I was in training all last week learning SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). For anyone who cares, that is a ETL (Extract/Transform/Load) tool used to move data around in databases/flat files/excel and in building data warehouses. I think that it’ll be useful for some projects I’ll be working on in the near future. SSIS is still a bit quirky in my opinion though. The syntax of the expressions doesn’t seem to match SQL or VB. So it makes it somewhat confusing when you are constantly going in an out of sql and vb and then back to SSIS style expressions. Another thing that annoyed me was the lack of support for C# for script tasks. It’s been awhile since I’ve developed using VB so I was a bit rusty trying to do some of the labs that required scripting.
I’ve been taking the most horribly boring project management training courses over the last few days. I’m a bit disappointed because I thought the courses would be
more specific to the processes we have to follow here at the workplace. It’s a lot more general than that…so it’s more of a review of stuff I’ve already learned. Plus the instructor tends to get off topic and tell long-winded stories about fishing or stupid shit like that. I think I’ve probably mentioned before that I have very little interest in being a project manager anyhow…so it makes it that much worse.
When did this shift from Developers to Analysts occur in the workplace? I think that I got screwed somehow…and the formula just doesn’t seem quite right anymore. I go to school for “Computer Science” and learn how to program and develop software, databases, and web applications…but when you go to get a job it seems there is less and less of that type of work to be done. Larger companies have completely shifted to this outsourcing model where they would rather have things developed outside of the company. So where does that leave the developer? I remember when hardware and technical support became somewhat of a less respected role in the IT industry…which sucks in its own…now it is happening with development too. It’s been pushed off as “grunt work” now and I don’t like it.
So what happens to all those kids going to college for “Computer Science”. It’s been a few years since I’ve attended school, but it just seems like those kids are learning skills that are becoming less and less relevant in the IT industry.
Maybe I’m being overly pessimistic and there is still demand for developers (within the United States)…I guess time will tell. While I’m scrambling to fit into a role that lets me keep my job…
I know a lot of people who read my blog (all 5 of you) may not be that into web development. But I have to discuss some things about ASP.NET that really piss me off. I’m so god damn sick of trying to write with web standards. It just doesn’t work. Every time I figure out how to get things to render the way I want them to…I run into another dumb road block.
For instance. I drag a radiobuttonlist onto my web form. I view the code in the browser. It renders as a table!!! Fuck tables. And no, I don’t have time to sit around all day and write control adapters. I do have the css friendly ones that are available, but radiobuttonlist and checkboxlist aren’t available. Has anyone already written a control adapter I can use. I thought I found one googling, but I guess I don’t know how to plug it in correctly cause my site pretty much stopped working.
I dunno. I just refuse to throw tables around all willy nilly. Who’s with me?
I noticed today at work that IE6 was really not liking my blog. I had added a float to the post divs on my site, because as some of us geeks know about floats, is that they will stretch over other floats inside them (like the floated images on my pet page). If I hadn’t put all that wrapped text in there, the background of the page would not have contained my menagerie of animals. So I added a float, and that should have fixed my issue…and it did in Firefox (and IE7). But noooo..I had to remove it so the masses could still read my rants.
The moral of the story…IE6 sucks. Don’t use it.
