Post: #226

@QCD

He means they're not just fad languages that may or may not catch on.

Post: #227

great thread!

Currently im studying GoLang via a udemy course i picked up recently, it seems quite good and im sold on the benefits of GoLang vs the other codes, and it seems to be growing in popularity. The page has a good intro video
udemy golang

I might pick up again on javascript via the kahn academy site. Its just a fantastic tutorial and i cant recommend it more highly enough, and javascript seems to be a great front-end language that can be used for a variety of other things, and the tutorial there is so easy to follow and quickly advance with. I dont think there are better tutorials anywhere for learning Javascript/CSS/SQL
kahn programming

Post: #228

Anyone have tips if they've ever worked in a production support/engineering role in the finance world? Seems most firms use tech like UNIX, shell scripting to automate tasks and scripting in common interpreted languages (i.e. Python and Ruby).

Post: #229

(10-16-2016 12:28 PM)Player_1337 Wrote:  Anyone have tips if they've ever worked in a production support/engineering role in the finance world? Seems most firms use tech like UNIX, shell scripting to automate tasks and scripting in common interpreted languages (i.e. Python and Ruby).

It varies. Typically the mindset is stuck back in the mid-1990s. Very slow cycle rate, new deploys can take months to happen. In addition, the automation usually sucks. Lots of manual operations. Everybody is stuck using Windows and server access is often via jump boxes that don't allow any scripting and sometimes copy & paste doesn't work.

I've done work for both Intuit and Schwab. Don't go there if you value your soul.

Post: #230

(10-16-2016 09:57 PM)chicane Wrote:  

(10-16-2016 12:28 PM)Player_1337 Wrote:  Anyone have tips if they've ever worked in a production support/engineering role in the finance world? Seems most firms use tech like UNIX, shell scripting to automate tasks and scripting in common interpreted languages (i.e. Python and Ruby).

It varies. Typically the mindset is stuck back in the mid-1990s. Very slow cycle rate, new deploys can take months to happen. In addition, the automation usually sucks. Lots of manual operations. Everybody is stuck using Windows and server access is often via jump boxes that don't allow any scripting and sometimes copy & paste doesn't work.

I've done work for both Intuit and Schwab. Don't go there if you value your soul.

Definitely extended hours- but it seems the pay and employment packages are highly lucrative at places like Goldman, Deutsche, Barclays, etc.

Post: #231

(10-16-2016 12:28 PM)Player_1337 Wrote:  Anyone have tips if they've ever worked in a production support/engineering role in the finance world? Seems most firms use tech like UNIX, shell scripting to automate tasks and scripting in common interpreted languages (i.e. Python and Ruby).

There is high variance among financial firms, depending on whether you're working at an investment bank, hedge fund, prop-trading firm or the like. At investment banks, generally you're looking at slow-moving, outdated software that might be backed by Java/Python and implemented in a Unix/Windows environment.

At quantitative hedge funds (i.e. Two Sigma, DE Shaw, Citadel), you'll be looking at C/C++, Python and again in a Unix based environment, work on average is way more mentally stimulating than what you would be getting at an investment bank. For example, Two Sigma you could be using Genetic Algorithms, machine learning, statistical algorithms and such, implemented at scale so they run over vast datasets that the firm uses to build their models. Prop Trading firms such as Jane Street would be similar, though that firm is extremely difficult to get into and uses a functional programming language called Ocaml (if you've never done functional programming before it can be tough to wrap your mind around).

Generally speaking, you'll make more cash and have more interesting work at trading firms and hedge funds, whereas investment banks you're likely to be treated like a 2nd class citizen (behind the investment banking bros straight out of Harvard and Princeton), though maybe it's easy to get away with less work since it's not that draining and the hiring bar on average is lower. If you're planning to work in these areas I'd suggest getting really good at either Python or C++, read up on machine learning (supervised/unsupervised learning, statistical models, regression, overfitting, metrics, dataset construction, etc. stuff you'd be able to demonstrate knowledge of in interviews) as well as strong algorithm skills. Get good at working on some Unix based system and excel at writing Bash scripts, which you'll almost surely need, if only to make your life easier and automate things. For the large banks, I'd say learn any OOP language (Java being super popular), get decent algorithm skills and then apply, but you might get depressed at these places when you see how bad they treat you (I've got several friends doing this work at Goldman Sachs or similar banks, pretty bad).

Post: #232

https://open_nsfw.gitlab.io/

This was very interesting. Yahoo have opensourced their neural net for NSFW material detection, and this guy has been playing around with the activation levels of the nets.

More discussion here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12756462

It is one of the clearest illustrations I've seen on the strengths and weaknesses of NNs for data filtration, though it's at the limit of my current ML understanding.

Post: #233

I was writing a reply to the earlier sub-topic about managing programmers, and I decided it might be a good idea to have a separate thread for that, so just want to leave the link here: computer programming - management practices

Post: #234

(10-16-2016 11:23 PM)Player_1337 Wrote:  

(10-16-2016 09:57 PM)chicane Wrote:  

(10-16-2016 12:28 PM)Player_1337 Wrote:  Anyone have tips if they've ever worked in a production support/engineering role in the finance world? Seems most firms use tech like UNIX, shell scripting to automate tasks and scripting in common interpreted languages (i.e. Python and Ruby).

It varies. Typically the mindset is stuck back in the mid-1990s. Very slow cycle rate, new deploys can take months to happen. In addition, the automation usually sucks. Lots of manual operations. Everybody is stuck using Windows and server access is often via jump boxes that don't allow any scripting and sometimes copy & paste doesn't work.

I've done work for both Intuit and Schwab. Don't go there if you value your soul.

Definitely extended hours- but it seems the pay and employment packages are highly lucrative at places like Goldman, Deutsche, Barclays, etc.

Extended hours? Not hardly. I was actually working less than an hour a week. And the Internet access was severely restricted along with not being allowed to bring in any electronic devices other than my cellphone. Additionally, even though I'm a senior sysadmin, all the work I was doing could easily be done by some of the high school students I know. That probably explains the reason most of my coworkers were on H1-Bs.

It's a total dead end to a technical career.

Post: #235

Recommend course to learn php with the purpose of Wordpress programming?

Post: #236

(10-24-2016 06:47 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:  Recommend course to learn php with the purpose of Wordpress programming?

What's your general programming experience?

Post: #237

(10-16-2016 12:28 PM)Player_1337 Wrote:  Anyone have tips if they've ever worked in a production support/engineering role in the finance world? Seems most firms use tech like UNIX, shell scripting to automate tasks and scripting in common interpreted languages (i.e. Python and Ruby).

Beware.... a lot of those finance companies use COBOL.

Post: #238

(10-25-2016 05:52 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 06:47 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:  Recommend course to learn php with the purpose of Wordpress programming?

What's your general programming experience?

That's the relevant question. Any experience already with PHP? With other languages (what type)? I assume you are already familiar with Wordpress as an Administrator.

If you have a few languages under your belt, you could probably just read part of a PHP manual from the beginning at php.net to get the general idea. From there, start building your site and research whatever Wordpress programming issues you run into along the way. Build a child theme based on one of the most recent default themes. Put your own modifications in your own plugins, better there than in functions.php. Remember, never modify the core files, always use hooks. The Wordpress Codex does a fairly decent job of explaining these types of things.

Unfortunately, Wordpress programming has a lot of legacy issues, so there isn't a consistent way that things are done. I've been caught up a few times on issues related to whether a query is done 'in the loop' or not, for example. Arguments are not consistent across functions. Fortunately, whatever problem you run into, someone else has probably already faced it and posted a solution somewhere. The user base is huge.

Post: #239

(10-25-2016 06:24 AM)ivansirko Wrote:  

(10-16-2016 12:28 PM)Player_1337 Wrote:  Anyone have tips if they've ever worked in a production support/engineering role in the finance world? Seems most firms use tech like UNIX, shell scripting to automate tasks and scripting in common interpreted languages (i.e. Python and Ruby).

Beware.... a lot of those finance companies use COBOL.

This wouldn't be 100%, but MOST of the time, at a big conservative (slow moving, process oriented) company where you have to work with COBOL, your challenges aren't going to be about the language/syntax. COBOL is verbose and for someone who has programming aptitude and experience, it's probably not hard to pick up the syntax you need. If you've only ever done object oriented programming, the overall design differences might throw you some, especially if it's spaghetti code. But, mainly in those situations, the real challenge comes from needing to understand the quirks in that organizations data and the quirks in related code/systems/databases that you have to touch. My experience is those types of companies offer the worst of all worlds when it comes to documentation and project management - i.e. they will require you to produce all kinds of documentation, but have very little of any use available to you to help with understanding the legacy systems.
Point being, often times other things will be moving slowly enough that learning syntax as you go isn't that big of a deal. (Which is one reason why hiring practices tend to be really stupid, but that's more of a topic for that management thread ...)
Your mileage may vary.

Post: #240

(10-25-2016 05:52 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 06:47 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:  Recommend course to learn php with the purpose of Wordpress programming?

What's your general programming experience?

(10-25-2016 08:18 AM)ElFlaco Wrote:  

(10-25-2016 05:52 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 06:47 PM)nomadbrah Wrote:  Recommend course to learn php with the purpose of Wordpress programming?

What's your general programming experience?

That's the relevant question. Any experience already with PHP? With other languages (what type)? I assume you are already familiar with Wordpress as an Administrator.

If you have a few languages under your belt, you could probably just read part of a PHP manual from the beginning at php.net to get the general idea. From there, start building your site and research whatever Wordpress programming issues you run into along the way. Build a child theme based on one of the most recent default themes. Put your own modifications in your own plugins, better there than in functions.php. Remember, never modify the core files, always use hooks. The Wordpress Codex does a fairly decent job of explaining these types of things.

Unfortunately, Wordpress programming has a lot of legacy issues, so there isn't a consistent way that things are done. I've been caught up a few times on issues related to whether a query is done 'in the loop' or not, for example. Arguments are not consistent across functions. Fortunately, whatever problem you run into, someone else has probably already faced it and posted a solution somewhere. The user base is huge.

I only have Python experience, inspired by the thread FrenchCorporation made. I got ok, wrote some fairly extensive scripts, but ultimately I thought dealing with setting up servers and writing/migrating/updating models and databases from scratch was way too time consuming for my needs.

I'd rather use Wordpress because all that is taken care off. I'd like to get to the point where I can do custom stuff for clients or do some custom websites for my own projects, scraping, data collection, etc.

Post: #241

(10-26-2016 10:50 AM)nomadbrah Wrote:  I only have Python experience, inspired by the thread FrenchCorporation made. I got ok, wrote some fairly extensive scripts, but ultimately I thought dealing with setting up servers and writing/migrating/updating models and databases from scratch was way too time consuming for my needs.

I'd rather use Wordpress because all that is taken care off. I'd like to get to the point where I can do custom stuff for clients or do some custom websites for my own projects, scraping, data collection, etc.

Have you looked at automation for your workflow? You're gonna have to do the same setup for web as well.....

Don't even get me started on upgrading frameworks(Angular2).

Post: #242

(10-26-2016 10:50 AM)nomadbrah Wrote:  [

I only have Python experience, inspired by the thread FrenchCorporation made. I got ok, wrote some fairly extensive scripts, but ultimately I thought dealing with setting up servers and writing/migrating/updating models and databases from scratch was way too time consuming for my needs.

I'd rather use Wordpress because all that is taken care off. I'd like to get to the point where I can do custom stuff for clients or do some custom websites for my own projects, scraping, data collection, etc.

This is kinda fuzzy - think carefully about what your end goal is.

Building simple websites for clients?

Or your own scraping/data projects?

For the former - learn how to outsource. For the latter, keep going with python. One is an digital service business model, the other is a technical science project.

Post: #243

(10-27-2016 01:56 PM)RichieP Wrote:  

(10-26-2016 10:50 AM)nomadbrah Wrote:  [

I only have Python experience, inspired by the thread FrenchCorporation made. I got ok, wrote some fairly extensive scripts, but ultimately I thought dealing with setting up servers and writing/migrating/updating models and databases from scratch was way too time consuming for my needs.

I'd rather use Wordpress because all that is taken care off. I'd like to get to the point where I can do custom stuff for clients or do some custom websites for my own projects, scraping, data collection, etc.

This is kinda fuzzy - think carefully about what your end goal is.

Building simple websites for clients?

Or your own scraping/data projects?

For the former - learn how to outsource. For the latter, keep going with python. One is an digital service business model, the other is a technical science project.

I don't think it is fuzzy as such. I don't want to build simple websites for people, I want to be able to sell custom functionality for clients. And that as a fall back for extra pocket money. I don't really want to disclose my business models, but in my business I see extra functionality in Wordpress as very valuable. A lot less people can do it than you'd think. I don't see anyone charging less than $100/hour in this niche. And that as a result means I don't want to fork over thousands of dollars when I get an idea to test out. I'd like to get a proof of concept up and running before eventually paying an expert.

Post: #244

Cool! Sounds like you know what you want. Before you were talking about wordpress for a custom service business and personal scraping/data projects in the same breath - my point was, they're different goals and need different tools. Good luck with your biz idea - it sounds solid.

Post: #245

(10-27-2016 02:26 PM)RichieP Wrote:  Cool! Sounds like you know what you want. Before you were talking about wordpress for a custom service business and personal scraping/data projects in the same breath - my point was, they're different goals and need different tools. Good luck with your biz idea - it sounds solid.

It is two different things, one is fallback skill, coding for clients, the other is my own projects, also using Wordpress and involving scraping. Never hurts to be able to get some clients if money is short for a while.

Richie, do you have recommendations for learning practical Wordpress coding?

Post: #246

Team Treehouse has a very good Wordpress track. Also plenty of good PHP courses. $25/mo and I think you get a month free, at least I did when I joined back in 2014. I still go back and use their courses to learn new stuff occasionally; I really like the format.

That said, Wordpress is honestly a major league pain in the ass, especially any time you want to work with someone else's code. It's also full of vulnerabilities. If you're determined to use Wordpress, alright, but I've found it's actually much easier to just do shit with python frameworks (I use Flask/Bottle mostly) and static site generators like Hugo. Every time I get involved in a Wordpress project of any complexity at all I think it's going to be no big deal, but then it turns into a fiddly nightmare in short order. Wordpress is all about making things very easy for non-technical people who just want to put up blog posts; it is not well designed for people who want to actually develop in the Wordpress ecosystem.

The only reason I use Wordpress for my own projects is if I need a basic blog setup that will look decent in about 5 minutes. Like if I start a new site, I'll use Wordpress to start getting content up while I do the rest of the work to build the site the way I want it with another platform.

Post: #247

http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/...moores-law

A very interesting article on the future of microprocessors. Helpful for understanding the process of manufacturing them, and the challenges faced when it comes to making ever more powerful chips.

Post: #248

Do any of you fine folks reside in Canada? I'd like to ask a couple things.

Post: #249

@the thing: you can PM me if it's personal.

Post: #250

I was gonna ask about how Canada looks in terms of career opportunities; I reckon I can ask that in public. I'll pm you about the personal part.