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Tag: softwaredevelopment

Hiring software developers for your team? Ask these 8 questions first

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Hiring software developers for your team? Ask these 8 questions first

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP That’s because as much as choosing who will design the critical code that powers your business depends on their raw technical talent, that talent can’t be brought to bear if you’re not comfortable being around them. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to suggest that the most successful software engineers are just as gifted with soft skills as they are with coding ability – and that these often-overlooked non-technical abilities are as crucial to the final outcome as anything else. Because no matter how brilliant an individual or team of developers may...

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Here’s why it takes so long to write great code

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog, StringN. No Comments on Here’s why it takes so long to write great code

PICK ANY TWO OUT OF THREE Anyone who has worked in the industry and knows what it takes to become a developer will appreciate how unfair this kind of reaction is. Because it fails to account for the years of education, training, and experience that fully qualified developers must go through. It fails to recognize the massive investment developers must make to become top-performing professionals. Developers aren’t just born, and they don’t just materialize out of thin air. They need education (and lifelong learning), real in-the-trenches experience, and unbridled passion for writing great...

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Southwest Airlines meltdown: a reminder why software maintenance matters

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Southwest Airlines meltdown: a reminder why software maintenance matters

IT WASN’T MOTHER NATURE’S FAULT While the cancellation rate for most other major U.S. airlines – American, United, Delta, and JetBlue – ranged between 0 and 2% on the Tuesday before Christmas, Southwest had grounded 70% of its flights on Monday, and 60% on Tuesday. By Tuesday morning, Southwest’s schedule accounted for fully 2,522 of the 2,890 flight cancellations reported across the U.S. The airline that has cultivated a scrappy, humorous brand since its founding in 1967 suddenly found itself tripped up by a crew scheduling system that couldn’t keep up.  The root...

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Twitter, Elon Musk, and a critical lesson for developers

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog. No Comments on Twitter, Elon Musk, and a critical lesson for developers

OUTSIDE EXPERTS Hidden in the rapid-fire series of headlines, tweets, kitchen sinks, and aborted verification checkmark introductions was a tiny tidbit of information around programming languages. When Mr. Musk first settled into Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, CNBC reported he brought along a core team of software engineers and other staff from Tesla’s Autopilot autonomous vehicle team. According to CNBC, Musk has tasked this team to review Twitter’s source code and begin planning for a revamp of the entire platform. It is this decision that deserves to be studied more closely...

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