Just curious...

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Emryys
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Just curious...

Post by Emryys »

Just curious...

I know you guys are doing this project out of fun but, I was wondering how helpful it is to prgressing your skills in the programming field. Is this like a project, where your bosses (us ;) ), can't seem to be happy with anything, or is this experience similar to having a professional project (except it's fun!)

Just curious... :)
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trevor
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Post by trevor »

This is very different than a professional project :)

I've been a software developer for over ten years now. The top reason I work on rptools is for the fun of it as a creative outlet. Here are the perks that aren't always found in a professional setting:

- Write interesting code that I find personally compelling
- Get to tell the customer where to go if I don't like what they are asking for :)
- No hard time frames other, which boils down to pressureless coding (big, big win)
- Explore new technologies
- Be creative
- Work with some really sharp people (giliath and mrice)

And it certainly helps skill polishing. For example, I really enjoy writing swing apps (the graphics part of Java) but don't typically find the opportunity to do it in a professional setting, so rptools lets me learn more about it.

You'll also notice that one of the requirements is Java 5. We started this project not long after Java 5 was released. We made that requirement so that we could learn how to use all the new features effectively. And this has certainly been the case.

In summary, it's a creative outlet that let's me/us polish our technical skills and work on something fun.
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Fobbo
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Post by Fobbo »

This is somewhat off topic but how hard was it to learn Jave?

Do you have any advice for someone that may want to learn Java or other programing languages?

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trevor
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Post by trevor »

As a CS major in college I was a C and C++ guy (but mostly C), so it wasn't too terrible to pick up Java which has syntactical roots in those languages.

I understand that the book Thinking in Java is a really good place to start learning Java.

Probably the easiest thing to do is download Eclipse (eclipse.org) which makes programming in Java a piece of cake, plus it's free :) Then do a google search for Java tutorial or something, and just start typing in what you find, then learn as you tweak. Get involved in the forums at java.net, they are pretty nice to new people.
Dreaming of a 1.3 release

Emryys
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Post by Emryys »

trevor wrote:Get to tell the customer where to go if I don't like what they are asking for :)
You guys would never do that... would you ;)

Besides, we always ask for cool stuff! 8)
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trevor
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Post by trevor »

Emryys wrote:Besides, we always ask for cool stuff! 8)
Exactly ! :)
Dreaming of a 1.3 release

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