@roachmeister said:

Thanks everyone for your replies. It seems that the general concensus is that, unless I want to work in R&D, the Masters probably isn't necessary.

So, next question: what about certifications?  The Air Force provides me with free online training towards such things as Microsoft certification, Sun Java certification, A++, etc.  Are these worth the effort?  If so, which ones?

If the Air Force is paying for it I'd go ahead and get your masters - one thing I've realized over the past 15 years is that you can't code forever. The Carpel Tunnel and Tendonitis set in and your eyesight goes to crap. I'm not there yet - but I've done it long enough to have started to think about those things. With a masters degree and 18 masters level credits you can always be a college professor - it's a good field to fall back on (the pay is ok and the hours are awesome). In Virginia the requirement is 5 Courses a semester and 10 office hours per week (That's only a 25 - 35 hour work week - oh and summers are optional)... 

After being in the private sector awhile - the common consensus nowadays is that the certifications show initiative but are very overrated. I've interviewed guys with more certs than Billy Gates, but they couldn't even tell me what a string variable was. Once again however - if the Air Force is payin I'd probably do it if I had the time...

@chebrock said:

Sorry dude, its fail bigtime. Anybody taking a year to write a CMS is absolutely worthless. I've written tons of CMS's, the most recent with a flex frontend, of which i had to learn flex as I went along, and it took me about 2 months, all the while managing my department. I can't even begin to imagine what I could do in a year. Even six months is an epic amount of time.

I have no idea what Configuration Management System Portal is supposed to be either. Neither does google.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q="Configuration+Management+System+Portal"&btnG=Search

Bad programmers take longer and use more lines of code, AND THATS ONE TO GROW ON.

First of all I know you're just trolling to piss people off - and secondly a Configuration Management Portal is just what it says it is - it handles e-mail - calendar of events - has document management functionality (ie. Storage, Workflows, etc...) - and a full host of administrative functionality... All on top of it's core capability of Configuration and Logistics Management.

Neither were some software purchased or downloaded from the interwebs and customized a little - they were created from scratchola.

You obviosly have no clue what you're talking about as the requirements analysis and test phase alone on any app of decent size can take two.

Peaceizzle...

@chebrock said:

@tlowder said:

Not to dwell on the topic, but after thinking about it I've been on web apps before that have taken over two years to develop.

 

 Can I ask then, what are these apps? Some explanation of functionality would put things in perspective.

Two large Configuration Management System Portals with completely different business logic and a Custom Content Management System for the Dept. of Ed's No Child Left Behind Act... My last company also did a custom sharepoint portal that took 4 developers over a year to complete as well...

Not to dwell on the topic, but after thinking about it I've been on web apps before that have taken over two years to develop.

You must be working on some pretty small apps then.

Yeah - I'm the seasoned veteran - the Sr. Honcho... I also tried showing them a ghantt chart that way it's ot just my word. They of course in the end have to take my word for it as it takes however long it takes. I just figured that after 3 or 4 times they'd not question it so much now.

Well other than unrealistic expectations and little respect I have no issues with the company. I also doubt I could make the money I do anywhere else - it's the first job I've had where I actualy feel I'm being compensated fairly.

It's one of those deals where the secretary will talk down at me and I only wish I could let her know that I make like 10 times what she does. On the other hand if I did do that she's so stupid she probably wouldn't believe it.

First off - I really like my job, I swear I do. Unfortuneately however, I have the pleasure of working for a company where the only programmers are me and one other Jr guy. The rest of the company are mechanical engineers, technical writers, and mainly dumbasses. I am routinely asked to create large web applications, and when I tell them it could take a year or more I get the look. You know, the look people give you when they don't understand how it could possibly take so long - the look they give you when they think you're bulllshitting them. Then each time - at least 4 or 5 now, I have to explain that we actually write code and that programming is not easy. I went through a similar feeling about 10 years ago when MS FrontPage was the big thing and everyone thought they could do web applications development, but this is worse for some reason. 

I feel a little guilty because they do pay me well, but they have made no effort whatsoever to actually understand what the hell I do all day and it's gotten to the point where it's hurting my morale a little. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that on occasion the thoughts of a job hunt crosses my mind. I just wanna be respected I guess, is that too much to ask?