Computer Setup

Computer science here! I work as IT support and we have no dogs :( I'm jealous of OP

Job #1 is a medical software company. Job #2 is a SaaS startup. I like to have my work environment as consistent as possible. So, same laptop, keyboard and mouse travel with me. I have the same model monitor mount in both offices. Need to get a laptop stand for Job #1.

I've a question unrelated to the computer setup, was it difficult learning to code, I want to start learning in hopes of getting a sweet job like you have right here

I'm not OP, but I've been doing programming for around 4 years now (still in highschool, though).

What is your proffered language? I love working with python (though i use pygame for the things i make) but i wanna start java, just haven't gotten around to it.

History: I had to learn Fortran for school (engineering). I hated it and taught myself C for numerical simulation. I switched to python later. Java, C++, and C are very similar with the mechanics of how you code, but it's the big picture design where they differ, and takes time to get good at.

Wow thanks, I was expecting a simple sentence answer, but this will for sure help me! I figured I'd start off with C++ due to it being fairly common and whatnot then progress to other languages

That's a good idea too. Honestly I just chose python because I heard it was a good language to start with.

Software engineer for major Fortune 500. Started freshman year of high school, so have been doing it for ~10 years. It's honestly really hard to start. Classes are a very good way to get going, or finding a very very beginner book that will help you set up your development environment. I'd look at either python (look for IDLE) or c++. It's easy to go through the first 5 examples or so but learning curve is sharp. Keep working on stupidly easy things until you fully understand them.

Not to be rude but do you mean SaaS? If not, what is SASS? The stylesheets?

Thanks for catching the typo :)

What is the name of he vertical monitor please?

Which office? :) The one at Office #2 is a Asus VH232. I'm not at office #1 today; so I'll get that name for you tomorrow. To be honest, I'm stuck with whatever the companies buy me or whatever I can scrounge (cough steal) around the office.

Thanks! I've decided to get a dell :)

Can I haz nice job with ping pong and fluffy fuzzy wuzzies that move plz? I stock shelves for a living I dream of going to a job like this.

And I'm lucky enough to have two :) That's one of the great things about learning to code.

I won't lie. /jealous.

The ping pong table is out in the open, near desks where people are trying to concentrate and work? That company should invest in this hot new concept called "rooms."

You have a good point. But, there's only 8 of us in that wide open space. We are all pretty considerate of one another with noise, and there are also a couple of rooms we can go into and close the door if we need privacy.

Are you using a USB display adapter for the two monitors? Otherwise, how are you using two displays with that MBP?

I'm using a Plugable USB adapter. It worked better before Mavericks, but I have hopes they will update the drivers at some point. Before Mavericks, I was quite satisfied with the performance for basic web browsing and such.

How does anyone get any work done with 7 dogs around the office?

We have baby gates and the dogs are all well behaved. Not all 7 dogs are here every day. Some of us keep treats on our desks for when a dog comes to visit.

"Scrum area" -I'm so sorry.

Scrum is SO much better than whatever it was we were doing before. I guess I just like the concept of breaking things up into chunks that feel done

Scrum has a stigma with some folks, but honestly when its done right it's fine. What software do you use to track everything?

Tech support had chosen a system called TeamSupport and wanted to stick with that. We've tweaked it a bit to allow us to manage the sprint and project backlogs. It's not my pick, but we do like having one system to manage everything from incoming support requests to features and tasks that we dream up.

Which *storm are you using? App/Web/php etc? Do you like it?

PHPStorm. I like it when I have enough RAM. Don't like Java IDEs in general when there isn't enough RAM because they run too slowly. I tend to collect editors like some women collect shoes. I love Sublime Text, and I have Coda2, Textmate, and BBEdit as well. PHPStorm is just better at some of the PHP specific things than Sublime, even with plugins.

What kind of camera is that?

No camera on either desk. Sorry.

He probably meant with what camera you took the pictures with.

Doh! Many of the shots of office #1 were taken by a professional photographer. The company wanted some pictures for the blog. The rest, I took with my Galaxy S3.

Wish my office had table sized tennis and 7 dogs.

I really hope a CS minor is enough to land me a job with office dogs. If not I may put off graduating for another year.

I only have a CS minor as well. My major was mathematics. I only picked up the CS because the guy I was dating at the time kept telling me it was hard, so I added it to show him he had a wussy major ;-)

No way! Is that Malibu programming Barbie?

Man I'm jealous, my work setup sucks so hard by comparison.

Hey what monitor mount is that, and how would you recommend it?

Mount-It I really liked it because it was easy to assemble and quite affordable.

Cheers for the feedback, how heavy would you say the base was on that?

The whole thing weighs 14 pounds. The base seems to be the bulk of the weight; so I'm guessing about 10. I'm not the strongest girl in the world, but I can pick it up and carry it with both monitors attached. It seems very sturdy and in no danger of tipping over.

This is what I need to know >.<

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