Tong Wu

TDD is bad alternative to good debugging. Sometimes nice having a test proving old code fails before proving changed code makes correct difference to verify current assignment is completed. Always be careful to delete all debugging tests before merging into trunk. If request to fix a bug came from QA, then QA already added an entry to their test script to verify the problem is fixed in next release. The entry will likely remain until it fails, then QA decides whether failure is due to requirements changing, or more bad programming. Always think about long-term impact of everything being merged into trunk. We Devs often log what structures are in memory while we work. All logging code must be deleted with its Shelf/Branch when work is done. TDD is poor alternative to good programming. Automated Tests usually indicate the communicator does not understand good programming, except in limited circumstances, such as very low level verification that previously released functionality does not change without marketing the "improvement". This seems important to teach professional Devs corrupted into using amateur Open Source practices like PR (Public Ridicule) so I converted my Comment into a REPOST. Enjoy. 20241212

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Struggling with efficiently managing your software engineers for your company? Wish you had a way to retain your best engineers and get your projects delivered on time? Let’s chat. I’ve built and run several large teams with the highest retention and efficiency in my divisions.

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Senior Devs / Hiring Managers—during our live webinar yesterday, we polled a few hundred recent Comp Sci grads. 60% didn’t feel that they had enough experience in Java to qualify for an enterprise coding job. Instead they’d been pointed towards Python. 80% had no experience with Unit Testing. I know Comp Sci isn’t just about software engineering; but it’s by far the largest number of available jobs for grads. If jobs are the metric that Higher Ed is judged on, this seems like a huge failure. Does this line up with your experience? How are you dealing with this skills gap when you look to onboard junior talent?

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Your Offers Are Getting REJECTED – And It’s YOUR Fault! 90% of you are losing top software talent because you CAN'T keep up with the game. Developers today? They’re getting counteroffers that are DOUBLE, sometimes TRIPLE what you’re putting on the table. 💸 And guess what? They know it. They're in demand and they know their worth better than most companies do. 🔊 So why are your offers STILL getting rejected? Here’s why: 1️⃣ You’re not doing your homework – While you’re stuck in yesterday’s salary brackets, competitors are shelling out 20-30% more. Wake up! Salary expectations have skyrocketed. 2️⃣ You’re desperate, not prepared – Offering a salary that tanks your business just to keep up with the big boys? 🏢 You can’t out-bid them, but you can out-maneuver them. 3️⃣ You’re ignoring the REAL value – Devs don't just care about money. Career growth. Development opportunities. Learning culture. These matter more than you think. If you’re not ready to offer them, good luck holding onto top talent. 😏 💡If you’re not offering more than just a fat paycheck, you’re toast. 🔍 Your competition is fierce, your budget is tight, and your strategy? Honestly, it's trash. ❗ So, what are you going to do about it? Let your offers get thrown back in your face? Or will you take a hard look at what your company is offering in terms of culture, growth, and long-term development? 🧠 💣 Stop throwing money at a problem you don’t understand. It's not just about numbers; it's about the full package. 🛑 Quit losing talent because your offer isn’t good enough. Step up or get left behind. 👇 Agree? Disagree? #Recruiting #TechTalent #SalaryNegotiations #CounterOffers #SoftwareDevelopment #HiringGame #CareerGrowth

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Ever notice how the truly exceptional engineers rarely chase the latest frameworks? After 10 years of building software, the pattern is clear: the best engineers master fundamentals, not frameworks. Clean code. System design. Problem decomposition. When evaluating engineers for complex projects, I don't ask about Next.js or Svelte. I ask: - Can you architect for scale? - Can you write code others can understand? - Can you debug across the stack? - Can you make the right technical tradeoffs? These skills are timeless. Framework-agnostic. They'll outlast every trend. Master the basics. Everything else is just syntax.

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Are colleges/universities failing Computer Science grads in 2024? The vast majority of CS grads end up working as software engineers. But many CS grads are unable to answer basic programming questions during an interview. (We talked about OOP last week). Why should CS grads have to invest in a bootcamp or additional hands-on training to land a job after a pricy college degree? We provide these hands-on skills at no cost at HTD Talent, but we can only help so many. Has this been your experience? What do you think is behind it? Let me know in the comments.

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The landscape of possible software products has never felt so vast. The rate at which I produce side project ideas is about an order of magnitude greater than the rate at which I can execute on them... I decided to create an #obsidian base for all the things I wish I could do. Red nodes are tools, blue are ideas, and green are themes. Some of these ideas overlap, or are variants of each other. As I've been spending more time with this graph, I'm getting a better sense of the itch I'm really trying to scratch. I want to work on thinking tools with intuitive, immersive interfaces.

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Copilot and development: What activities are easy to automate? Hear what Marcel Chabot - Development Manager at The TM Group, Inc. uses Github Copilot for: - Writing up to 50 lines of code - Clean up long and complex code - Write documentation - Explain what the code does How have you been using Github Copilot to make your job easier? Want to see the full 34min interview? Click the link in the comment section. Dynamics Compass #github #copilot #microsoftcopilot #msdynamics #microsoftdynamics #msdyn365 #d365

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Can someone explain to me how to get "more experience"? I have 16 years of full stack software engineering experience, mostly in C# .Net 4.2 through 8, including .Net Core 2.x & 3.x, along with WCF, WPF, Winforms, Razor/Blazor, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with Entity Framework, Dapper, Linq, SQL Server, MySQL, SQLite, Oracle, NoSql, and other databases. And a few of those years include a combination of Java, PHP, and C/C++. I've also used MarkDown, PowerShell, MVC framework, Swashbuckle/Swagger, Newtonsoft, JSON .Net, TopShelf, and a variety of testing frameworks. But apparently that's not enough. In the past 3 years alone, I've learned ReactJS, TypeScript, Xamarin, XAML, Maui, NodeJS, Terraform, AWS, and Azure, and I'm currently learning Angular, but that doesn't cover the 3-5 years of experience jobs want. I've learned some of these skills through jobs, but also some on my own. Except that as often as companies want us to learn these skills outside of work, they only count professional experience when it comes to hiring. My last interview said I needed more experience, as if the previously mentioned 16 years wasn't enough, and neither was the 15 years of computer repair and networking before that, which their interview questions also covered. So if no one is willing to hire because people don't already have experience, how are we supposed to get the experience? And don't say "open source projects", because they don't count as professional experience. Or do I have to take a 50% pay cut to take an "entry level" job that still requires 3-5 years of experience that I somehow still don't have? People are quick to say that "no one wants to work anymore" when they can't get hired, but they never seem to think "businesses aren't willing to teach anymore" when they refuse to hire people. Why? Is it that we are so conditioned to think that it's always the individuals fault for not living up to expectations, instead of the businesses fault for setting unrealistic and ever changing expectations? So, I ask again, how can I get the required experience when employers refuse to hire unless I already have experience?

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Everything about this. I want to add, a lot of developers do not want to hire someone more skilled than them. Ego plays into this. I certainly get this idea that some devs doing interviews want an exact clone of themselves. That's not useful for the team and its incredibly arrogant. As if they are the standard. Some developers are not people persons. Makes me wonder why they are interviewing at all then. Some of the best development interviews I had were conversational. I felt like a person talking to a fellow, and it wasn't even about judging my ability. I didn't get the job in every case, but I walked away thinking "Man, I wish I could work with that guy"

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I get emails like this all the time, and my only thought is: good software engineers are never available immediately. This isn't just true for top talent; even mediocre software engineers are in demand. My career has spanned various economic conditions—the DotCom bust, the housing crisis, and of course the current downturn—and I have never seen a lack of demand for my services. What I have learned during those nearly 30 years is that there are laws that govern engineering economics/processes just like there are laws that govern our universe. Nothing, other than photons, can travel at the speed of light, and you can't get immediate availability without paying for it. There are two ways you pay for availability: 1. The engineers are not quality, and you pay with low reliability or time. 2. The engineers are quality and their hourly rate is 3x-5x market rate. BlueRival adopts a different approach. We've developed efficient systems to onboard quality engineers quickly, without resorting to an  expensive or incompetent bench. We can assemble teams of 5-10 engineers in 4-6 weeks, and even scale up to 30 quality engineers within 3 months. Because we don’t pay a bench of quality engineers to sit idle, we can offer significantly lower rates than the general market, ensuring value and efficiency for our clients. There are other conversations we can have about the impact of 6 weeks lead time vs 6 days, but that still works out in favor of the BlueRival strategy. #technology #engineering #economics

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Let's talk about the challenges when it comes to contracting freelancers for audio software development… A few years ago, a prospective client chose to source a developer on their own instead of using our consulting services at The Audio Programmer. Fast forward to now, and that developer has left them high and dry, taking a full-time role elsewhere. 😬 We're stepping in to help, but this could've been avoided. Here's the deal: 🔍 Companies often think they're saving money by going solo, but they risk a lot. Without proper management infrastructure, assessing a developer's ability and handling unexpected issues becomes a gamble. 🛠️ Developers, on the other hand, might not realize the extra "scaffolding" needed for solo freelancing—handling IP, invoicing, aligning expectations, and navigating communication gaps. These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to company-freelancer dynamics, especially in software development. For the past 7 years, we've been bridging this gap. We ensure companies get what they need, even if it means replacing developers and adapting teams. And we make sure our developers get paid and focus on what they love—writing code and creating amazing products. No one gets left hanging. 🤝 What are your thoughts on the challenges with freelancing within audio software development? Let's talk shop!

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What makes a great Senior Developer? 🤔 When hiring Senior Developers, it's not just about technical skills. Yes, proficiency in coding languages and frameworks is crucial, but there are other qualities that set exceptional developers apart. ✅ Problem-solving ability: Senior Developers should be adept at identifying issues and crafting effective solutions. This often requires a deep understanding of the entire development process and the ability to think critically. ✅ Communication skills: It's vital for Senior Developers to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical team members. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and can collaborate effectively. ✅ Leadership and mentorship: Senior Developers often guide junior team members. Their ability to mentor and lead by example can significantly impact the team's overall performance and morale. We always discuss the value and how hirers prioritise these qualities to ensure we match the right talent with the right opportunities. If you're looking for your next role or need to find top-tier talent, visit bristowholland.com or drop me a message. #TechRecruitment #SeniorDevelopers #HiringTips

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Developer downtime: don’t overwork your devs. It’s memorial weekend and I’m lazily sitting on my porch. My kids keep coming in and out of the house, but get stuck because the sliding door keeps coming off the rails and won’t open. Well, since I’ve got nothing else scheduled for the afternoon I investigate the issue. Turns out sliding doors have a bunch of adjustment screws. I adjust them till the door slides smooth. Left in the broken state my kids learned to hit top left side of the door before opening it. Bringing this back to work, I know customer success teams that have a cheat sheet of these maneuvers. Give devs space to observe, we naturally fix these issues.

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How does cloud-based device testing stack up against maintaining in-house device farms? How does one begin to navigate choosing a mobile testing approach? Modernizing your testing process in today’s challenging landscape – where to begin? These are a few of the many questions Marcus Merrell and I will address in part one of a two-part webinar series on a few things you need to get started with cloud-based device testing on May 21. We can’t wait to see you there! https://lnkd.in/dJuwZqNX

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One thing I noticed when tinkering with greenfield projects after years of working on the same codebase is the number of new tools available today that are lowering the barrier to entry. v0, auth.js, drizzle JS, supabase, neon... The JS ecosystem moves so fast.

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