Coders, Programmers, Developers, Engineers and .NET Development
I mentioned before that one of my responsiblities at work has been to create a nightlybuild and deployment process. The tools are in place but all mostly require access to the build machine. The tools are all console .net apps that may or may not be scheduled.
The deployment tool was written to either "push" the bits from the build machine or to "pull" the bits into a server. The QA group has decided that it prefers the push mode. So they have to have access to the build machine. We use terminal services to connect but are limited to 2 connections, which is a major inconviences.
So, I decided that I would write a web based application to deploy. Of course, by default the ASPNET user can't copy files to just any server, so I set impersonation - works ok, but the copy needs to be in a worker thread. The thread doesn't have rights to copy files. This may not seem like a problem to some but I haven't really delved into asp.net security - the perferect opportunity.
I changed the title of this post while writing. A programmer or whatever came by my desk and ask for me to rebuild and deploy his tool that failed the build last night. I got to thinking about the various levels of people here and where I've been before. Some want others to fix their problems - not their job. Others tried to understand the process or at least the tools being used. I am barraged by VS.NET, VSS, etc. basic questions by some. Others just get the job done.
Anyone can see that a lot of .net is new to me but I am trying to learn - trying to find a niche I guess. We have people who are way above me in .net skills others who just want their UI to work. The UI codes even have the UI designed by the analysts.
.NET seems to make it both easier and harder to write applications. This company has built a framework so that the ui programmers don't even need to understand the underlying application - just wire up the UI. At the same time the application is a lot more sophisticated.
Anyway, I've never really understood people who just try to get by in this business. I find that I've had a constant struggle (usually a lot of fun) in my career(s) to learn new stuff. Personally I've not had a choice.