What do you do when a system or application performance problem just can't seem to be fixed?

Caching can greatly improve performance but it can also lull you into a false sense of security. In some cases it can even make the performance worse. If you haven't already, then now is the time to learn the issues and limitations of caching so that you can truly improve performance.

Performance is critical to today's successful applications and web sites. If you design with an awareness of the session state management challenges you can always change your strategies to match your performance needs.

The results you get out of any performance prediction exercise are bound to be wrong. The goal is to make them as least wrong as possible. Rob Bogue will help you understand how to avoid getting them too wrong.

Mention offshore developement and you will get numerous different opinions on its use and success. Here is one way to look at this hot topic.

Many issues remain undiscovered in Web sites because browsers are designed to allow things to continue to work even when they're not quite right. Discover how Fiddle can be used to expose common problems that may be in your sites.

See the results you can expect when utilizing both non-virtual and virtual methods via an interface in .NET.

Putting objects in the right place can help performance in the short term, allowing your existing configuration to do more, as well as setting you up for larger horizontal scaling options with server farms.

It isn't the beef patties or the special sauces that make fast food restaurants similar to software development. The similarities between the two, however, are there....

This series of articles will help you understand where various positions and skill sets fit within the development industry. Each article describes a specific role, defines the skills that position uses, and outlines what to expect from the position: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Code reviews don't have to be painful. Find out how to make this process productive and pain-free for everyone.

Look further into the concept of configuration-based development. Here you will focus on using patterns for implementing a configuration-based solution.

A configuration-based solution is different than a code-based solution. Discover the differences here and see which one is best for you.

Learning how to communicate and evangelize to the team, to management, and to the rest of the organization can help you find your way to the development manager role.

See how the project management role is one that is designed to help ensure that the software development process works as it is intended.

Do you like working with people? Training is without a doubt the most extroverted role of the software development process. See if this job is for you.

The deployment role is one that is critically important to the initial impression of the software being delivered. A bad installation experience can sour just about anyone's taste. Because of this the role of the deployment professional is increasing.

Quality Assurance isn't boring. It's not just the one-by-one execution of test scripts. Quality Assurance is responsible for ensuring the quality in the project. Quality Assurance is a great way to become a part of the software development process. Take a look at what the role is and how it's essential to the software development process.

The developer role is the core role into the software development process and is the one that there are the most open positions for. The role itself has its own set of trade offs, however, for the upwardly mobile professional it may be the way to put yourself on the path for the position you really want.

Discover what role the Development Lead plays in a project and what is involved with the position overall.

Have you ever wondered what it meant to be a solution architect? Most people wonder but can't find good information on what it means to be a solution architect. Learn not only what it means to be a Solution Architect - but also how to become one.

Are you good and collecting, distilling and clarifying technical information? If yes, the Functional Analyst position may be a good job for you!

Within the software industry who is a Subject Matter Expert and what role do they play in the process?

Whether you're trying to find a spot to join the software development team or are an old pro, you'll learn how each of the roles has a critical part to play in creating quality products.

Walt Disney might have through it was a small world. But he wasn't working in today's technology environment. To really suceed you need to find a way to make you and your abilities known.

Web logs are an immensely powerful tool in the debugging process. Whether you're working on a large production site or a small development workstation, it's worth your time to get familiar with your logs.

Most companies have to deal with the Great Divide issue, just at differing levels. It's the divide between those who know, understand, and implement the kinds of things that we've learned about software development for the last 30 years - and those who do not. The question is what to do about it.

A little something to debate about....

To specialize or not specialize, that is an important question for beginning developers. Get some sage advise here.

The team dynamics are very different between corporate developers, software company developers, and consulting developers. Understand the different objectives of software development within organizations so you are not left out in the cold.

Learning to stand your ground, to trust your instincts, and to respectfully disagree with others are difficult but very important skills that could save you in the long run.

Learning how to focus your energies on those behaviors which are coachable and ignoring those which are not (that you can accept) is an important part of converting your problem employees into your star players.

Opportunities are what you make them. That is definitely true in business. See what you can do to increase your chances for success in your next job search.

How would you rate the atmosphere of your office?

Understanding the foundation of what people need to be successful can help you to support and develop your staff into better people and resources.

Handling exceptions with care can create systems, which are easy to support without a tremendous amount of work put into creating logging.

Despite companies' attention to security often times there are no good guidelines for how to protect one of the most important pieces - the lynch pin of authentication - passwords. View common problems with the way passwords are handled and protected and learn how to improve the situation.

What do you do when you have to think about how your object lives and breathes internally, not what it exposes to the world?

Consider these issues when promoting people within your organization.

Often times finding answers requires attempts at multiple solutions and combinations of solutions until an acceptable answer is found.

Could you be considered a modern day Renaissance Man?

See how object-oriented design doesn't have to lead to performance problems.

It seems like everyone believes that, if they are using an object-oriented language, they're doing object-oriented design. Nothing could be farther than the truth, and here's why.

The client platform criteria for most organizations are broken down into three basic needs: connectivity, user experience, and data storage.

Which platform is best? Don't answer that too quickly...

Step away from the tasks at hand to think about what you want to do as a person and what you want to do for your organization in order to make the time that you do spend more productive.

Innovations continue in the mobile device world; however, the perception of the development community hasn't kept pace with these changes in the devices. Learn the top five misconceptions about mobile development.

The role of any senior person in an IT group is, by necessity, that of a problem solver. The question is... how do you identify the right problem?

How you too can get along with your systems integrator.

Explore the breakdown of programs into functions, as well as ways that you can try to design your functions so they can be easily understood and reused.

What do you really need to learn to suceed in programming? One key answer may not be what you expect.

Which is more beneficial... specific product experience or industry experience? Weigh the options here.

What is the Achilles heel of your software project? Could it be fragile code? Learn how to recognize the signs of fragile code, deal with any fragile code you have found, and how to prevent this problem in the future.