Why Continuous Delivery Is So Important
If there’s one thing a software developer absolutely hates, it’s tedious repetitive tasks. That’s what I was suffering from during my most recent greenfield software development project. After several intensive months of endless meetings, analysis and project...
The Code Archaeologist
I fell in love with the idea of archaeology, probably like many other kids my age, when Harrison Ford first donned his famous fedora and bullwhip in the first Indiana Jones movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Mild-mannered professor of archaeology at a prestigious...
You Ain’t Gonna Need It, Seriously
Ask any software developer what they detest the most about brownfield software projects, (projects that they inherited from a previous developer or set of developers, and not originally designed by the person inheriting the project), and it’s a safe bet they’ll say...
The Time Estimate Myth
Anybody who’s done professional software programming for a living will have heard this a bazillion times by now, and for those programmers that are just entering the field, be prepared to hear this from every person you’ll eventually have to report. “How long is this...
How Apple Future Proofed Themselves
Every year since 2007, Apple has launched their latest generation product of iPhones into the world. There’s always lots of pent-up demand and excitement from fans and the press, and gazillions of podcasts, videos and articles all speculating about what new gee-whiz...
The Martian Principles: 5 Key Lessons for Software Developers
As a software developer, one of the important and useful activities after a major software project has been completed is the POSTMORTEM. This is essentially an after action report summary outlining the things that went right and wrong with the implementation of a...
Software Developer vs. Software Engineer
I’ve noticed in a lot of my past writings, I use the term, “software developer” and “software engineer”, interchangeably, as if there’s really no difference between the two. But I stumbled across this article that begs to differ and contends there’s a HUGE difference...
The Power of Prototyping
I recently wrapped up rewriting one of our team’s core business applications. It’s an important application for our customers. Just as important, it helps justify my headcount position within the team, as the revenue it generates ultimately funds my salary as well as...
The Future of Coding
I always get a kick out of the way Hollywood portrays the act of computer programming and hacking. I consider myself a fairly fast touch typist, but in movies and tv shows, you see computer whizzes and hackers pound away on their keyboards at seemingly a million words...
The Problem with Agile
“Fast, good, or cheap. Pick TWO.” If you’re a professional software developer in this day and age, chances are you create software using the agile/scrum methodology. I’ve blogged plenty about this before, but in a nutshell, it’s a way of developing software that is...