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1500 questions
58
votes
15 answers
I don't know C. And why should I learn it?
My first programming language was PHP (gasp). After that I started working with JavaScript. I've recently done work in C#.
I've never once looked at low or mid level languages like C.
The general consensus in the programming-community-at-large is…
Stephen
- 2,199
58
votes
6 answers
Bug reopen vs. new
A bug was opened, fixed, verified and closed. A month later, it showed up again in a subsequent version after several iterations without any regression.
Provided the bug characteristics are the same, would you reopen the existing bug ID or open a…
KMoraz
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58
votes
17 answers
As a software engineer, who should I be following on Twitter?
Who in the software engineering and software development fields uses Twitter to tweet about relevant happenings in the field?
Thomas Owens
- 82,739
58
votes
11 answers
What characteristics or features make code maintainable?
I used to think I knew what this was, until I really started thinking about it... "maintainable"... what exactly makes code maintainable?
To me, if code must be maintainable that means we can expect to revisit the code to make some sort of change to…
void.pointer
- 5,053
58
votes
5 answers
Where should I put functions that are not related to a class?
I am working on a C++ project where I have a bunch of math functions that I initially wrote to use as part of a class. As I've been writing more code, though, I've realized I need these math functions everywhere.
Where is the best place to put them?…
coconut
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58
votes
6 answers
What is the difference between a function and a lambda?
I'm a little bit confused about 'function' and 'lambda'. I've seen some examples showing that the scheme keyword lambda works very similarly to the JavaScript keyword function, but I really don't know how they are related.
I'm told that 'function'…
Vivian River
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58
votes
9 answers
Code Smell: Inheritance Abuse
It's been generally accepted in the OO community that one should "favor composition over inheritance". On the other hand, inheritance does provide both polymorphism and a straightforward, terse way of delegating everything to a base class unless…
dsimcha
- 17,234
58
votes
17 answers
What Part of Your Project Should be in Source Code Control?
A fellow developer has started work on a new Drupal project, and the sysadmin has suggested that they should only put the sites/default subdirectory in source control, because it "will make updates easily scriptable." Setting aside that somewhat…
muffinista
- 301
58
votes
3 answers
How can I test PHP skills in a interview?
My company needs to hire a PHP developer, but nobody has PHP knowledge in my company and we find difficult to test for PHP skills. If it were a C/Java developer I would ask him to write a quick implementation of the Game of Life, but PHP is a…
Mascarpone
- 765
58
votes
12 answers
How to test the tests?
We test our code to make it more correct (actually, less likely to be incorrect). However, the tests are also code -- they can also contain errors. And if your tests are buggy, they hardly make your code better.
I can think of three possible types…
Ryszard Szopa
- 1,810
58
votes
21 answers
"It was working yesterday, I swear!" What can you do?
When you arrive in the morning, you find that your software does not work anymore, even though it did when you left yesterday evening.
What do you do? What do you check first? What do you do to stop being angry and start working on your problem? Do…
Nikko
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58
votes
11 answers
Should a competent programmer be able to come up with his own shortest path algorithm?
I'm suffering a crisis of confidence in my ability as a computer programmer.
Yesterday I tried to come up with my own shortest path algorithm for a graph and after some hours I simply threw in the towel and learned Dijkstra's algorithm.
Is this the…
Newbie Programmer
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58
votes
11 answers
A modern review of Java
I've been programming for a few years and I began in Java, and in my time I've found many different sources claiming Java to be an inferior language in some way or another. I'm well aware that each language has it's strengths and weaknesses, but a…
Ryan Stull
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57
votes
12 answers
Develop fast and buggy, then correct errors or be slow, careful for each line of code?
Possible Duplicates:
Frankly, do you prefer Cowboy coding?
Prototyping vs. Clean Code at the early stages
Good design: How much hackyness is acceptable?
Does craftsmanship pay off?
Which is better:
Coding fast, not caring about possible errors…
Francesco Boffa
- 643
57
votes
3 answers
Putting a programming language on your resume?
How much experience do you need in a language before you can put it on your resume? There is one language I'm in proficient in (Java) which I would definitely put on the resume but say I took I couple of semester courses in college which involved…
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