While a good post, the real issue is that non technical managers of technical projects is quickly becoming more of a risk than many projects can prudently accept.
The old, and unfair, characterization of programmers as smelly trolls that can't handle client interactions is more of a crutch for fools than a reality.
The truth is my clients complain bitterly about how they'd prefer to just talk directly to the dev's and not be bothered by the various hand waivers trying to justify their line item on an invoice. Often this is a great way to annoy the dev team, but it's a good expression of the perceived value of a non technical intermediary.
In the end the old truism of "You can't manage what you don't understand" still applies to this new fangled industry of software development.
That being said, ramping dev's up on management techniques is another challenge, for another internet rant.
Post on ruby.mn, with a link to a github account with some code samples, preferably with a unit test.
Minnesota is an outstanding place that has programs in place for these sorts of things, and plenty of work. The winters are brutal, but the people are well read & kind.
In fact I referred a PHP transplant from DC to 4 startups today, I'll email you for your deets and get the ball rolling.
[UPDATE] Meeting at Spyhouse NE to get him sorted @7 we'll be the ones dressed as nerds by accident instead of on purpose.
I just wrapped up a project not using this full workflow, but using node-webkit + grunt-node-webkit-builder.
To answer a few questions posed here:
1) It worked great for me, but we were doing a very simple presentation type app
2) grunt-node-webkit-builder is pretty great, saves ~15 minutes for each build, grunt takes a little bit to get going, but is easier than most php / ruby tools I've used
3) You don't have to use Angular, Jade, or Coffescript
4) While I did not take advantage of using a database, I suspect someone else has and it's not a big deal.
Also for anyone interested the same code we ran through node-webkit, worked well with build.phonegap.com, which means it would also work with Cordova (http://cordova.apache.org/) adding mobile device support into the build process would be very impressive, as would a node-webkit GUI build tool.
If I had all the time & attention span in the world, combining a node desktop+mobile build tool with an IDE like light table into a complete package that had a simple installer & GIT integration would be pretty great, and mostly assembling parts instead of re inventing the wheel.
However, I have bills to pay so I need to get back to figuring out how a big corporations's imaginary friends will make purchasing decisions ;)
Second that. Our app [1] is a web builder that lets you edit multiple pages at the same time and use Less to create your design - both through GUI and code editor.
Node-webkit works great. Our build process is simple: minimizing js files and copying files into a release folder. Grunt node-webkit takes care of creating binaries for Mac and Win. Making changes in development is easy. You basically just refresh the page in node-webkit and new version is loaded.
We use the same code base in the desktop app and online [2]. The only difference is that desktop app has additional code for working with local files and native windows.
At first I was doing it with Chrome packaged apps. But the security model there is more complex and working with local files and supporting the ability to open & edit pages from the internet required jumping through many loopholes and passing messages around between frames with different security privileges.
With node-webkit everything simply just worked from the start.
Very interesting! Could you drop a line on the github repo how to use the phonegap build process with an app build for node-webkit? this would be awesome! I'll not have the time to make your described wonder happen, but at least truly crosscompiling apps for desktop & mobile is a thing I'd like to see happen.
the easiest way is to use build.phonegap.com and connect it to your github.com repo, as well as your src directory in the grunt build tool.
Cordova is the open source project uses the same code magic that phonegap does, and can be installed on your local machine. I have not mixed it into the grunt built tool yet, but I think the hardest part is installing cordova & ready the documentation
no idea why I said pretty great multiple times, after reading several posts on american stereotypes, I think I just need to drive my truck to a restaurant and tip largely to complete my day.
QA, testing web sites in late development and logging bugs.
Most developers hate doing this, & PM's are not good at anything.
I usually pay $40/hr for this, however it only takes a few hours, and that rate means the bug report is reported in a way that it's easy to read and recreate without having to have a conversation about it.
I had a p/t QA job testing games for IBM and other local ISVs. I was a highschool student at the time and the only requirement was knowing how to use a computer and writing detailed descriptions of what happened and what you did to cause it.
I can't imagine how programming has anything to do with assurance (the A in QA). Though I have seen job descriptions confuse QA with analytics and analytics definitely requires programming expertise. I usually chalk this up to HR not knowing what the hell they are talking about.
At all of my past companies (the current is notably different), and the majority of companies where my programmer friends work, QA requires no meaningful knowledge of programming, just knowledge of
the product
how programmers (the people) think, and how to cope with them
That said, it's not at all clear to me how this is a work-from-home job.
My little world of web apps there are 2 types of testers, both valuable.
1) Programmer testers that write reusable, and automated tests, as well as encourage & assist the dev team to write their own tests. These folks work through the entire project , usually on product type projects.
2) Manual Testers (there must be a better name) These folks are good communicators that focus primarily on the client perspective. Developers, and their tests, tend to evaluate code in a rigid & consistent way that may not reflect the end user experience. These testers are also used on products but more commonly on turn-and-burn projects for Agencies or startup MVP's that are not huge yet.
It's so ridiculous that people always want QA testers to be programmers. My fiance is a fantastic QA tester but has no interest in programming. She interviewed at Twitter, which at the time did not have a single manual QA tester keeping an eye on their products, and they just asked her a bunch of questions about coding. They should have sat her down and asked her to find bugs. No programmer I know has the patience to do what she does manually. She works with a team that makes extensive use of automated testing. But things still slip through, and it's worth it to have a human being looking for issues. Doing everything with manual QA is obviously stupid. But I think the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction as well. Having no manual QA whatsoever seems like a big waste of time for teams that are large enough to afford it.
Is this still available??I would love to do it,for both the money and the experience.ephan17 [@] gmail.com ..I can show you my background and a site I have done.
