Wow, thanks Kerry, that's great information. The part I found especially useful was, " So, expect to be able to direct them on _what_ needs to be done, but don't expect to have a say in _how_ they do it." - We have encouraged them to write the project in AS3, but they are not comfortable with it yet, so I didn't want to push it on them - would rather have a well-coded AS2 project than a poorly coded AS3 project anyday.
Jason Merrill Bank of America GT&O and Risk L&LD Solutions Design & Development eTools & Multimedia Bank of America Flash Platform Developer Community Are you a Bank of America associate interested in innovative learning ideas and technologies? Check out our internal GT&O Innovative Learning Blog & subscribe. >>-----Original Message----- >>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf >>Of Kerry Thompson >>Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 12:21 PM >>To: 'Flash Coders List' >>Subject: RE: [Flashcoders] Outsourcing (was: Tweening Engines for AS3) >> >>Jason Merrill wrote: >> >>> I'm assisting with an Actionscript outsourcing project >>right now with >>> some Flash game coders in Mumbai, so far so good, though they are a >>> little behind in skills - but would be interested to learn any >>> cultural things people have experienced with Flash >>developers in India. >> >>A few things I have noticed: >> >>People in other cultures use software differently, and may >>have different priorities. For example, the new version of >>Director, just released, was done by a crack team in India. >>They did a bang-up job coming up to speed on a complex code >>base, fixed a lot of bugs, added Unicode support, and lots of >>other neat stuff. However, the new text-rendering engine they >>wrote is taking a lot of heat, and the message window, one of >>a developer's best friends, is now virtually unusable. It's >>not because they are inferior programmers--they just didn't >>completely understand how Western developers use the tool. >> >>I had a similar experience when I moved to Beijing in 1988 to >>manage a team of Chinese programmers. They had developed a >>nice piece of vertical-market software, and they wanted to >>market it in the West. They were good programmers, and >>hard-working, but their concept of a user interface was >>radically different from the West's. >> >>India is relatively new to the programming world. There was a >>major political shift 10-15 years ago that allowed India to >>compete on the world tech market, and they have done so with >>remarkable success. But, you don't have the silverback >>programmers there--the ones who wrote a 3D engine 15 years >>ago in C, or even assembler. Think back to perhaps 1985, 1990 >>in America. That's their accumulated experience level. >> >>Expect Indians to be very polite, even deferential. You'll >>never get flamed by an Indian--courtesy is too much a part of >>their culture. But don't even try to understand Indian office >>politics or professional relations. Their culture developed >>for millennia without significant influence from the West >>(the same could be said about Western culture, in reverse, of >>course). So, expect to be able to direct them on _what_ needs >>to be done, but don't expect to have a say in _how_ they do it. >> >>In America, you can expect a student to get a decent >>education, even at a small community college. They will work >>with modern equipment and modern software, and be taught >>modern, if not cutting-edge, techniques. In India, you find >>that environment only at the better colleges. Smaller, >>provincial colleges are still teaching Turbo Pascal on DOS, >>using 80286 machines. As a result, the best and brightest are >>a match for their peers anywhere in the world--they're as >>smart as anybody, and some of the top technical schools in >>India rival MIT or Cal Tech. >> >>But, once you get out of that tier of programmers, there is a >>sharp drop-off in skill levels. The Microsofts, Adobes, and >>IBMs of the world snap up that top tier of programmers. For >>the rest of us, hiring a team of Indian programmers is hit >>and miss--you could get a decent team, or you could end up >>with a hodge-podge of code that has to be scrapped and done >>over from scratch. Part of that appears to be the result of >>high turnover, or perhaps rapid advancement. I would find a >>part of my project was going well, then all of a sudden it >>would change drastically--different coding style, schedule >>slippage, and the like--and I would find that a new >>programmer, even a novice, had been assigned to that task. >> >>I hope this doesn't come across as overly critical. It's not >>meant to be. >>I've had some very good experiences with Indian teams, and >>some not so good experiences. At the end of the day, Indians >>are, well, people. Outside of cultural issues, there is no >>significant difference between a Gunjeet Parma and a Sharon Jones. >> >>Cordially, >> >>Kerry Thompson >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Flashcoders mailing list >>Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com >>http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders >> _______________________________________________ Flashcoders mailing list Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders
