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Since you asked for the three most important things that non-programmers should know about, and I’ve spent most of my career working with more non-programmers than programmers, I have a few interesting things that would help.

Number One - It Is Impossible To Accurately Estimate Software Projects

No matter what is tried. No matter what tool, agile approach, or magic fairy dust people try to apply to creating software… accurately predicting software project timelines is basically impossible.

There are many good reasons for this. Usually, requirements and feature ideas change on a daily/weekly basis. Often it is impossible to know what needs to be done without actually digging into the code itself. Debugging and QA can take an extraordinary amount of time.

And worst of all…

Project Managers are always pushing for shorter timelines. They largely have no respect for reality. So, at some point they are given estimates just to make them feel better about planning.

No matter how much planning and estimation you do, it will be wrong. At best it will be directionally correct +/- 300% of what you estimated. So, a one year project could actually take anywhere between 0 and 5 years, maybe even 10 years.

If you think I’m joking, look at how many major ERP projects that go over time and over budget by many years and many hundreds of millions of dollars. Look at the F-35 fighter jet software issues.

Or in the small, you can find many cases where a “simple bug fix” can take days when you thought it was hours.

All estimates are lies made up to make everyone feel better. I’ve never met a developer or manager who could accurately estimate software projects even as well as the local weatherman(or woman) predicts the weather.

Number Two - Productivity Is Unevenly Distributed

What if I told you that in the average eight hour work day the majority of the work will get done in a 30 minute timeframe? Sound crazy?

Well, for most programmers there is a 30–90 minute window where you are extraordinarily productive. We call this the flow state.

Being in the flow state is wonderful and amazing. It often is where the “magic” of building software happens.

Getting into flow can be difficult. It’s akin to meditation in that you have to have a period of uninterrupted focus of say 30 minutes to “get in” the flow, but a tiny interruption can pull you right out.

Now consider the modern workplace environment. Programmers work in open office environments where they are invited to distract each other constantly.

Most people need a 1–2 hour uninterrupted block to get 30–90 minutes of flow.

Take the 8 hour day and break it in half with a lunch break, and then pile in a few meetings and all of a sudden you are lucky to get one decent flow state session in place.

That is why I say that most of the work that gets done happens in a 30 minute timeframe. The other 7–8 hours are spent being distracted, answering email, going to meetings, hanging around the water cooler, going to the bathroom, and trying to remember what you were working on before all these distractions.

Ironically, writers, musicians, and other creative professionals have their own version of this problem and largely work alone and away from other people when they are creating new things.

Someday the programming world might catch on, but I doubt it.

Even if this became obvious, it doesn’t sit well with most companies to think that programmers would be paid for an 8 hour day and only be cranking out code for a few hours on a good day. Some corporate middle manager would probably get the bright idea to have mandatory flow state training where a guru came in and then there would be a corporate policy from a pointy haired boss mandating that programmers are now required to spend 8 hours a day in flow state and they must fill out forms to track their time and notify their superiors of their flow state activities, otherwise there would be more meetings about the current flow state reports not being filed correctly and that programmers were spending too much time “zoning out” instead of being in flow.

Thus, programmers would spent 7–8 hours a day pretending to be in flow state, reporting on their progress, and getting all their work done in 30 minutes of accidental flow state somewhere in the middle of all that flow state reporting.

If you think I’m joking about this, I’m not. I promise you this is what would happen to any company of more than 2 employees. (Even the ones run by programmers.)

Number Three - It Will Cost 10x What You Think

Being a programmer, I get a lot of non-programmers telling me about their brilliant app ideas. Usually they want me to build something for free and are so generous as to pay me up to 5% of the profits for doing 100% of the work.

Their ideas are just that good.

Now, I gently tell them that I’m not interested in building anything for free.

At that point they get angry, but a few ask how much it will cost. I give them a reasonable (and very incorrect) estimate of what it would cost to create the incredibly simple version of their app idea.

Let’s say it’s some number like $25,000.

They look at me like I’m a lunatic, and so I explain how much it costs to hire a contract programmer and how long it will actually take. For example’s sake let’s say it is $100/hr for 250 hours.

To be clear, these are made up numbers and bad estimates (See Number One for details…)

In actuality, to build the actual thing they want might cost $250,000, or even $2,500,000 when it’s all said and done.

Building software can be incredibly complex and expensive. What most people can’t wrap their head around is the fact that a company like Google, Apple, or Microsoft has spent BILLIONS of dollars to create something that looks so simple to the end user.

Somehow, the assumption is that something that looks simple is cheap and fast to build.

Building something simple and easy for the end user is time consuming and expensive. Most people just can’t do it.

So, the average person with a brilliant app idea thinks it will cost a few hundred or maybe a few thousand dollars to make and it will be done in a weekend is so off the mark it’s not worth considering their ideas.

And programmers are too eager to play along with these bad ideas (by making bad estimates and under charging for their time) that this notion is perpetuated to the average non-programmer.

So, a good rule of thumb is that software will cost 10 times as much as you think and take 10 times as long to finish.

And that leads to a bonus point…

BONUS - Software Is Never Done

Programmers never complete a software project, they only stop working on it. Software is never done.

I’ve worked at many software companies and I’ve never seen a software project “completed”.

Sure, software gets released and used. But, it is always changing, being updated, bugs get fixed, and there are always new customer requests for features.

Look at your favorite software and you’ll quickly realize how true this is. Facebook, Instagram, Google Search, Google Maps, GMail, iOS, Android, Windows, and now even most video games are never done.

There are small armies of developers just trying to keep all the software you use every day stable and bug free. Add on the fact that there are always feature requests, small changes, and new platforms to deal with, it’s a treadmill.

So, the only way out of the game is to stop working on software. At that point, the software begins to decay until it is no longer secure or supported.

Think about old Windows 3.1 software or maybe old Nintendo Cartridge video games. The current computers and video game consoles don’t even attempt to run that software anymore.

You can’t put an old video game in your new Nintendo Switch and have it “just work”. That is what happens when you think software is done.

When programmers stop working on software the software starts to die. The code itself is probably fine, but all the other software keeps moving forward until your software is no longer compatible with the current technology.

So, those are the four most important things that non-programmers should know about programming. I know you asked for only three, so I hope the bonus was valuable to you as well.

MOOCS what are they and how do they compare to other IT online training options?

[Dec, 09, 2013] |
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Unlike traditional online courses that charge a fee, limit enrollment and provide credit or certification, Moocs (massive open online courses) are usually free or low cost and can host hundreds of thousands global participants. Although MOOC have been around for years in the form of collective techie learning gatherings, participation in 2012 has ballooned at a rapid pace likened to FaceBook in its heyday. According to The Year of the MOOCarticle in the New YorkTimes, edX, a nonprofit start-up backed by Harvard and MIT, had 370,000 registrants in the fall of its first official courses. This paled in comparison to the amount of students that Courseraattained in its first year of online learning opportunities, 1.7 million!

Will MOOCs Replace education as we know it?

Like any new trend, massive participation in online classes has its challenges. Lynda Weinman has ample experience when pointing out that they are by no means a replacement for formal education. As a former digital animator, special effects designer and classroom college teacher, Linda paved the path for an earlier version of MOOC education in the mid 90’s when she founded Lynda.comas an aide to her own students. Over four million students and 2,200 courses later she’s confident when clarifying that many of the collegespartnered with Lynda.com use the tutorials as added features to their existing courses. When asked in an interview with ReadWriteBuilders, if high technical companies look at online programs in terms of advancement as a supplement to traditional education or as a way for people to further their careers, Lynda feels that “it’sjust one example of something that you can do to enhance your attractiveness to potential employers. But [it’s also important to have] a portfolio and body of work, references that actually work out, showing that you had success in the past.”

MOOC Benefits:

Why Learn Python?

[May, 10, 2018] |
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In the ever changing landscape of software programming, it is not surprising that developers and employees have a different set of preferences for desired skills. However the number one language that developers want to learn according to a survey of developers by technical recruiter, Hacker Rank is Python. This is not a surprise considering that Python has been in demand for several years and programmers tend to really enjoy this language for clear syntax, good OOP support and great shortcuts. Python, named “the language of the year” in 2007 and 2010 in the TIOBE Index and has climbed to #4 status in May of 2018.

According to the study, employers want developers who:

- Have problem-solving skills, such as the ability to break down large, complex problems.
- Are proficient in their programming language and debugging.
- Can design systems.
- Can optimize performance.
- Have experience in reviewing and testing code.
- Are proficient in database design

Surprisingly, formal education is not the deciding factor when it comes to what companies care about the most. People with computer degrees or certifications on a resume are not necessarily a first choice for hiring managers. Others that have years of experience even if those individuals are partially self-taught in the field stand to be taken seriously in the field.   For those individuals with a passion to learn and master a skill, there are ample opportunities with smaller to mid-sized companies.

Some interesting FAQ’s from the study:

    On average, developers know 4 languages, and they aspire to learn 4 more.
    Younger developers between 18 and 24 plan to learn 6 languages.
    Folks older than 35 only plan to learn and additional 3 languages.
    The top languages developers said they will learn were, Go, Python, Scala, Kotlin, and Ruby.
    There is a large gap between employers seeking developers that know React than there are folks that can do it.

So, Why Learn Python?
It is now the most popular introductory teaching language in U.S. universities. Python is easy to use, powerful, and versatile, making it a great choice for beginners and experts alike. It allows you to think like a programmer and not waste time understanding difficult syntax that other programming languages can command. And, because of its rapid growth, many developers contribute to the Python community and share Python libraries making creativity that much more a reality

.NET Core 3 Release, Major Benefits

[Mar, 26, 2019] |
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On March 6 of this year, Microsoft's .NET Foundation released its third preview release of .NET Core 3 — which is its free and open-source framework for developing apps on Windows, MacOS and Linux — with an official release scheduled for later this year. This release brings a wealth of new features and enhancements. This includes the following:

1. Windows Desktop Support

One of the biggest additions to version 3.0 of the framework is the ability to develop Windows desktop applications. The new Windows Desktop component lets you build applications using either the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) graphical subsystem or the Windows Forms graphical class library. You can also use Windows UI XAML Library (WinUI) controls in your applications.

The Windows Desktop component is only supported and included on Windows installs.

2. Support for C# 8

The new framework has support for C# 8, which includes not only the ability to create asynchronous steams but features such as:

Index and Range data types

Using declarations

Switch expressions

The Index and Range data types make array manipulation easier, while Using declarations ensure that your objects get disposed once they are out of scope. Finally, Switch expressions extend Switch statements by allowing you to return a value.

3. IEEE Floating-Point Improvements

The new framework includes floating point APIs that comply with IEEE 754-2008. This includes fixes to both formatting and parsing as well as new Math APIs such as:

BitIncrement/BitDecrement

MaxMagnitude/MinMagnitude

ILogB

ScaleB

Log2

FusedMultiplyAdd

CopySign

4. Support for Performance-Oriented CPU Instructions

The new framework includes support for both SIMD and Bit Manipulation instruction sets, which can create significant performance boosts in certain situations, such as when you are processing data in parallel.

5. Default Executables

With the new framework, you can now produce framework-dependent executables by default without having to use self-contained deployments.

6. Local dotnet Tools

In the previous version of the framework, there was support for global dotnet tools. But the current version adds support for local tools as well. These tools are associated with a specific disk location, and this allows you to enable per-repository and per-project tooling.

7. Support for MSIX Deployments

The new framework supports MSIX, which is a Windows app package format that you can use when deploying Windows desktop applications.

8. Built-In and Fast JSON Support

In prior versions of the framework, you had to use Json.NET if you wanted JSON support in your application. The framework, though, now has built-in support that is not only fast but also has low allocation requirements. It also adds 3 new JSON types, which include:

Utf8JsonReader

Utf8JsonWriter

JsonDocument

9. Cryptography Support

The new framework supports AES-GCM and AES-CCM ciphers. It also supports the importing and exporting of asymmetric public and private keys from a variety of formats without the need of an X.509 certificate.

Platform Support

.NET Core 3 supports the following operating systems:

Alpine: 3.8+

Debian: 9+

Fedora: 26+

macOS: 10.12+

openSUSE: 42.3+

RHEL: 6+

SLES: 12+

Ubuntu: 16.04+

Windows Clients: 7, 8.1, 10 (1607+)

Windows Servers: 2012 R2 SP1+

The framework further supports the following chips:

x64 (Windows, macOS and Linux)

x86 (Windows)

ARM32 (Windows and Linux)

ARM64 (Linux)

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Tech Life in Colorado

CNBC's list of "Top States for Business for 2010" has recognized Colorado as the third best state in the nation for business. Colorado is also the home to a bunch of federal facilities such as NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command, United States Air Force Academy, Schriever Air Force Base, Peterson Air Force Base, and Fort Carson. On top of the beautiful mountainous scenery and sunny weather, tech life has been brewing steadily in the last decade in Denver and Boulder.

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, learn about them, or even seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them. Denis Waitley

other Learning Options

Software developers near Longmont have ample opportunities to meet like minded techie individuals, collaborate and expend their career choices by participating in Meet-Up Groups. The following is a list of Technology Groups in the area.

Denver RIA User Group · Denver DevCamp.us · The Colorado Springs Open Source Software Meetup Group ·

Fortune 500 and 1000 companies in Colorado that offer opportunities for Business Analysis developers

Company Name	City	Industry	Secondary Industry
Level 3 Communications, Inc	Broomfield	Telecommunications	Telecommunications Other
Liberty Global, Inc.	Englewood	Telecommunications	Video and Teleconferencing
Liberty Media Corporation	Englewood	Media and Entertainment	Media and Entertainment Other
Western Union Company	Englewood	Financial Services	Financial Services Other
Ball Corporation	Broomfield	Manufacturing	Metals Manufacturing
Pilgrim's Pride Corporation	Greeley	Manufacturing	Food and Dairy Product Manufacturing and Packaging
Molson Coors Brewing Company	Denver	Manufacturing	Alcoholic Beverages
DISH Network Corporation	Englewood	Media and Entertainment	Media and Entertainment Other
Arrow Electronics, Inc.	Englewood	Computers and Electronics	Networking Equipment and Systems
DaVita, Inc.	Denver	Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and Biotech	Outpatient Care Centers
Blockbuster LLC	Englewood	Media and Entertainment	Media and Entertainment Other
CH2M HILL	Englewood	Energy and Utilities	Alternative Energy Sources
Newmont Mining Corporation	Greenwood Vlg	Agriculture and Mining	Mining and Quarrying

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the hartmann software group advantage

why take Business Analysis Training with the hartmann software group?

A successful career as a software developer or other IT professional requires a solid understanding of software development processes, design patterns, enterprise application architectures, web services, security, networking and much more. The progression from novice to expert can be a daunting endeavor; this is especially true when traversing the learning curve without expert guidance. A common experience is that too much time and money is wasted on a career plan or application due to misinformation.

The Hartmann Software Group understands these issues and addresses them and others during any training engagement. Although no IT educational institution can guarantee career or application development success, HSG can get you closer to your goals at a far faster rate than self paced learning and, arguably, than the competition. Here are the reasons why we are so successful at teaching:

Learn from the experts.
1. We have provided software development and other IT related training to many major corporations in Colorado since 2002.
2. Our educators have years of consulting and training experience; moreover, we require each trainer to have cross-discipline expertise i.e. be Java and .NET experts so that you get a broad understanding of how industry wide experts work and think.
Discover tips and tricks about Business Analysis programming
Get your questions answered by easy to follow, organized Business Analysis experts
Get up to speed with vital Business Analysis programming tools
Save on travel expenses by learning right from your desk or home office. Enroll in an online instructor led class. Nearly all of our classes are offered in this way.
Prepare to hit the ground running for a new job or a new position
See the big picture and have the instructor fill in the gaps
We teach with sophisticated learning tools and provide excellent supporting course material
Books and course material are provided in advance
Get a book of your choice from the HSG Store as a gift from us when you register for a class
Gain a lot of practical skills in a short amount of time
We teach what we know…software
We care…

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