November 27, 2008 at 04:00How Habr tested Visual Studio
At the end of September, Habr users gathered at the Moscow office of Microsoft to test Visual Studio 2008, which had just been translated into Russian, and the MSDN documentation. About why people were searching for us for this big business with us, who are waiting for a commemorative wristwatch with a logo, about web Lomonosov, web Kholmogory and much more, we talked with the head of the development of tools for developers Denis Kotlyarov and the director of the department Microsoft Strategic Technologies Dmitry Khalin.
Gaidar Magdanurov ( gaidar ), who collectedpeople on Habré, said that only in one place you can find developers of very different profiles. And Denis Kotlyarov agrees: “We got a very good selection of specialists. The test participants for applications were chosen by chance, and among them were people of all ages, from many regions (even they came from Novosibirsk, but all at their own expense), from a variety of professional areas - web development, intracorporate and box software development.
Why Habr? And we, in fact, did not have much choice - there are no other such large independent IT communities in our country. This is probably good for Habr, but for the community as a whole - not very. ”
The most active participant in the test left 281 comments, however, almost all of them related to spelling and commas. A gift watch with a logo for the best contribution received, as you know , not he. A watch is a separate issue altogether. Denis says that many want to get them, they offer money for them. But only those who contributed to the localization and “showed their love” for Visual Studio receive them. These are development teams, translators, popularizers.
The authors of pirated localization Visual Studio, which appeared long before the official one and attracted attention even at the central office of Microsoft, could also be among the latter. “We really want to invite them to us for a reward,” Denis smiles.
In general, the topic of interaction with the community of developers and developers among themselves is “this is sacred,” says Dmitry Khalin. And Visual Studio for Microsoft is a product that is beneficial not from a commercial point of view, but from the point of view of stimulating the creation of a “living ecosystem” of IT, which has been talked about a lot in the company lately.
“The localization of Visual Studio is our long-term commitment to the community of professionals,” says Dmitry. Reading documentation in your native language is natural and convenient. For many people, linguistic accessibility can be the main condition under which they decide to become programmers.
Microsoft directs all the money from Visual Studio sales in Russia to the development of the Russian version. Thus, if a professional buys a license, the company believes that he is sponsoring the emergence of new young programmers. “In this,” says Dmitry, “there is some kind of social justice.”
Denis says that when they studied the demand for the Russian version of Visual Studio, they saw heated debate, including on Habré. Someone even collected signatures to stop localization. But ultimately, “in real life, many new ideas arise from the study of new technologies, and the more accessible new technologies are, the better for everyone,” Dmitry said.
“Now that everything is online with us, it has become easier,” he continues, ““ Some “web Lomonosov” in their “web Kholmogory” can receive the same knowledge as people in Silicon Valley, at the same time ". And concludes: "Now is the right time to create new projects."
But of course, despite all the ability of people from Microsoft to kindle with a verb the hearts of people and their fair belief that they do the most for enlightenment (“evangelism”) in software development in Russia, do not forget that everyone is free to go their own way. Just if you are on the way with them, now it’s probably easier to go.
Gaidar Magdanurov ( gaidar ), who collectedpeople on Habré, said that only in one place you can find developers of very different profiles. And Denis Kotlyarov agrees: “We got a very good selection of specialists. The test participants for applications were chosen by chance, and among them were people of all ages, from many regions (even they came from Novosibirsk, but all at their own expense), from a variety of professional areas - web development, intracorporate and box software development.
Why Habr? And we, in fact, did not have much choice - there are no other such large independent IT communities in our country. This is probably good for Habr, but for the community as a whole - not very. ”
The most active participant in the test left 281 comments, however, almost all of them related to spelling and commas. A gift watch with a logo for the best contribution received, as you know , not he. A watch is a separate issue altogether. Denis says that many want to get them, they offer money for them. But only those who contributed to the localization and “showed their love” for Visual Studio receive them. These are development teams, translators, popularizers.
The authors of pirated localization Visual Studio, which appeared long before the official one and attracted attention even at the central office of Microsoft, could also be among the latter. “We really want to invite them to us for a reward,” Denis smiles.
In general, the topic of interaction with the community of developers and developers among themselves is “this is sacred,” says Dmitry Khalin. And Visual Studio for Microsoft is a product that is beneficial not from a commercial point of view, but from the point of view of stimulating the creation of a “living ecosystem” of IT, which has been talked about a lot in the company lately.
“The localization of Visual Studio is our long-term commitment to the community of professionals,” says Dmitry. Reading documentation in your native language is natural and convenient. For many people, linguistic accessibility can be the main condition under which they decide to become programmers.
Microsoft directs all the money from Visual Studio sales in Russia to the development of the Russian version. Thus, if a professional buys a license, the company believes that he is sponsoring the emergence of new young programmers. “In this,” says Dmitry, “there is some kind of social justice.”
Denis says that when they studied the demand for the Russian version of Visual Studio, they saw heated debate, including on Habré. Someone even collected signatures to stop localization. But ultimately, “in real life, many new ideas arise from the study of new technologies, and the more accessible new technologies are, the better for everyone,” Dmitry said.
“Now that everything is online with us, it has become easier,” he continues, ““ Some “web Lomonosov” in their “web Kholmogory” can receive the same knowledge as people in Silicon Valley, at the same time ". And concludes: "Now is the right time to create new projects."
But of course, despite all the ability of people from Microsoft to kindle with a verb the hearts of people and their fair belief that they do the most for enlightenment (“evangelism”) in software development in Russia, do not forget that everyone is free to go their own way. Just if you are on the way with them, now it’s probably easier to go.