** UnhandledExceptionEventHandler :: OFFICIAL LC / CHATTER THREAD ** - Page 735 - Computer Technical Help

daveT, if I were hiring a developer for any sort of role expecting experience, somebody saying a really low salary would be a bit of a red flag (although we don't ask salary questions up front, so its kind of a hypothetical). I think I'd just be a little bit more thorough asking about background to make sure I really understood your past experience.

I think you need to figure out a strategy for this because its something that came up before. Personally, I'd go the route of not stating a number and saying you want to be paid competitively and that salary is just part of the whole benefit package which you can sort out later. That negotiating article that's been posted a couple times ITT has good strategies for how to do that well.

Otherwise, you need to do your research and figure out an appropriate number. Maybe even give them a high number but add a caveat that you really like what they're doing and you'd be negotiable on the number depending on the overall compensation package.

Yea I think you're supposed to deflect salary questions as much as possible prior to them making an offer. If really pressed, some of the latest research says to give a range rather than a number, with the low end of the range being the actual number you want.

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05-08-2015 , 05:17 PM

#18352

Somnius

grinder

Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 556

Has anyone here taken exam 70-483? http://blog.pluralsight.com/learning...ft-exam-70-483 / anyone care to post their thoughts on its relevance in hiring and its preparation. Am a C# newbie so can't see it hurting either way.

Considering preparing for it while continuing to learn JS - don't have a cs degree and hoping something like that would help land more software-y jobs in the future if need be - or perhaps play a deeper role in some web facing.

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05-08-2015 , 05:26 PM

#18353

Barrin6

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 6,947

Save your money and avoid all programming exams at all cost. I hate admitting this, but I took the A+ exam because my boss and co-workers thought it was a good idea for me to have. Complete waste of not only money, but my time studying. I learned nothing from that. The only worthy certification, I believe are CCNA. But then again, that's IT, and we are in a programming forum.

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05-08-2015 , 05:31 PM

#18354

Somnius

grinder

Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 556

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrin6

This is a C# / .NET exam. I don't know C#. Learning it then getting a piece of paper confirming that does not seem like an inherent waste of time.

Thanks for the input, anyone else?

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05-08-2015 , 05:42 PM

#18355

Larry Legend

Celtic Pride

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 42,920

daveT,

I'm kinda perplexed that you have been continuing to **** up this salary conversation for a solid year now with tons of helpful advice itt.

You need to get your **** together and be prepared for this question. You are interviewing for a job, do you just think one day you will find the magical HR drone who completely understands your life story and can partner with you to work on a number that works for everyone?

If when you are asked about how much salary you require, you fumble everything in your hands awkwardly to the ground and start mumbling, then yea, you are never getting a job.

Just ask for like 5% less of what you think they are trying to start someone at, or ask for an amount between 70-80k, that can basically NEVER go wrong. EVER. You need to be firm, professional, and respectful, but don't lowball yourself because you are straight up shooting yourself in the foot.

Also dude, stop with the whole "I am not worth this much" routine. EVERYONE is an impostor. Once you realize that 99% of people feel the exact same way as you, and that the most important aspect of a lot of jobs is having the WIM to get stuff done, you will feel comfortable asking for a higher amount.

You are clearly a really smart dude, you just need some confidence. Are you willing to relocate to the Boston area, seriously?

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05-08-2015 , 07:06 PM

#18356

kerowo

lolcat

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 37,190

Quote:

Originally Posted by Somnius

This is a C# / .NET exam. I don't know C#. Learning it then getting a piece of paper confirming that does not seem like an inherent waste of time.

Thanks for the input, anyone else?

What are you trying to accomplish career wise with the piece of paper? What kind of companies are going to find it impressive? You would probably be better served creating your own project or contributing to an existing project. Have you seen any job descriptions that ask for the exam you're thinking of taking?

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05-08-2015 , 07:15 PM

#18357

Somnius

grinder

Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 556

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerowo

Those are good questions.

Not sure yet career-wise a JS related web path for now leading to more software engineering type work later seems reasonable.

Haven't seen this exam specifically mentioned but just figured it would be another signal + motivation to grill through the material - project seems good too and probably better.

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05-08-2015 , 07:35 PM

#18358

Barrin6

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 6,947

Employers do ask for it. It's abbreviated as MCSD in job descriptions. Which is the abbreviation for Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer. I still think that working on your own projects, releasing an app in the windows store would be more impressive. Passing a test which has many "brain dumps" online is not a good use of your time in my opinion.

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05-08-2015 , 07:47 PM

#18359

Somnius

grinder

Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 556

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrin6

Oh okay cool. That seems reasonable too thanks.

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05-08-2015 , 09:01 PM

#18360

daveT

S.A.G.E. Master

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 23,955

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anais

Can't tell if that MS keyboard is mechanical or not. Also, no backlighting, so booooo.

Why's it so hard to find a backlit, ergonomic, mechanical keyboard that's not $200?

Because mechs are worth every damn penny. Really.

I could burn through a normal keyboard in about 3 months (grinhousin'). I've had my Das Keyboard for 2 years and it doesn't miss a beat.

Shoe: My "typing" is more hot-key based than normal typing, so I don't really keep my fingers on the home row. I keep my left pinky jammed on Ctrl most of the time, so that's why it sometimes bothers me.

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05-08-2015 , 11:00 PM

#18361

gaming_mouse

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 13,786

map caps lock to ctrl at the OS level

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05-08-2015 , 11:11 PM

#18362

Barrin6

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 6,947

Grinhousin? What does that mean? Do you slam your keyboard every time you use it?

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05-09-2015 , 02:18 AM

#18363

greg nice

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 9,990

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjshabado

Do any of you guys have problems with carpal tunnel/tendonitis/other wrist/arm conditions?

I started getting wrist/forearm pain a month or two ago and while not a major problem (yet?) it's pretty annoying. I've tried to cut back my personal computer usage and gone to a more ergonomic work setup - but I'm interested if its something other people have dealt with that have any tips.

i've tried nearly everything ergonomic. luckily poker allowed me to spend those thousands in testing keyboards/mice/keyboard trays/chairs/desks/etc

biggest help:

logitech trackball mouse, with ball on forefingers, not thumb

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/trackman-marble

and take more breaks

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05-09-2015 , 02:51 AM

#18364

daveT

S.A.G.E. Master

Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 23,955

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaming_mouse

map caps lock to ctrl at the OS level

The problem isn't the angle. It is pressing the button.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrin6

Grinhousin? What does that mean? Do you slam your keyboard every time you use it?

No, it means I work 8 hours with only the requisite breaks, working full-throttle.

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05-09-2015 , 05:51 AM

#18365

jmakin

banned

Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 30,120

Alright so I was having this issue with my receipt function for my restaurant POS system. I take a table's orders, print the receipt.. easy right. Well, it requires some HTML formatting which I suck at but unfortunately am forced to use right now.

So, got that down. The function I wrote to look at a table's orders and print the receipt, say you're given:

Mozzarella Sticks 5.00
Mozzarella Sticks 5.00
M Pepperoni Pizza 6.00
L Pepperoni Pizza 7.00

the receipt is supposed to print something like,

Mozzarella Sticks 2 @ $5.00
M Pepperoni Pizza 1 @ $6.00
L Pepperoni Pizza 1 @ $6.00

Well this was a way bigger pain in the ass than i think it should have been, basically because of how I've arranged my data I think.

I made a MenuItem class, which started out with 2 basic variables, String representing the name, and a double for the price. I have a few other member variables and some methods now but that's how it started off. There is a map that contains the entire menu with the item name as the key and the price as the value for easy retrieval.

So, to represent each table's unique order, I have a Vector<MenuItem> storing (sequentially) the orders for the table.

The problem comes when trying to count how many identical items there are. I thought of a few solutions, but this is the best I could come up with:

Code:

public String printOrdersHTML()
{
	String r = "";
	Map<String, Double> map = new TreeMap<String, Double>();
	Vector<String> v = new Vector<String>();
	
	for (MenuItem m : orders)
	{
		map.put(m.getItemName(), m.getItemPrice());
		v.add(m.getItemName());
	}
	
	for (String key : map.keySet())
	{
		r += "<tr><td>" + key+ "</td><td align =\"right\">" 
		   + Integer.toString(Collections.frequency(v, key))
                   + String.format(" @ $%4.2f", map.get(key)) + "</td></tr>";
			
	}
	
	return r;
}

I feel like this is horrific and ugly and probably really inefficient but it's by far the cleanest thing I've come up with for a problem I feel should be really simple. Any thoughts?

Last edited by jmakin; 05-09-2015 at 05:59 AM.

Quote

05-09-2015 , 06:33 AM

#18366

bex989

centurion

Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 153

Code:

// TODO precompute quantity as value in map 
public String printOrdersHTML(Map<MenuItem, Integer> ordersMap) {

	String r = "";	
	for (Map.Entry<MenuItem, Integer> o : ordersMap.entrySet()) {
		r += "<tr><td>" + o.getKey().getItemName() + "</td><td align =\"right\">" 
		   + o.getValue() + String.format(" @ $%4.2f", o.getKey().getItemPrice()) + "</td></tr>";
	}
	return r;
}

I think this should be clear enough, but feel free to ask if not. You can also do this with streams and reduce.

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05-09-2015 , 06:42 AM

#18367

bex989

centurion

Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 153

Quote:

Originally Posted by bex989

Code:

// TODO precompute quantity as value in map 
public String printOrdersHTML(Map<MenuItem, Integer> ordersMap) {

	String r = "";	
	for (Map.Entry<MenuItem, Integer> o : ordersMap.entrySet()) {
		r += "<tr><td>" + o.getKey().getItemName() + "</td><td align =\"right\">" 
		   + o.getValue() + String.format(" @ $%4.2f", o.getKey().getItemPrice()) + "</td></tr>";
	}
	return r;
}

I think this should be clear enough, but feel free to ask if not. You can also do this with streams and reduce.

Edit, I just remembered this little trick:

Code:

// TODO precompute quantity as value in map 
public String printOrdersHTML(Map<MenuItem, Integer> ordersMap) {

	String template = "<tr><td> #N# </td><td align =\"right\"> #Q# #P# </td></tr>";
	String r = "";	
	
	for (Map.Entry<MenuItem, Integer> o : ordersMap.entrySet()) {
	
		r += template.replace("#N#", o.getKey().getItemName())
				.replace("#Q#", o.getValue() + "")
				.replace("#P#", 
					String.format(" @ $%4.2f", o.getKey().getItemPrice()));
	}
	return r;
}

Quote

05-09-2015 , 08:58 AM

#18368

bex989

centurion

Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 153

Also, if you don't know how to handle the count, take a look here:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8...-value-in-java

You don't really need Map to solve this, maybe you should reevaluate the code that's happening before the call to that method.

I think that it's messy to call a global variable (orders) in that manner. And Vector is deprecated.

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05-09-2015 , 12:44 PM

#18369

jmakin

banned

Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 30,120

It's a class variable not a global.

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05-09-2015 , 02:52 PM

#18370

suzzer99

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 99,984

Of course my wrist starts hurting for the first time in years, right after saying it never hurts anymore itt. Bastards.

Quote

05-09-2015 , 03:09 PM

#18371

suzzer99

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 99,984

One of the better explanations of seen of the 'this' keyword in JS: http://www.sitepoint.com/inner-worki...-this-keyword/

Btw @JavaScriptDaily is probably the most useful programming twitter handle I follow. Anyone else have favorites?

Quote

05-10-2015 , 11:38 AM

#18372

clowntable

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 45,557

Bought a smartwatch this weekend. I'm only using it for the bare minimum features but I like it.

1) Get phone call notifications (I have my phone on no sound 100% of the time and miss a ton of calls)
2) Get IM messages on the phone (and quickly answer them)
3) Get the time without having to fiddle with the cell

Will test mail, calender and Trello soon. No need for the health stuff.