June 2007 - Posts
As a result of our planned expansion and search for new developers to join our team, I've been doing some reading and giving a lot of thought to the issue of hiring software developers. Here are a few good sources:
(1) http://blogs.interknowlogy.com/billsheldon/archive/2007/05/19/13622.aspx
This makes an interesting point on the issue of profesional (vs not) developers
(2) http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/GuerrillaInterviewing3.html
This is "The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing" By Joel Spolsky. People generally have strong opions about Joel's writings - one way or another. Regardless of where you stand, it is always worthwhile to read his stuff, because it makes you think. Joel has also just released a book on hiring titled "Smart & Gets Things Done"
(3) Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds
This recent classic by Johanna Rothman provides some great real-world insights and tips to interviewing and hiring technocal employees.
Do you have any favorites Do's/Don't or hiring resources ? Please leave them as comments to this post.
The July meeting of the Israel Visual Basic User Group http://www.renaissance.co.il/ivbug:
July 4, 2007
Location:
Microsoft Israel
2 Hapnina St,
Ra'anana
(09) 7625-100
Floor 0 , Dekel Room
It is the new building across from Amdocs.
Turn right at the first traffic circle, there is a new area for Microsoft parking on the left.
17:30 - 18:00 Assembly
18:00 - 18:10 Introduction
18:10 - 19:15 “Getting to Know Test Driven Development & Design”
Oren Eini, We! Consulting Group
19:15 - 19:30 Break
19:30 – 19:45 "Hatzilu !"
Open session, with questions and answers/ideas from everyone
19:45 - 20:45 “Interaction based testing With Rhino Mocks mock objects”
Oren Eini, We! Consulting Group
Please confirm your attendance.
This month we will “roll up our sleeves” and look at some very practical and hands-on programming issues.
Our speaker is Oren Eini (aka “Ayende”) who will talk about one of favorite passions – test-driven development. In his session, “Getting to know Test Driven Development & Design” he will present the use of Test Driven Development, its advantages and the results to the application design and maintainability.
You have just finished implementing the new WizBang 2.0 feature, and you are feeling pretty good about yourself. But, do you know if this feature broke? Testing using F5 isn't scaling beyond the simplest application, and the cost of maintaining software is often several times over the cost of building it.
In his second session, “Interaction based testing With Rhino Mocks”, Oren will build on the concepts covered in the earlier session and explain and show the use of mock objects.
Beyond the simplest scenarios, all objects had collaborators that they work with. This flies in the face of testing objects in isolation. This is the problem that mock objects were created to solve. In this talk you will learn what mock objects are, how to utilize them and best practices on when / how to utilize them. Rhino Mocks is a mock objects framework for .Net whose core goals are to let the developer rely on the compiler work well with refactoring tools.
As always, we'll have our special "Hatzilu" session at our meeting. So please come prepared to discuss your most frustrating problems (or at least some of them!) and to share some of your own techniques and solutions that you have found useful in your applications.
About the speaker:
Oren Eini is a senior developer versed in .Net 2, Web Application and Data Persistency. He is currently working as a consultant at We! Consulting Group.
My company, Renaissance Computer Systems Ltd., is a growing software company and is currently looking to fill these 2 positions:
.NET Developer
· 1-2 years of experience developing with VB.NET and/or C#
· Solid knowledge of .NET Framework and Visual Studio tools
· Understanding of common software design patterns
· Ability to quickly learn new technologies and application domains
· Ability to work as part of an interactive development team
Graphic Web Designer (part-time or freelance)
· 1-3 years of experience designing and developing web pages
· Graphical design experience with solid experience with HTML and CSS
· Knowledge of ASP.NET and Java script programming
· Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
High level of English verbal and written skills required.
Exceptional students and recent graduates will be considered.
You must be located in Israel for these positions.
More information about the company and these positions can be found at http://www.renaissance.co.il
The cat is finally out of the bag and available for discussion - Microsoft's "Acropolis" project. Even though I decided to go ahead and port a major project to the CAB (Composite Application Building Block), I have spend the past few years explaining to the P&P team that the CAB was too hard to work with for most developers/projects. Acropolis is MS's attempt to
(1) Make it much easier to build loosely coupled, composite, smart client applications and
(2) Make it part of the .NET framework instead of an add-in from the Patterns and Practices team
You can download the CTP (for Orcas Beta 1) and help file from here. In addition to the framework classes, the CTP includes a design wizard and template for Acropolis applications. The help file includes not only reference sections, but also a nice walk-through of a simple RSS reader in Acropolis.
OK, don't thow out your keyboard and mouse just yet, but Microsoft unveiled last week a prototype of what the future could very well look like - coffee table-sized desktop with direct manipulation of displayed items and images, as well as interaction with items placed on the desktop. Check out the information and videos below - and let your imagination run wild with new uses for WPF !
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
Check out these videos:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/317737_msftdevice30.html
The June meeting of the Israel Visual Basic User Group
http://www.renaissance.co.il/ivbug:
June 6, 2007
Location:
Microsoft Israel
2 Hapnina St,
Ra'anana
(09) 7625-100
Floor 0 , Dekel Room
It is the new building across from Amdocs.
Turn right at the first traffic circle, there is a new area for Microsoft parking on the left.
17:30 - 18:00 Assembly
18:00 - 18:10 Introduction
18:10 - 19:15 “Understanding and Using Windows CardSpace – Part 1”
Adlai Maschiach, Matrix-IT
19:15 - 19:30 Break
19:30 – 19:45 "Hatzilu !"
Open session, with questions and answers/ideas from everyone
19:45 - 20:45 “Understanding and Using Windows CardSpace – Part 2”
Adlai Maschiach, Matrix-IT
About the speaker:
Adlai Maschiach is a Senior Consultant and Team Leader at Matrix-IT. He specializes in Software Design Patterns and Security Patterns and has a Masters in the Field of Security from Ben-Gurion Univ.
Although .NET 3.0 is known for its three pillars of WPF, WCF, and WF, there is also another major technology that doesn’t get all of the attention that it deserves – Windows CardSpace (formerly “Infocard”). Windows CardSpace (WCS) is client software that enables users to provide their digital identity to online services in a simple, secure and trusted way. Adlai Maschiach, a Senior Consultant and Team Leader at Matrix-IT, will guide us from the basic concepts and architecture all the way through real-world use of WCS. The topics he will cover include:
1. What is identity
2. What is the Identity Metasystem and how WCS incorporates it
3. WCS as opposed to Passport
4. SAML - The XML behind all this for the WS-Trust & WS-Federation
5. Live samples of WCS
As always, we'll have our special "Hatzilu" session at our meeting. So please come prepared to discuss your most frustrating problems (or at least some of them!) and to share some of your own techniques and solutions that you have found useful in your applications.
Please confirm your attendance - jackie @ renaissance.co.il
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