71431125
submission
snydeq writes:
Thanks to powerful tools, the need for speed, and the shifting nature of programming itself, framework APIs are fast becoming the center of interest in programming today, replacing most of the old programming language wars over syntax and structure. 'When I sat down with other faculty members at Johns Hopkins University to plan out a new course, frameworks dominated the conversation,' InfoWorld's Peter Wayner writes. 'This was the center of the action, worthy of a survey course that would explore the architecture of the most important software packages girding today’s Internet. In this sense, frameworks are the new programming languages. They are where the latest ideas, philosophies, and practicalities of modern-day coding are found. Some flame out, but many are becoming the new fundamental building blocks of programming.'
71226433
submission
snydeq writes:
A quiet revolution with a potential impact on the IT workforce reminiscent of outsourcing may be under way in the form of robotic process automation, InfoWorld reports. 'Geared toward automating a variety of business and computing processes typically handled by humans, RPA will stir passions at organizations that deploy the technology, with its potential to slash jobs, shake up the relevant skills mix, and if implemented strategically, stave off the specter of outsourcing.' BPOs and enterprises alike are implementing the technology and seeing positive results in slashing labor costs. 'I would say most IT infrastructure support jobs will be eliminated over the next three years,' says Frank Casale, founder of the Institute for Robotic Process Automation. That sentiment may be a bit bullish on the tech, but early results suggest that a shakeup of the IT workforce could be near, as RPA puts higher-value IT tasks in automation's cross-hairs.
70838659
submission
snydeq writes:
The software industry venerates the young — sometimes to its own detriment. There are just some things you can experiences come only after many lost weeks of frustration borne of weird and inexplicable bugs. InfoWorld's Peter Wayner offers up several hard-earned lessons of seasoned programmers that are often overlooked when chasing after the latest, trendiest architectures, frameworks, and stacks. 'In the spirit of sharing or to simply wag a wise finger at the young folks once again, here are several lessons that can't be learned by jumping on the latest hype train for a few weeks. They are known only to geezers who need two hexadecimal digits to write their age.' What are yours?
70745307
submission
snydeq writes:
The trajectory of Mozilla, from the trail-blazing technologies to the travails of being left in the dust, may be seen as parallelling that of the now-defunct Unix systems giant. 'Mozilla has become the modern-day Sun Microsystems: While known for churning out showstopping innovation, its bread-and-butter technology now struggles.' The article goes on to mention Firefox's waning market share, questions over tooling for the platform, Firefox's absence on mobile devices, developers' lack of standard tools (e.g., 'Gecko-flavored JavaScript'), and relatively slow development of Firefox OS, in comparison with mobile incumbents.
70661319
submission
snydeq writes:
InfoWorld's Roger Grimes offers some hard-earned lessons in dealing with fellow employees who have been caught embezzling from the company, illegally accessing private emails, or using customer credit card data to buy computer equipment for their home. 'As technology becomes more powerful and computer systems become increasingly rife with sensitive data, one facet of the people side of IT finds itself under increased scrutiny: Trust. Over the past three decades, I’ve made wonderful hires, people that my gut told me were the right candidates for the job, then went on to prove themselves beyond my wildest expectations. But every once in a while, I’ve missed early warnings signs that an otherwise great candidate or talented, hardworking employee lacked, let’s call it, a strong moral compass.'
70562143
submission
snydeq writes:
Strong legislation that will weaken the ability of the trolls to shake down innovators is likely to pass Congress, but more should be done, writes InfoWorld's Bill Snyder. 'The Innovation Act isn't an ideal fix for the program patent system. But provisions in the proposed law, like one that will make trolls pay legal costs if their claims are rejected, will remove a good deal of the risk that smaller companies face when they decide to resist a spurious lawsuit,' Snyder writes. That said, 'You'd have to be wildly optimistic to think that software patents will be abolished. Although the EFF's proposals call for the idea to be studied, [EFF attorney Daniel] Nazer doesn't expect it to happen; he instead advocates several reforms not contained in the Innovation Act.'
70509709
submission
snydeq writes:
Git made it possible for programmers to coordinate distributed work across teams — now GitHub makes it possible for everyone else, writes InfoWorld's Jon Udell. 'Most people don't sling code for a living. But as the work products and processes of every profession are increasingly digitized, many of us will gravitate to tools designed to coordinate our work on shared digital artifacts. That's why Git and GitHub are finding their way into workflows that produce artifacts other than, or in addition to, code,' Udell writes. 'One reason is that GitHub has gradually exposed more of the underlying Git capabilities in its Web interface. Another is the emergence of Web applications that use GitHub as a platform. Then there's the cultural factor: GitHub embodies a particular way of working together.'
70491001
submission
snydeq writes:
High demand, large workloads, and the changing nature of programming work have some developers seeking reps to help them land new gigs, InfoWorld reports. But questions remain as to whether this model, in which an agent hypes your skills and represents you in negotiations, offers enough potential to go mainstream. 'Before you roll your eyes at the idea of someone pimping someone else’s programming chops as a pretentious fad, consider this: Software work is becoming increasingly more project-based, and the days of settling into long-term employment without the need to keep an eye out for new work may be waning.'
70435325
submission
snydeq writes:
Researchers warn that a glut of code is coming that will depress wages and turn coders into Uber drivers, InfoWorld reports. 'The researchers — Boston University's Seth Benzell, Laurence Kotlikoff, and Guillermo LaGarda, and Columbia University's Jeffrey Sachs — aren't predicting some silly, Terminator-like robot apocalypse. What they are saying is that our economy is entering a new type of boom-and-bust cycle that accelerates the production of new products and new code so rapidly that supply outstrips demand. The solution to that shortage will be to figure out how not to need those hard-to-find human experts. In fact, it's already happening in some areas.'
70406103
submission
snydeq writes:
Yesterday's announcement of Azure Machine Learning offers the latest sign of Microsoft's deep machine learning expertise — now available to developers everywhere, InfoWorld reports. 'Machine learning has infiltrated Microsoft products from Bing to Office to Windows 8 to Xbox games. Its flashiest vehicle may be the futuristic Skype Translator, which handles two-way voice conversations in different languages. Now, with machine learning available on the Azure cloud, developers can build learning capabilities into their own applications: recommendations, sentiment analysis, fraud detection, fault prediction, and more. The idea of the new Azure offering is to democratize machine learning, so you no longer need to hire someone with a doctorate to use a machine learning algorithm.'
70383729
submission
snydeq writes:
While it may have been unthinkable 20 years ago, Java and JavaScript are now locked in a battle of sorts for control of the programming world. InfoWorld's Peter Wayner examines where the old-school compiler-driven world of Java hold its ground and where the speed and flexibility of Node.js gives JavaScript on the server the nod. 'In the history of computing, 1995 was a crazy time. First Java appeared, then close on its heels came JavaScript. The names made them seem like conjoined twins newly detached, but they couldn't be more different. One of them compiled and statically typed; the other interpreted and dynamically typed. That's only the beginning of the technical differences between these two wildly distinct languages that have since shifted onto a collision course of sorts, thanks to Node.js.'
70275051
submission
snydeq writes:
The government agency that brought us the Internet has now developed a powerful new search engine that is shedding light on the contents of the so-called deep Web. DARPA began work on the Memex Deep Web Search Engine a year ago, and this week unveiled its tools to Scientific American and '60 Minutes.' 'Memex, which is being developed by 17 different contractor teams, aims to build a better map of Internet content and uncover patterns in online data that could help law enforcement officers and others. While early trials have focused on mapping the movements of human traffickers, the technology could one day be applied to investigative efforts such as counterterrorism, missing persons, disease response, and disaster relief.'
69989325
submission
snydeq writes:
Nadella's first year at the Microsoft helm has brought both stunning successes and surprising lapses, writes Woody Leonhard in his report-card roundup of Nadella's reign thus far in Redmond. 'Nadella took office on Feb. 4, 2014, and his early reign was handcuffed by Ballmer-era inertia — and Ballmer-era flubs, particularly around mobile devices. ... Today, Microsoft is still saddled with a two-faced incarnation of Windows and a mobile portfolio few could envy. But with Windows 10 rolling forward, as well as the combination of Office 365 and Azure a vital and successful focus for the company, Nadella's stamp on Microsoft is now more clearly drawn. Where does Microsoft stand under Nadella, and what's in store for the technology giant in the years ahead? Let our review of Nadella's first year at the helm be your guide."
69181069
submission
snydeq writes:
Simplicity vs. closures, speed of coding vs. raw speed — InfoWorld's Peter Wayner takes a look at how PHP and Node.js stack up against each other. 'It’s a classic Hollywood plot: the battle between two old friends who went separate ways. Often the friction begins when one pal sparks an interest in what had always been the other pal’s unspoken domain. In the programming language version of this movie, it’s the introduction of Node.js that turns the buddy flick into a grudge match: PHP and JavaScript, two partners who once ruled the Internet together but now duke it out for the mind share of developers.'
67431915
submission
snydeq writes:
Angry support queries citing problems with mystery iOS apps has led InfoWorld's Simon Phipps to discover the existence of several scamware apps in Apple's App Store. 'If you're a scammer looking to make a fast buck, it appears that [Apple's App Store] process can be defeated,' Phipps reports. 'The questions originated from a support link for a $2.99 app in Apple's iTunes Store,' which pointed angry customers to the Apache OpenOffice community, which doesn't even have an iOS app. The app in question, Quickoffice Pro, 'simply displays a gray screen with the word Tap. When you tap the screen, the app exits.' Further investigation has uncovered two other scam apps thus far. 'Maybe we could have expected this from the Microsoft Store, where developers seem to have been paid to show up and where scams were the norm until Microsoft finally applied controls. But we've been led to believe Apple's processes could never allow this to happen.'
