Topic: Software Development
Rasmus Lerdorf, the original creator of the PHP programming language says he isn't a real programmer. Lerdorf isn't passionate about programming if it doesn't solve his problem; he created PHP to solve his own set of problems. Hear the story of the evolution of PHP from being a purely procedural language to its current state of a full-fledged object oriented language, from its creator.
How do young people view the online experience? What are the implications of how life will be for people who have spent their entire lives online? Phil, Scott, and Ben discuss this and other topics related to recent conferences attended. Besides the whole issue of Millennials, they also assess the status of flash-based applications versus Ajax, as well as other methods available to make desktop based online applications.
Ned Gulley is a software designer at The Mathworks and the architect of the company's semi-annual MATLAB programming contest. Since 1999 he's watched contestants exhibit a unique blend of competition and cooperation. On this edition of Interviews with Innovators, host Jon Udell asks Gulley why winning solutions are woven from the contributions of ten or more players.
Social networking can transform communication and build powerful connections, but getting it right in the enterprise takes a special touch. David Bankston shares his experience as a technologist and entrepreneur in this lively discussion of ways in which software-as-service and social media can help businesses manage customer feedback and build brands and communities on line.
Many of the large technology companies are well known for purchasing new, innovative products developed by smaller companies. As part of his work at Yahoo, Bradley Horowitz leads in-house teams trying to advance new ideas from within. He joins Phil and Scott to talk about Yahoo's development plans and how the company hopes to grow the next Flickr internally. He also talks about Yahoo's Hack Yahoo program, where developers are given the opportunity to take ideas from idea to prototype in a very short period.
Optaros started an internal list of open source projects that become the Enterprise Open Source Directory, a growing online community still under the editorial guidance of Optaros. The EOSD includes case studies, grouping of software by categories, and Optaros' trend rating showing which open source projects are stable, up-and-comers or fading glories. Gynn explains why the directory includes open source software whose license does not match the Open Software Initiative's definition of open source, as well as commercial versions of open source software.
Some technology companies founded and headquartered in the United States aren't outsourcing to India and China, but are spreading technology centers around the world instead. Ron Levy, CTO of BEA Systems Inc., explains to Dr. Moira Gunn how BEA is making things work when their staff works in wildly different time zones.
The top software developers are ten times as productive as average developers. You can't afford not to hire them. But if you haven't been reading Joel Spolsky's books or blog, you probably don't know how to find them and make them want to work for you. Joel joins Phil, Scott, and Ben in a discussion of how to recruit and interview technical talent. Joel talks about how to develop a useful intern program and how best to treat employees to make them both happy and productive.
Metaweb Technologies, Inc., builds infrastructure for Web application developers and publishers. The company designs and builds enabling technology for application developers and publishers who are creating a new kind of Web -- a Web that benefits from the power of people and machines. Co-founder Robert Cook joins Phil. Scott, and Ben to discuss the company's work. He reviews his career and discusses freebase.com, the company's first major release. The group also discusses other related database topics.
The shift in the technology industry from closed source to open source has provided new entrance opportunities for smaller players. Open source is 'disruptive' in that it disrupts inefficient models in order to properly respond to the new needs of the market. Marten Mickos, CEO of MySQL AB, discusses how implementing systems designed for user contribution creates an architecture of participation and innovation prevails.
