Anyone remember that whole
Mac vs PC debate? Yeah? Well you're right, it was
so 1980's... (shut up Linux users, nobody cares about you...
yet!). In all reality, I'm actually quite shocked that this is still a thing. I mean, okay, I guess it's okay for Bloggers and gamers, and people that
use computers because they don't have to think about anyone but themselves. They can use whatever they want because to them, computers are leisure activities, so they can play with what makes them happy.
But I work for an advertising agency. More specifically, I develop websites for this company's clients. This company just so happens to be a .NET shop. And for those of you that don't know, .NET was developed by Microsoft for Microsoft products like Windows, aka "the PC." At work, we use a lot of Microsoft products and programs like Team Foundation Server (TFS) and Visual Studio. When I started working here, I didn't know anything about .NET. I knew HTML, CSS, JavaScript/jQuery, things of that nature, etc. I knew mostly basic stuff. But I'm pretty open minded, I think, so I learned how to develop a website in .NET at this company. If I had gotten a job in a place where they created websites solely in PHP, I would've learned that too because that's what the company uses, so as its employee, that's what I needed to learn and use.
I sometimes forget that people are vastly different. And honestly, I'm still surprised and baffled by their decisions. During my time at this company, we've hired people that are not just people that prefer Apple products, but are actively anti-Microsoft.
Now as a developer, specifically a developer in a fast-paced environment such as the advertising industry, I firmly believe that the developer should use whatever tools they want in order to be most efficient in their work so that it can get to QA as fast as humanly possible. And that works perfectly when you work independently. But when you're on a team, and when you're expected to hand off files to another developer to continue working, there needs to be some kind of standard so that the "ramping up" time for the new developer to pick up where you left off is minimized. Nobody wants to waste time teaching (or being taught) how to make your website files run. When you're on a team, everybody should know that. It's not just basic, it's necessary. You might have to show them around the codebase a bit for the new developer to get familiar, but otherwise, they could (and should) just as easily pull the files down from the cloud and just start tinkering with stuff.
What I'm saying is that while developers can have their biases, their opinions, and their preferences, that these should not be what dictates their tools. Developers should not be anti-Microsoft or anti-Apple. They should be open to learn whatever tools are necessary for doing the job, and doing it well. When you start your own company, you can use whatever you want. But while you're working for a company that primarily uses .NET, you better fucking learn .NET.
Not happy with it? Get a new job.
Disclaimer: Despite what you may think, this rant is not "pro-Microsoft" and you probably only think it is because you're anti-Microsoft. The fact of the matter is that my job demands that I use Microsoft products. Had I been working at a company that requires me to use Apple products, then this article would still be the same except with the roles reversed.
