How did you first hear about CodeProject and why did you decide to become a member?
Weidong Shen: I joined CodeProject more than 11 years ago, and honestly, I do not remember why I decided to become a member. It just feels natural that developers should help each other to learn new technologies and CodeProject was one of first websites available to meet that need.<o:p>
Wong Shao Voon: 10 years ago, I wished to have a career change so I self-taught myself C++ and OOP through forums and articles on CodeProject. CodeProject has proven to be a valuable and indispensable resource for beginners like me. Most of my Google search results point to CodeProject, so signing up as member was like a natural progression to becoming a better programmer.
ThatsAlok: Its early 2004 and I was searching for a VC++ community when I stumbled upon Codeproject.com. Since then I feel at home here.<o:p>
From been novice in VC++ to now a VC++ MSMVP (since 2005); it’s all because of CodeProject and its community.
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Why is CodeProject important to you and why do you continue to use it today?
Weidong Shen: CodeProject helps me to learn new technologies and helps me to solve tough software issues at work. So, keep up the good work!<o:p>
Wong Shao Voon: CodeProject is the first website that I open every day, scanning for interesting new articles. Despite this, there are some good articles that slip past my radar. It is unbelievable the amount of new technologies and best practices that I have learned from the members here. To give back to the community, I’ve written some articles on topics not covered by other members.
ThatsAlok: CodeProject has a booming programmer community, its article base and forum software is excellent, and that’s way I come back every day to learn and upgrade my knowledge base.
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What is your most memorable moment on CodeProject?
Weidong Shen: When one of my articles got more than one hundred votes!<o:p>
Wong Shao Voon: That was when my Outline Text article won the CodeProject C++ article competition in 2009. I also had another article ranked last in the same competition but then I did not expect the editor to put in that article.
ThatsAlok: Most memorable moment would be the time I won the “Article of the Month” consecutively in June and July 2005 and then in the same year (on the recommendation of a fellow CPian, Nishant S) I was awarded MSMVP in VC++ for community services at CodeProject and other well-known online forums across the web.
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What are your thoughts on CodeProject reaching 10 million members and what do you hope the future holds for the community?
Weidong Shen: If CP supports multiple languages, it could easily reach 20 million members.
Wong Shao Voon: I hope the current members will exercise extra patience with the new members. For example, instead of down-voting their posts, we should point to them to using the search if their questions have been answered before. <o:p>
On the other hand, new members should not expect answers to their homework without showing some prior efforts in solving them. Negative criticism breeds negative response and should be avoided at all times. Instead, use constructive feedback to improve the communication. I personally think the future is bright for CodeProject. Let's make our community an even better one!
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ThatsAlok: It’s been growing steadily for years and has successfully migrated from and initially dominant VC++ based community to a DotNet community.
The knowledge bank it has rivals that of MSDN. The collection of articles and content speaks for itself.
In the end its great community site and best wishes for keeping it growing like this! I would like to see 100 million members soon!
Other Articles In This Series
- Looking back at the first 10 million members (Part One)
- Looking back at the first 10 million members (Part Two)
- Looking back at the first 10 million members (Part Three)
- Looking back at the first 10 million members (Part Four)
- Looking back at the first 10 million members (Part Five)
- Looking back at the first 10 million members (Part Six)
