I am a C++ coder. I am also proficient with Oracle PL/SQL. A lot of folks dislike Oracle, but I find Oracle is a significant revenue enhancer. Customers pay for first rate Oracle programming skills.
I have extensive experience with COM+, COM, ATL, WTL and installation package development. I've developed several packages in C#, but I prefer managed/native C++. I've been coding for nearly thirty plus years, getting my start with atomic and molecular orbital calculations in FORTRAN. I've been working with C or C++ since the days of QuickC, Desmet C, Datalight C and MSC 5.1.
One of my pet peeves in life is a programmer's lack of attention to the details of error handling. Most example code I see on the internet lacks depth. No use of Window's Event Logging and a lack of understanding as to how to handle exceptions. If folks actually think about how to properly debug and test, there would be fewer "slop" articles and a lot higher quality.
Including instrumentation in your software to allow proper diagnosis of failures is far more important to a user than the latest Gee-Whiz-Bang visual effects. Graphical gotta-haves fade like the lettuce in a refrigerator, but solid programs just keep on running, no matter what environment they are placed in.
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