software development
Jon Raynor added this comment to my previous post about keeping up with the pace of change in software development: The IT field is basically a quagmire. It's better to accept that fact right away or move on to a different field. I guess someday I wish for
software development
Very few software engineers use UML symbols to design software, but electrical engineers regularly use circuit symbols to design electronics: Circuit symbols are constructed into circuit diagrams-- the the visual language of electricity: If circuit diagrams are a standard, universally understood way to talk about electronics, why doesn't
best practices
James Bach's seminal rant, No Best Practices, is a great reality check for architecture astronaut rhetoric. It's worth revisiting even if you've read it before. Some might say Bach's viewpoint is pessimistic, even cynical: The way to get rich in this world
code quality
I've been reading a great book of interviews with programmers circa 1989. One of the most fascinating interviews is with Wayne Ratliff, the author of dBase. Wayne's description of balance in programming really resonated with me: Interviewer: Can you elaborate on this feeling for balance and
naming conventions
Alan Green rails against the meaninglessness of SomethingManager [http://www.bright-green.com/blog/2003_02_25/naming_java_classes_without_a.html] : > How many classes do you come across named SomethingManager? Any decent sized commercial system seems to have plenty – SessionManager, ConnectionManager, PolicyManager, QueueManager, UrlManager, ConfigurationManager, or even, sadly,
usability
I'm currently re-reading the book About Face. I hadn't revisited this book since I bought the original version way back in 1995. The update, which was published in 2003, is a significant overhaul – and frankly much better than the original. Adding the second author, Robert Reimann,
software development
One of the peculiarities of software development is how rapidly knowledge becomes obsolete. Dan Appleman cited a parable from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass which illustrates this wonderfully: 'Now! Now!' cried the Queen. 'Faster! Faster!' And they went so fast that at last
error codes
A recent Scott Hanselman post [http://www.hanselman.com/blog/WindowsDefenderErrors0x8024402c0x80240022And1609.aspx] described a problem he had with Windows Defender [http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx]: > Defender was unable to update my signatures, instead throwing a COM-ish 0x8024402c. Others are getting Error 1609 and still
gaming
One of the most amazing gaming experiences I've had in recent memory was playing Introversion Software's Darwinia [http://www.darwinia.co.uk/]. It's a bit difficult to explain, but the game is a cross between Tron [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/], Syndicate [http:
audio visualization
I'm a big music fan. And as a longtime computer enthusiast, I've always been intrigued by the intersection of computers and music: audio visualization. The first experience I had with visualization was the 1993 CD-ROM add-on for Atari's short-lived Jaguar console [http://www.atariage.
.net
Vertigo Software's .NET Pet Shop 4.0 article [http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnbda/html/bdasamppet4.asp] just went live on MSDN. It's Pet Shop! You know... our old pal, Pet Shop [http://www.gotdotnet.com/team/compare/petshop.aspx]: However,
debugging
Edit and Continue, which shipped in Visual Studio 2005, is generally regarded as A Good Thing. It's pretty difficult to argue against the benefits of immediacy when debugging, but that isn't about to stop some people: * Frans Bouma People who grew up with assemblers, the gnu