'll probably think I completely missed your question. However, I know friends of mine who asked me the same question and I told them what I've just told you.
Once you know the base, you can easily find the documentation you want (reading RFC, learning new languages, architectures, tools, source code, etc..) This is by far better then to know a procedure to execute an exploit without understanding why it exists.
One last thing, the best hacker does't find exploit by guessing.. they have a perfect understanding on the underlying structure and see something wrong. Then, some exploit it, other send a patch to fix it - this is not the right place to argue about it - however, they are both experts in this domain.
I think what you'll need would be to join some hackers community which would provide many missions where you'd have to find the exploits yourself....
understand that if you have learn hacking you'd have to hack something......
www.enigmagroup.org would be an useful one...
www.securitytube.net from here you can get videos on almost every security related issue...