Karl Barek

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since Mar 03, 2012
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Suffolk, VA
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Recent posts by Karl Barek

The hybrid stuff is just pure Evil... I have a saying, "Friends don't let friends cross-platform"

We actually just made the switch to pure native for Android and iOS and I'm loving it.


9 years ago
Nice to have you here answering our questions Godfrey.

I'm currently a new android developer (used Titanium/Xamarin on previous projects). I work for a fairly large company(24,000+) and I create internal facing business applications for all of our associates.

My question is do you feel the training you are offering is more applicable to say the indie developer or security is just security and someone like myself could greatly benefit from your training as I make internal business applications?

Thanks in advance,

Karl
9 years ago
The screenshot you posted is showing the Titanium SDK version you wish to develop too.

It's been awhile since I developed in Titanium, but you can set your minimum Android SDK inside the Android Manifest file just as if you were creating it natively. You might want to watch the free video training that Appcelerator has to get your bearings.

Side note - @ Ulf, Studio is, Titanium Studio which is created off of Apatana Studio which in turn is created off Eclipse, if I remember all that correctly.
9 years ago

sid smith wrote:Yes, if you are great problem solver, then getting a job becomes easy for you. If I were you, I'd try to size up the competition and see where I stand. If you see that you are a great problem solver and are as good, if not better than the average developer or person, then you have a good chance of being ahead of your competition, even when you are much older than them. However, if there are many guys like you and they are willing to do the job for less compensation (eg. because they don't have their own family), then you could be at a disadvantage. In the end, I 'd
say go for it. Take some courses in a college and/or online coaching. If you like it and excel in it, then dive deep into it.



We could argue the benefits of a younger versus older all day. I'll bite though, you say lower compensation. While that might be true (really depends on the income bracket of the person before. Not everyone is making a switch from a high paying job.) The salary of a entry level developer at a decent company is actually pretty darn high in relation to most jobs. So, the other side of the argument is there's a good chance that the older person is a lot more mature and the odds of having to deal with poor performance due to staying out late, etc, etc is a lot lower than that of the person that has a family at home that depends on them. Yep, that's a huge generalization, but that's my point. That's what we are talking about here, generalizations that at the end of the day don't really mean squat.

I agree with you, he should dive into it. I wouldn't let anyone, especially strangers on the internet make me switch my focus.
9 years ago

sid smith wrote:...I am wondering which company will be willing to hire a 37 year old person as an entry level developer especially if there are younger developers with similar intelligence, skills and maybe more experience ? Probably some GIS company as one of the posters suggested.



Considering the average retiring age is what... 65-70 nowadays? That's almost another 30yrs of working. We could spend forever going over the pros and cons of hiring an older or younger person.

But, regardless of that when you hire someone if all you care about is what they bring thru the door on day one you will miss out on a lot of talented people. Any company worth working for places some value on a diverse work experience. While it might not be butt in seat coding experience, it's experience of working, solving problems, etc.

9 years ago
My background is very similar to your so I’ll share my thoughts. I did 3D Modeling/Animation/Video/Design for 12years before switching over to software development 2 years ago. Haven’t looked back!

Personally, I wouldn’t bother with a 2yr degree in this field. If you haven’t looked already, I’d highly recommend researching http://www.wgu.edu/online_it_degrees/information_technology_degree_software

Yes, I’m a graduate of WGU. However, that degree wasn’t available when I finished 1.5yrs ago and I had to just get the IT Software degree. I don’t want to get into a long spiel of the school when you can easily read it all yourself, but the biggest thing with any school is accreditation. WGU is fully accredited.

In my experience, having a 4yr degree has been more of a HR checkbox than a talking point in any my interviews. It’s never been mentioned, etc. I suppose if it was a known school maybe it would be different, but who knows.

My suggestion is to get a 4yr degree or no degree. Going to a school like WGU you could transfer your credits and if motivated finish your 4yr degree way before finishing that 2yr degree. Personally, the only programming type degree I think worth taking years to get would be a pure Computer Science degree.

I don’t know how old you are, etc. But, for me, being in my late 30’s and knowing I wanted to switch to software development I could not justify spending the next 4-8yrs it would take going part-time to get a 4yr CS degree. However, while many will say a degree means squat it's all in what you know. When you are first starting out, it's a huge plus. Depending on your area it could have an impact as well. Simply because a lot of big companies (not Google, Facebook, etc) that are old school types weed out the degree-less in the first round.

Just my 2 cents.

-Karl
9 years ago
Corruption and fraud happens everywhere.

Here in the US we have certain "whistle blower" laws that are designed to protect the employee for bringing such activities to the proper authorities. With that said there's always risks in how one handles such situations. It really depends on the company and the actual value they put on ethics,etc.
9 years ago
I suggest you create a online portfolio/interactive resume of sorts. Web develop is a highly desirable skill. Create it in .NET. You could use bootstrap and there's quite a bit of quality templates for it out on the web. Then start creating small projects and showcase them on there. Throw the source code up on github and link to it from your site.
10 years ago
As cliche as it sounds, "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it."

Sure, some people will learn faster than others, etc. However, a lot of those people that seem to learn faster most times are simply putting forth more effort than others.

You are not alone. Will it get easier? I can only speak from experience(limited as it may be) and I say it doesn't get easier. That's what makes it interesting. The challenges that always arise and discovering new or old ways to solve those challenges.
10 years ago
It's actually "career"
11 years ago
If you haven't checked out www.udacity.com already you should take a look. They have a nice little intro to programming course in python.
11 years ago
There's a ton of free training/tutorials online.

Search on youtube if you prefer videos. I heard good things about "New Boston" free videos via youtube.

You can also look into a monthly subscription to lynda.com as well to access their java training courses.
11 years ago

chaitanya karthikk wrote:... I hope there is some scripting language for max also like we have action script for flash...



Max has it's own scripting language -> MaxScript

I would look into the file extensions that Max exports and see if one of those fit into what I was trying to accomplish. Depending on what you are wanting to get out of the Max file. Just a 3d model, animation, etc. That will dictate the file formats you will need to choose between.

Not sure if Autodesk has an API out for their .*FBX format. But, that is a common format to go back and forth between their products.
11 years ago
I could be mistaken, but I believe if you are current OCPJP v6 certified, you are exempt from having to take the OCA v7 exam. You are able to just jump to the OCP v7 exam.
Thanks for fielding our questions Edward and Robert.

I will be taking the Java 6 Programmer (1Z0-851) exam in a few months (probably around mid-December). I plan on utilizing the SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Study Guide (1Z0-851) by Katherine Sierra and Bert Bates for my preparation.

I tend to side with the belief that the more resources someone can have, the better. I realize that isn't always the case, but it's a character flaw:)

My question is, do you guys feel that it would be worthwhile for me to utilize your book as well for my exam prep? I realize that your book is for v7 and I'm taking the v6 exam, but I would think there's definitely going to be some overlap. My thoughts are your book could reinforce some of the concepts since they might be explained/displayed differently.

Your thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks,

Karl