Going rogue

The May/June issue of CODE magazine it used to stand for "COmponent DEveloper") breaks a precedent -- non-Microsoft technology. This is a big deal for the magazine.

CODE magazine started in 2000. It covered Microsoft and .NET technologies (also COM, DCOM, and the like) and in those first ten years it stayed neatly within the Microsoft world. A review of articles shows that it stayed completely within the Microsoft sphere, with a side trip to Crystal Reports. (Crystal Reports is bound tightly ti Windows and .NET, so I consider it well within the Microsoft environment.)

Things changed in 2009, with articles on Twitter and open source. I did not catch the articles; they could have been Microsoft-centered.

This issue (the May/June issue) has two articles on Ruby: one on Ruby on Rails and the other about Ruby, rake, and other Ruby tech. These articles are not specific to Microsoft and Windows and .NET; they apply to anyone using Ruby and Rails.

This is a big shift. CODE magazine has gone from a Microsoft cheerleader to a pragmatist, writing articles that it thinks will attract readers.

I've noticed one other change. I'm not sure when it happened, but Microsoft has stopped advertising in CODE magazine. I know of no relationship between EPS (the publisher behind CODE) and Microsoft, other than the arm's-length advertiser/publisher relationship. Yet perhaps there was pressure (or perceived pressure) to keep content in the Microsoft world, while Microsoft was paying some of the bills. Of course, when Microsoft stopped advertising, the pressure (real or perceived) would dissapate.

Is the appearance of tech-neutral articles driven by the absence of Microsoft advertising? I don't know. But I am glad to see them. The folks at CODE do a decent job of writing. There are too few resources for good technical information, and we should encourage the folks to do good work. CODE magazine is on that list.