It depends on what I am doing. I prefer working at night between 10pm and 3am. This is the most quiet and solitary part of my day. Of course there are tradeoffs for fatigue but beer tends to make it all better. You have to try different things to find out what works for you. It just takes time.

I am primarily a .net developer so my tools are Microsoft related except for front end development. I use webstorm, grunt/bower/yeoman and npm for front end development. For .net and sql I use sql data management studio, visual studio 2010 and 2012 with resharper. Check out jetbrains products. Tehy probably have something that can help you with C++

ContextUnavailableException: Insufficient information to be able to provide a meaningful response. Please provide more information about the "JSON challenge"

If you go to this site: https://www.rainforestqa.com/jobs/ And click apply it’s a Challenge...I don’t care about the job I just want to figure out the challenge loll it's been bugging me.

So far I believe it's some sort of JavaScript challenge which would then unlock into the application site.... This link might help understand also: http://www.jsontest.com/

Did you write some code that makes a get request to that url? I think a simple page with a jquery get or xmlhttprequest etc should get you started.

hmm I tried doing that but I dont think it worked...maybe I didnt do it right...any suggestions?

Quite frankly this falls under the great category of "why didn't I think of that". I like this idea and the website is beautiful. Please make with the mobile app that automatically provides directions to the job you applied for on the website. Well done you guys.

Thanks! We're still a while away from the mobile app, but great idea!

I had an Apple IIe(2e).

Must have features for me are code completion "intellisense" to borrow a term. Proper and diverse syntax highlighting, Function/Method signature helpers, code/file navigation, and a clearly defined layout of the interface. Additionally, the IDE should have a clearly defined purpose and all utilities and support functions should reflect this. SOme good examples IMO are visual studio, and jetbrains IDEs of which I primarily use webstorm

One website immediately comes to mind. Jetbrains.com It depends on what you want but for $90 i have found much that is useful there.

Their IDEs are awesome..unfortunately they're over $90. Thanks for the pointer though i'll add them to my wish list.

This quote right here, "Create some kind of website or tool or project that people can see, use, and get a feel for your abilities" - throwaway420, will serve you well.

This is called the never ending or perpetual side project. It represents your capability at any given time if you keep it current. Add new technologies to it. Make new versions of it all of the time. I have personally had interviews succeed on the strength of this project alone, based on my ability to talk about its structure.

Build any project for anyone who will let you(any brochure website is great), using the skillset you wish to develop. If all else fails, build some apps for android or ios. All the challenges of real programming(because it is) with the potential for some actual side money(just a bonus, not the reason to do it).

Finally, it takes time and perseverance. Persevere in the path towards gaining and being able to demonstrate practical and conceptual knowledge. Giving up is the quickest route to failure.

You are not the only designer who prefers pen and paper. While I am more of a programmer than anything else, I know my way around photoshop. I am also a fair hack with a pen(customavatars.reddempire.com), and prefer a pen and paper when starting a sketch rather than drawing with a tablet for example.

I haven't written the bookmarklet and the site is going through a redesign to use an API but what you just mentioned is my bookmark manager that doesnt require you to be registered or logged in to explore it. It is called Mark my place and it is located at www.markmyplace.com. If you begin to use it I will take into account any changes you want for the redesign. The redesign is supposed to shift everything to the website's front page, and be completely driven by AJAX but if you look at it you can see the potential. It would be nice to have a user to develop for who wasn't just me. Thanks for your time.