bottler_of_bees

I can't believe this is the first I'm hearing of this, and it's in Hobart. Did they advertise it anywhere?

I uninstalled anything Adobe some time ago, given their abysmal security track record.

Foxit grew annoying, so now I just open PDFs with Firefox (on Windows anyway). Seems fine.

Same thing was pushed through quickly in Australia with bipartisan support.

Not a peep out of anyone.

I think even the RSPCA get access to our various data.

I was unfairly targetting electricians there I think. I just feel like sometimes the hoops developers have to go through are a bit more strenuous than some other professions, if you accept it as a profession.

I think if you can remove your ego from the equation (I don't think anyway likes being told they're wrong or what they've done is stupid/illogical/inefficient), they're an excellent way to learn new approaches and how other people think about code. Sometimes a good excuse for vocal devs to soapbox and assert dominance too in these lovely open-plan devpits.

That said, most times I've had code reviews, it's more of a superficial rubber stamp. Probably been guilty of doing that too... not really as much fun reviewing code as writing it.

There is a wide gap between making games, and enjoying them.

Once they're reduced to nuts and bolts and hard work, they become much less interesting.

Down the track, I'd buy a place on http://aboardtheworld.com/ and just network with others of your ilk. They'll have faced the same challenges and could offer some good advice I'd suspect.

Otherwise, what are you interested in beyond AI? I see AI as interesting, but a means to an end. Gardening, for instance, interests me. I would look at ways of improving crop yield, rehab'ing land etc (perhaps naively), or anything with a quantifiable goal. The current wealth imbalance of the world interests me, I'd research ways of coming to terms with that or fixing it :p

Code generation used to annoy me a lot for some reason, in Java land, I guess that was back when Ant was used and code generation made the build process a bit more annoying. Also somewhat rigid.

I wonder if some of the ORM's would get you to a bit closer to the cross-platform proc. They need to know all of the variances of the db's in terms of the syntax I guess, but I doubt you'd ever get to a stage of writing cross-db stored procs that compiled to TransactSQL etc... or whether the effort would be worth it.

Have you had to do that? i.e. write the same functionality in two different databases as a stored proc? I guess software vendors might face that. I'd probably push the logic back into the app code if possible, unless the amount/processing of data precludes it for whatever reason.

If you've had no commercial work experience, it's a little tough to craft a "good developer's" resume I'd say, so I would focus on things you've created while self-learning with demonstrable websites, as well as clearly list all the community sites/forums/lists and whatnot you're involved with and any contributions made.

In a cover letter I'd stress how well you can pick up new technologies and become useful to the client/business very quickly, how passionate you are about keeping up to date with technologies, and somehow indicate you're not a Machiavellian-ego-consumed prima donna that won't shrink when your logic/work is challenged or when the stress hits.

Employers it seems to me these days are asking much more than they would of any other profession i.e. do electricians get asked to trot out a list of sites they've worked on in the past, or are expected to work after hours on open source projects they can demonstrate when they next go to a job? It's tough for recruiters to understand what you're good at, so it becomes a bit of an art to actually letting people know you're good at such-and-such.

I haven't had any problems being self-taught in the development area - once you've got a few engagements under your belt and referees. Getting that first one is the tough bit, if you can prove yourself after that, things get easier and easier.