Reading Time: 2 minutes Couple days ago I went to see a Dentist/Hygienist for routine checkup. Visiting dentist is not my favorite task because my teeth are not that great and my hygienist made me feel very unconfortable last year, both physically and emotionally. So I chose a different dental office this year. To my surprise, this new hygienist
Reading Time: 3 minutes 今天来谈谈我的第一个Project Leader(PL)，PL是一个技术领导的位置，通常他们自己也写程序，但最重要的是他们要分析用户需求，搭建软件框架，指导年轻的Developer，and make technical decesions。 我第一次见到我的PL是在面试的时候，当时感觉这人很忠厚。我记得上班第一天也是他到Reception Desk接的我。刚开始工作那段，我的技术比较差，又赶上老板关注的项目，每星期一的例会免不了被老板数落，我在上一篇已经讲了。PL这时候就帮我开脱一下，说我还是新人，有个学习过程。我们Team也就他没被老板说过， 其他人多多少少都被老板数落过。其实我的第一个老板人不错，就是脾气不好，最后他自己被裁员也是这个原因。 言归正传。PL有这个地位，主要是他的技术水平和领导能力。他是我们那里当时很难拿到的Senior Software Engineer。与一些小公司不一样，我们评Senior，要在整个开发部门评，要得到其他Development Group的认可, 而且名额有限。PL是我在公司见过的最好的老师。他有耐心，而且他能把东西讲清楚。这是我们几个年轻人喜欢去找他问问题的原因。问其他人有时也能解决问题，但是他能教你为什么。几个年纪大的也喜欢找他讨论问题，因为PL is a good listener，他能帮你分析问题。这样一来，他的CUBE旁边有时会有两三个人在那里等。我们开玩笑说以后要排队拿号问问题。有一段时间，我们老板告诉我们尽量不要去打搅PL，因为他要赶一个项目。我记得那一段时间，他经常晚上九点多才下班。对于一个有家庭，二十年工龄的人来讲，不简单。他的那个项目结果非常成功。 对于我来说，我十分感激PL能成为我的Mentor。从C语言到写技术文件，到如何与客户交流。印象最深的是他Review我的Functional/Design Specification，总是非常认真，并提供很多有用建议。最后还不忘纪鼓励几句。 PL没什么野心，他就是喜欢他的开发工作，也不想做Manager。他有一次告诉我，他以前做了一回Manager，觉得不如编程有意思，就又回来做他的老本行。我想我该学学他的踏实肯干。 PL是非常家庭型的男人。他有两个宝贝女儿，他的CUBE里面他女儿的照片从小到大，贴了两排。他是棒球迷，SAINT LOUIS CARDINAL FAN。 他的工作二十周年纪念，他请大家去看了一场CARDINAL的比赛。 ======below is translation via google translate====== Today, let’s talk about my first Project Leader (PL). PL is a technical leadership position. Usually they write programs themselves, but the most important
Reading Time: < 1 minute 一晃我在一个中等规模的软件公司做了五年多了.这是一家有四十年历史的软件公司(想想微软也就三十年的历史,1976-2006).我周围很多同事都有二三十年的工龄.我算是工龄最短的员工之一了.编程序是件很枯燥的事情.一开始我也很不理解为什么他们能在一个公司呆那么久.刚开始工作第一次Staff Meeting一看,怎么年纪大多比我大.看来不象DOTCOM公司,靠股票发财是没戏了.现在几年做下来,感觉其实我的那些美国同事大多蛮可爱的. 我的第一个正式Project是我老板当时的特别关心的Project.我和一个美国老头,一个俄罗斯大嫂合作.我们另有两个Project Leader. 他们的任务主要是Technical Leadership.美国老头是数学博士.他负责核心摸块的开发.我的任务是写一个API(Application Programming Interface), 简单地说, 别人要用核心摸块, 得通过我的API. 我还负责写一个用户界面(User Interface). 俄罗斯大嫂的任务是写一个独立的Application来调用我的API. 她也是新手, 比我早几个月进公司. 我们的进度令我们的老板很不满意. 基本上每星期一的Staff Meeting他一上来就问我们的进展. 除了项目难度, 两个新手, Our poor communications(inside team and with boss) 也是原因之一. 一般来讲, 一个Team都有一个磨合阶段. 我们的磨合要长一些因为我们的Communication skills are not great. 记得有一次我们老板在Meeting上说我们写的程序是垃圾Junk Code. 那次把老头搞急了, 他说你不能把”My code and Major’s code”说成是Junk Code. 自那以后, 我认真起来, 和老头距离也近了很多. 我们最后的Delivery令老板满意. 老头的数学很厉害. 最近他还帮我解决了一个困扰了很久的一个问题. 但是他也有他的弱点. 他对Windows操作系统和DLL机制不熟悉. 这就是我可以显身手的时候了. 这样一来一往,
Reading Time: 2 minutes I hope everyone had a happy new year and everything worked out as expected. I wish things always happen as we expected. But unfortunately reality sometimes caught us off guard. From my experience in computer world I know all kinds of things (good or bad) can happen. The infamous Windows “blue screen” problem. A friend
Reading Time: < 1 minute Software development jobs are no longer glamorous or sexy these days. The industry has recovered from the dot com crash but the outsourcing pressure is putting a lid on the salary of programmers in the US and other western countries. Another thing is development job itself could be boring and repetitive. Considering all these factors,
Reading Time: < 1 minute The working days between Xmas and New Year are usually slow. By “slow” I mean not many people will show up and there are not many business activites. I was surprised to see quite a few people showed up this week. Like poor me they ran out of their vacation days. One of my neighbour
Reading Time: < 1 minute I read this article from wenxuecity a while ago. Being a programmer for more than 5 years in the US, I shared the author’s view to great extent. I have made the mistakes he/she mentioned below (see bold text). I think the principle could be applied to other careers as well. The article link is
Reading Time: 2 minutes I got chance to watch some NBA games lately. I am not a big NBA fan because I don’t have cable at home and I felt it takes too much time (usually 2.5 hrs) to watch a game. I told my friends who are big NBA (Yao Ming) fans that I only need to watch
Reading Time: < 1 minute I was pretty stressed out debugging a problem last two weeks. Luckily I saw the light at the end of the tunnel yesterday. I found out the cause: the tolerance of transform matrix. This is a tough problem because it appears to me the problem occurred without any pattern. But later on I realized out
Reading Time: 2 minutes Working in the software development these days also means working with people all over the world. Most notablly, Indian software engineers. I have great respect with my Indian colleagues. I know some of them from my graduate school. But I have to admit I don’t like Indian food. I have been to Indian restaurants in
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