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The Human Dimension of Software Engineering

The Human Dimension of Software Engineering

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Archives for July 2017

11 Best Ways to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

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Reading Time: 7 minutes

Software Engineers and Emotional Intelligence

Software Engineers are rarely associated to Emotional Intelligence (EI). They are often seen as introverts who tend to focus inwards rather than outwards.

That stereotype is due to the fact that developers often start by learning to code in isolation. That leads to associating coding to long hours of solitude and concentration. Things change over time, and developers need to become more social and collaborative when working in teams and making progress in their careers.

Trends in the industry are also changing. Software engineers median age is increasing and with it the emotional maturity of engineering organizations. Moreover, Software these days is built everywhere. It is common for non-software businesses to have software engineering teams created to improve their online presence. In those organizations, software engineering teams are less tech-centric and more customer centric. In that environment, emotional intelligence is important and becomes a need early-on. ... 

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Adobe Flash End of Life Timeline [infographic]

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

Adobe is pulling the plug

After a long history of security troubles, Adobe finally gave up. Yesterday, July 25th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the world found out when Flash will be officially no more: End of 2020.

In a historic joint announcement, Adobe, Microsoft, Mozilla, Google, Apple, and Facebook gave us the timeline for the slow death of the Flash phenomena. The plugs of the Flash life support will be pulled one by one, slowly. It will take another three years for it to die, after much suffering.

A little history

Flash has a tumultuous history. Its precursor was a product named SmartSketch, published by FutureWave Software. In 1995 SmartSketch became FutureSplash, and FutureWave attempted to sell it to Adobe. Adobe turned it down. Macromedia acquired FutureWave in 1996 and renamed it Macromedia Flash. ... 

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12 Reasons To Avoid Individual Code Ownership

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Reading Time: 7 minutes

Coding is a form of art, and artists are very attached to their pieces. That visceral attachment is what makes programmers passionate and intense. That can be a good thing, but it can also lead to problems.

Unless the entire development organization has only one or two developers, individual code ownership is a dangerous disease. I do not recommend it, nor encourage it for many reasons.

#1 – Emotional Attachment to Code Hurts The Collective Wisdom.

Programmers that identify with their code become attached to it. That emotion causes code to become untouchable by anybody else, and it generates dogmas that grow into turf wars. When emotions are involved, code reviews are difficult. It becomes impossible to make improvements unless the owner of the code approves the changes. ... 

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11 Worst Software Engineer Resume Mistakes.

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Reading Time: 4 minutes

When you send your resume to apply for a software engineering job, you should avoid making blunders that can send your hopes straight into the trash bin. Here is a list of the top 11 mistakes that I have seen over and over again.

Using too many words.

Hiring managers receive hundreds of resumes for every open job advertised. During the first pass of each new one, they need to decide if it goes in the trash bin or the “potentially interesting” pile. Too many words are a shortcut for the garbage.

The first page is critical and will receive the most attention. The last page usually has education information, and will also get some attention. Managers will tend to skip or just scan anything between the first and the last page. In other words, anything that is not the first or the last page is a waste of time for you and the hiring manager. ... 

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