Just to Clarify...
It's funny, the things we take for granted that (when heard or read by others) causes such surprise. Take, for example, my post the other day entitled "Your Compact Framework 'Phrase of the Day'". In that post, I mentioned my current employer (Progress Software Corporation). Well, I have since received a few e-mails regarding this fact and the surprise it generated amongst some of the readers of this blog.
Some of the e-mails could be paraphrased into "What - you mean you're NOT an independent consultant?" To respond simply - no, I am not and have not been since I ran my own consultancy for a number of years (until 1996) down in South Florida. Other e-mails were based upon the fact that after doing research on Progress Software, it was concluded that "no, they are NOT a .NET Compact Framework or .NET Framework-specific business". This seemed to lead these folks to conclude that there is no way I personally could have direct knowledge of enterprise development and the .NET CF.
I will not go into a highly-detailed "job history defense" diatribe here, as I hate to see what I consider to be a waste of good bandwidth. Let me say however that -
- My professional career (15+ years) has been almost exclusively devoted to enterprise application development. This includes architectural design, development and deployment using over 16 development languages on both Windows and Unix platforms, and encompasses a number of architectural paradigms (host-based, Client/Server, Web, N-Tier and SOA).
- My involvement in developing thin client applications for the enterprise dates back to (gasp!) AvantGo development for the Palm platform (before CodeWarrior), and has carried through C/C++, eVC++ and now Windows Mobile and the .NET CF. Ironically, recent work at my "day job" has included serving as both a Subject Matter Expert and developer on both C# and VB.NET client integration to my company's "backend" technologies.
- While I do get some sleep, it's not much really. I think the last really good night's sleep I got was the result of too much partying one night back in the 80's ;-)
For those that know me and have talked to me, I believe they can attest to these facts and the fact that I do not do what I do in the .NET CF space blindly. Now that I have clarified that I am not an independent consultant, do not work for Microsoft (did I mention that - I don't work for MS either), and do not work for a company dedicated to .NET development you still can see past this and read what I write in the knowledge that there is substance to my words. If not, I am sorry to hear that; it's been nice having you visit :-)