Heights and Widths of a Developer

A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I’m afraid of widths. Steven Wright

Being a geek we all are overwhelmed by technologies and technicalities. Our gatherings and gossips, our jokes and judgments, our delights and distresses, our feelings and fears are all centered towards computing. Many of us have become so oriented towards these things that we tend to forget that Softwares are for people and people are not for softwares.

In this scenario it is not surprising that our criteria to judge a developer just comprise on programming skills (like design patterns, development tools, frameworks or programming languages). Assessments of human feelings, knowing expected behavior of user from different backgrounds on different occasions and making softwares more acceptable for people are also the skills that are very important.  Industry giants also recognize this.

I’d love to have people who come to these jobs wanting to think of it as an exercise in people management and people dynamics, as well as the basic engineering skills. That would be absolutely amazing. (Bill Gates)

The same also goes for enhancing self expertise. Most discussed methods for it are like learning a new programming language, study certain frameworks or study algorithms. These things will deepen the expertise of one but there are certainly some other important ways to grow your skills. How to Become a Better Programmer by Not Programming. If we develop high-level skills, we may create working applications but only a developer with skills spread over wider domains can create friendly applications.

Size does matter

Why we choose OSCommerce or Joomla or WordPress to start any project? One of the reasons is the plethora of features, they have. These features are the best part of these scripts and ultimately these are the major pitfalls of these systems. Many times One would never want ALL those features but have to have them in the package.

What’s the big deal

These EXTRA and unwanted features always hinder your development, enhancement and working. EXTRA features means EXTRA lines of code and EXTRA vulnerabilities and bugs in the code.

What can be done ?

There should be some way to opt for the features you want to have. Having more options is good.

We have the example of JQuery. JQuery UI has a package builder where you can select which features you want to have in your packege. http://ui.jquery.com/download_builder/

Some Quotes for You

love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.
Marlene Dietrich German movie actress (1901 – 1992)

Funny

It’s so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don’t say it. Sam Levenson

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go. Oscar Wilde

The sooner you get behind in your work, the more time you have to catch up. Anonymous Scheduler

Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped. Elbert Hubbard US author (1856 – 1915)

If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. Abraham Lincoln 16th president of US (1809 – 1865)

Computer & Science Related

Before software can be reusable it first has to be usable. Ralph Johnson

The software isn’t finished until the last user is dead. Anonymous Support Group Member

To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer. Paul Ehrlich

How many programmers dose it take to change a light bulb?
None – It’s a hardware problem

The only people who have anything to fear from free software are those whose products are worth even less. (David Emery)

Why is it drug addicts and computer aficionados are both called users? Clifford Stoll

There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

General

Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them. Suzanne Necker

There are three sides to every story. Yours, mine and the truth unknown

The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwords Arthur Koestler

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. Will Durant

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. Martin Luther King Jr.

Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers. Voltaire

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument. William G. McAdoo
US industrialist, lawyer, & politician (1863 – 1941)

Nothing shocks me. I’m a scientist.

It’s so much easier to suggest solutions when you don’t know too much about the problem.
Malcolm Forbes US art collector, author, & publisher (1919 – 1990)

The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them. Sir William Bragg British physicist (1862 – 1942)

Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody. Franklin P. Adams, Nods and Becks, 1944 US journalist (1881 – 1960)

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
Samuel Johnson, English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 – 1784)

Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment. Rita Mae Brown

You don’t get anything clean without getting something else dirty. Cecil Baxter

An optimist stays up to see the New Year in. A pessimist waits to make sure the old one leaves. Bill Vaughan

A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject. Sir Winston Churchill

A learned fool is more a fool than an ignorant fool. Moliere

The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from. Andrew S. Tanenbaum

A person is never happy except at the price of some ignorance. Anatole France French novelist (1844 – 1924)

We learn something every day, and lots of times it’s that what we learned the day before was wrong. Bill Vaughan

Life is not fair; get used to it. Bill Gates

It is the wretchedness of being rich that you have to live with rich people.
Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts (1931) “In the World”
(1865 – 1946)

In every fat book there is a thin book trying to get out. Anonymous

Talent does what it can; genius does what it must Robert Bulwer-Lytton

Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. T. S. Eliot

The things we know best are the things we haven’t been taught. Marquis de Vauvenargues