Discussions

@DeathByVisualStudio: No having a brilliant facebook application, loses you sales in mobile shops as most smartphone users are stuck to their social networking activities, since Microsoft have a 1% stake in Facebook, I would have spent a million on a Facebook app, rather than tens of millions in advertising.

3 hours ago, felix9 wrote

And Windows Phone is 'the five percent' now

http://wmpoweruser.com/full-kantar-numbers-for-march-2013-shows-steady-windows-phone-progress-reaches-highest-sales-share-figure-so-far/

I'm not so sure, Windows Phone grew the least in the last quarter. With Android selling 64% of all smartphones in the world, I think it is time Microsoft concentrated on popularity, rather than the Apple money making model. There was a time when Windows ran on any PC, even the young or those on tight budgets could be part of the software revolution.

We used to laugh at Linux fanbois here on Channel 9, but the Linux kernel is probably running on more devices than Windows PC's, if it isn't already, it is only just a matter of time.

I am not as obsequious as some that never post anything even mildly negative about Microsoft, having developed for iOS and Android, it is a no-brainer that Microsoft are the best tools, I just hope someone at the top changes things around by telling the accountants to stick their business models in the rubbish bin.

4 minutes ago, kettch wrote

@vesuvius: A few months ago we started a project where the project manager told the customer that he wasn't going to devote a single development hour to the project until the information gathering, business analysis, and other planning was all complete. This was something very new for our organization. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth the customer relented, and they did 4 months of business analysis, gathering specs and all of the stuff you wish you could do all the time. When the development package was handed off to the developers, we were in awe. It was a complete departure from previous projects. So far it's been quite fun. We never have to ask questions, it's all in the documents. Plus, it looks like we're beating our time estimates.

4 months planning is just too long for most projects that fail, so you are writing of the essential practices that contribute to less stress all round and better chances of success.

Be very careful though, sticking to documents that were written 4 - 6 months ago means that you may finish the project and when the project fails, you can say you did what was written down, but supplied the customer with a product that does not suit their needs.

Be prepared to have to do a big rewrite midway, because of a subtle but essential detail that was misinterpreted or the customer finding out that what they said they wanted wasn't exactly what they wanted. It is the ability to accommodate this type of change in well managed projects which results in a successful project, rather than wasting time and money blaming the person that gathered the requirements or the customer.

37 minutes ago, ScanIAm wrote

Usually the subject matter experts (a.k.a. eventual users) will drag their feet and/or wait until the last minute to test (and find bugs). 

You need to take mind-reading classes

42 minutes ago, kettch wrote

@spivonious: And if that's consistently the case, then you need to be somewhere else, because poor project managers rarely take the blame.

poor project managers never take the blame

1 hour ago, spivonious wrote

 A planned release being behind schedule is not an emergency. It's a sign that the deadline will be missed and that the project manager screwed up.

Developers almost always get "bucketed" with the Project Manager, because ultimately it is you that provide the project manager with the data to make a guesstimate.

There are certain classes of problems where you just should not even attempt to use sprints or whatever project planning mechanism you choose. If is is a webforms/Mvc application, with a bunch of CRUD, you can more or less get the project plan right. The problem with most IT projects is that they require innovation a lot of the time, and it is much harder to quantify somebody wanting to produce an application where there is nothing on MSDN or Google or any Books.

Lets take the cloud for example, I have been interviewed where people want something like Azure with Push notifications on Android and iPhone and asking whether they think I could do it in 6 months.

Most of the time developers are too optimistic, and constantly dissapoint, by saying something is easy, and weeks or months later a task they said would take a few days is still not quite working.

All in all, I prefer working with Scientists, as typically for example, a biologist can run experiments for 3 months, and find that things just plain don't work. They accept that failure is a direct consequence of innovation, dyed in the wool, project managers consistently manage IT project with targets like people are producing cans of Heinz beans.

@cheong: When you are younger, your body can take it, and you effectively are learning on the job. 60 hours is not a lot if you are >35, if you said 80 hours, then I might start to acknowledge that you are working very hard.

After a while, you will find most of the time, removing yourself from the problems, having a long break, and doing other things like hobbies helps solve problems that world take 120hrs in a week.

If it is a short term project 3-9 months, and you have had a month or two off, then it is manageable, being relaxed and stress free is the secret.

@Duncanma: Much as it dismays me that Charles is concentrating on other areas, and Erik Meijer leaving, I think that the "old farts" are going to have to take the back seat, whilst Microsoft try out their new vision.

Silverlight (and WPF) got killed off because it allowed unrestricted control of the deployment of software, something at odds with Apple and the Apple Envy that has resulted.

Microsoft's present stance is diametrically opposed to the platform they have  promoted for the last 25 years and 80% to 90% of their developer base. For all Vaccano's enthusiasm for information, Microsoft simply are not the company they once were, giving short-shrift to developers cries for the last couple of years

it is Android that now provides the environment that Microsoft once did, and is the most important operating system now and in the next 5 to 10 years, as the people that are going to be making any money are going to be on that platform. If you have any commercial acumen, that is the platform, if you are happy enough to do CRUD apps, the desktop will be around for a while, and sure there will be loads of jobs you can continue complaining to Microsoft, but the long and the short of it Vaccano is that you are no longer their target market insofar as development is concerned.

1 hour ago, MasterPie wrote

Are these your words or do they belong to a third party?

They belong to a party called homework/assignment

@Vaccano: I've got to say I agree, I am finding fewer and fewer content of any interest or application to my daily MS development.

There was a time when Jaime Rodriguez, Tim Sneath, Yochay Kiriaty, Beth Massi, Daniel Moth and so on would post content regularly. It seems Charles is the only person generating must watch content and keeping the Channel 9 mantra, most of the tech stuff is bubble-gum technology, i.e. for people still eating bubble-gum or lasting just as long as a stick of it.