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1500 questions
171
votes
5 answers
Scheme vs Common Lisp: Which characteristics made a difference in your project?
There are no shortage of vague "Scheme vs Common Lisp" questions on both StackOverflow and on this site, so I want to make this one more focused. The question is for people who have coded in both languages:
While coding in Scheme, what specific…
SuperElectric
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171
votes
11 answers
What happened to the "Surgical Team" pattern from "The Mythical Man-Month"?
Years ago, when I read The Mythical Man-Month, I found lots of stuff which I already knew from other sources. However, there were also new things in there, despite the book being from 1975. One of them was:
The Surgical Team
Mills proposes that…
vog
- 1,444
171
votes
6 answers
How to break up a programming project into tasks for other developers?
I have recently joined a development project and was suddenly given the job of lead developer. My primary responsibility is to break up the programming part of the project into tasks, give these tasks to the other developers, and then make sure that…
khm
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171
votes
12 answers
How do operating systems… run… without having an OS to run in?
I'm really curious right now. I'm a Python programmer, and this question just boggled me: You write an OS. How do you run it? It has to be run somehow, and that way is within another OS?
How can an application run without being in an OS? How do you…
Thor Correia
- 1,433
170
votes
18 answers
Is there any reason to use C++ instead of C, Perl, Python, etc.?
As a Linux (server side) developer, I don't know where and why should I use C++.
When I'm going for performance, the first and last choice is C.
When "performance" isn't the main issue, programming languages like Perl and Python would be good…
Ehsan
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170
votes
10 answers
Mono is frequently used to say "Yes, .NET is cross-platform". How valid is that claim?
In What would you choose for your project between .NET and Java at this point in time? I say that I would consider the "Will you always deploy to Windows?" the single most important technical decision to make up front in a new web project, and if…
user1249
169
votes
9 answers
I changed one method signature and now have over 25,000 errors. What now?
I started a new job recently where I am working on a very large application (15M loc). In my previous job we had a similarly large application but (for better or for worse) we used OSGi, which meant the application was broken down into lots of…
user788497
- 1,321
169
votes
6 answers
How to detect the encoding of a file?
On my filesystem (Windows 7) I have some text files (These are SQL script files, if that matters).
When opened with Notepad++, in the "Encoding" menu some of them are reported to have an encoding of "UCS-2 Little Endian" and some of "UTF-8 without…
Marcel
- 3,152
169
votes
18 answers
Is it better to return NULL or empty values from functions/methods where the return value is not present?
I am looking for a recommendation here. I am struggling with whether it is better to return NULL or an empty value from a method when the return value is not present or cannot be determined.
Take the following two methods as an examples:
string…
P B
- 2,379
168
votes
6 answers
Should the variable be named Id or ID?
This is a bit pedantic, but I've seen some people use Id as in:
private int userId;
public int getUserId();
and others use:
private int userID;
public int getUserID();
Is one of these a better name than the other? Why? I've seen this done very…
Adam
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167
votes
10 answers
When is it not appropriate to use the dependency injection pattern?
Since learning (and loving) automated testing I have found myself using the dependency injection pattern in almost every project. Is it always appropriate to use this pattern when working with automated testing? Are there any situations were you…
Tom Squires
- 17,835
167
votes
17 answers
Why are part-time jobs in programming an anomaly?
I've recently quit my full time developing job at mega-corp, and I decided that I'll look for a part time job. Since then I've talked to half a dozen potential employers, and every one of them had the same reaction when I said the magic words…
Mikle
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166
votes
1 answer
Where can I find programming puzzles and challenges?
I'm trying to find places where I can hone my craft outside the context of school or work. Are there places online, or books available, where I can access lists of programming puzzles or challenges?
cmcculloh
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166
votes
111 answers
Are there any famous one-man-army programmers?
Lately I have been learning of more and more programmers who think that if they were working alone, they would be faster and would deliver more quality. Usually that feeling is attached to a feeling that they do the best programming in their team…
DFectuoso
- 111
166
votes
28 answers
How to be a zero-bug programmer?
My boss has always told me that a good programmer should be able to ensure that the code he or she changes is reliable, correct, and thoroughly self-verified; that you should completely understand all the results and impacts your changes will cause.…
Elaine
- 261