technology trends

programming languages

Vive la Programming Revolution!

Jonathan Edwards' Manifesto of the Programmer Liberation Front [http://alarmingdevelopment.org/index.php?p=5] is an inspiring call to arms for programmers who are fed up with the status quo of Java and C#. Maybe it is time to open your window, stick your head out and yell,

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

laptop

Laptop Alternatives

I was desperately trying to avoid the expense of buying a new laptop, but my work-provided Thinkpad T43 just isn't cutting it for me. The problem with Thinkpads, even the very nice new T60 models, is deeper than the hardware and the classic black box design. Thinkpads are

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

technology trends

What's on Your Keychain.. in 2006?

A little over a year ago, I documented what was on my keychain. Here's what I have today: If you're troubled by what appears to be profanity on the Leatherman Squirt, I'll refer you to my previous post-- it's a Pulp Fiction

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

programming languages

Love It, Hate It

Brendan Kidwell noted something interesting about the comments on Trackpoint versus Touchpad: You know, I just realized that there is a lot of LOVE and HATE going on, and it doesn't seem to be very unified. Software development is basically a religion. It's not surprising that

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

software development

The Long, Dismal History of Software Project Failure

From the IEEE article Why Software Fails: Last October, for instance, the giant British food retailer J Sainsbury had to write off its US $526 million investment in an automated supply-chain management system. Merchandise was stuck in the company's depots and warehouses and was not getting through to

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

software development

Why Do We Have So Many Screwdrivers?

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

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

programming languages

Keeping Up and "Just In Time" Learning

Do you ever feel like you're buried under umpteen zillion backlogged emails, feeds, books, articles, journals, magazines, and printouts? Do you ever feel that you're hopelessly behind, with so much new stuff created every day that you can never possibly hope to keep up? Well, you&

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

server

Web 2.0 and The "Whatever Box" Server

One of the key differences between the original dot-com bubble and the Web 2.0 bubble we're entering now is that our servers are a lot cheaper and a lot more powerful. Moore's Law in action isn't exactly news, but the new web is

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

software development

UML, Circuit Diagrams, and God's Rules

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

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

laptop

How Much Power Does My Laptop Really Use?

I've determined power usage on my desktop and on my server, but I hadn't gotten around to testing the power usage of my laptop. As battery life is always a concern with a laptop, I was particularly curious to see which parts of the laptop draw

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

programming languages

Teach Yourself Programming in 23 Hours

I see that Scott Mitchell has a new book out, Teach Yourself ASP.NET 2.0 in 24 Hours [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0672327384/?tag=codihorr-20]. Let me preface this post with a disclaimer: Scott Mitchell is a great writer. I've been a fan of his work

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments

user experience

Menus and Toolbars Don't Scale

I've witnessed the death of the main menu. And toolbars are on their last legs, too. This screenshot* clinches it for me: Granted, very few people would install this many Firefox extensions. But between this and the Office 2003 debacle, it's patently obvious that the whole

By Jeff Atwood ·
Comments