estimation
One of the most challenging aspects of any software project is estimation – determining how long the work will take. It’s so difficult, some call it a black art. That’s why I highly recommend McConnell’s book, Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art; it’s the definitive work on
software development
Mark Minasi is mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it any more. In his online book The Software Conspiracy, he examines in great detail the paradox I struggled with yesterday – new features are used to sell software, but they’re also the primary reason that software
software development
In the software industry, the release of newer, better versions is part of the natural order. It’s a relentless march towards perfection that started with the first personal computers, and continues today. We expect software to get larger and more sophisticated over time, to track with the hardware improvements
fitness
Software developers aren’t typically known for their superior levels of physical fitness. I’m not overweight, exactly, but I don’t think I’ll be pursuing that dream career in male modelling anytime soon. I charitably call myself an indoor enthusiast. At the risk of generalizing – yes, I know
.net
A few friends and I just wrote a book together: The ASP.NET 2.0 Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks. I met K. Scott Allen, Jon Galloway, and Phil Haack through their excellent blogs. That online friendship carried over into real life. We always thought it’d be
fonts
I’ve experimented with programming fonts and IDE color schemes plenty in the past. But now that I’ve given in to the inevitability of ClearType on large LCDs, I’ve basically settled on Consolas. It’s hard to beat Consolas. It’s darn close to the ultimate monospace programming
software development
Source control is the very bedrock of software development. Without some sort of version control system in place, you can’t reasonably call yourself a software engineer. If you’re using a source control system of any kind, you’re versioning files almost by definition. The concept of versioning is
community-driven
It’s hard to pin down the exact etymology of the word Lazyweb, but it seems to have one primary meaning: 1. Asking a question of an internet audience in the hopes that they will be able to find a solution that you were too lazy or inexperienced to find
hardware
I’m a big fan of dual-core systems. I think there’s a clear and substantial benefit for all computer users when there are two CPUs waiting to service requests, instead of just one. If nothing else, it lets you gracefully terminate an application that has gone haywire, consuming all
software development
Scott Koon recently wrote about the importance of discipline as a developer trait: Every month a new programming language or methodology appears, followed by devotees singing its praises from every corner of the Internet. All promising increases in productivity and quality. But there is one quality that all successful developers
patents
Every practicing programmer should read the Wikipedia article on software patents, if you haven’t already. Many software companies are of the opinion that copyrights and trade secrets provide adequate protection against unauthorized copying of their innovations. Companies such as Oracle Corporation and Red Hat are therefore generally opposed to
.net
As I mentioned two weeks ago, my plan is to contribute $10,000 to the .NET open source ecosystem. $5,000 from me, and a matching donation of $5,000 from Microsoft. There’s only two ground rules so far: 1. The project must be written in .NET managed code.