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The Inevitable V3 Rewrite
Software rarely finds its feet until version three. Version one is an idealistic guess. Version two is a survival patch. Version three is the rewrite where you finally delete the noise and build what is actually needed. Real stability comes from subtraction, a lesson every architect learns the hard way.
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JavaOne 2014 App – the anti-pattern to mobile development
The JavaOne conference, held annually in San Francisco is a shining beacon of everything good and wonderful in the Java space. What was once the main event, JavaOne is now a side show to the massively large OracleOpenWorld, which takes over all of the Moscone halls, streets and a number of hotels. There was a time JavaOne was that big – but Java has fallen and if this years…
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Why, I, the anti-social-networker fell for Google+
I hate Facebook. I don’t care about your lives. If I cared, I would be part of your life and I would talk to you, I would interact with you and I would get involved with you. I could go on for why I hate Facebook and all the problems with privacy and how you are giving your life over to a company whose sole purpose in life is to…
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“From Earth to the Moon” teaches us a little software management
The Apollo era of the space race, was one of the most exciting and energetic periods in the scientific community with many of the foundations of software engineering being pioneered that are still in use today. One of the best TV series to articulate the challenges that had to be overcome is the Tom Hanks HBO TV “From the Earth to the Moon” series. This drama-documentary has one particular episode,…
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How to handle yourself at a student career fair
When first starting out at university you don’t give too much thought on what job you will eventually land. However as time moves on, there will be opportunities that you need to grab with both hands. Career fairs, company campus visits, guest lectures are just some of the chances for you to get in front of a perspective employer. Being an employer that has gone to many a career…
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Who is looking at your code?
We’re software developers and we take our art form seriously. Our palette is the editor to which we lay down our beautifully crafted code. How we name variables, how we shape methods and how we format code, leaves its own unique DNA sequence that can quickly identify the owner. Even after running code through a standardized formatter, the author is not immune from detection. Software development has always been a…
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How’s your Software Insurance Policy?
Ask any software developer a list of things they dislike doing the most and chances are testing and documentation will make the top 2. Testing is one of those necessary evils that every software developer must wrestle with. Software developers have a unique confidence (read arrogance) that the code they write is error free and production ready as soon as their fingers leave the keyboard. We don’t need to test…
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“Scotch: The Whisky of Scotland in Fact and Story” by Robert Bruce Lockhart
If you are mildly interested in the history of Scottish whisky then you can go no wrong with this book written by Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart. Lockhart, died 20 years ago, and was from a completely different era with a word play that you would expect from the upper-class snobbish of an old boy that can only bring a smile to your face. To give you a hint of…
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“Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Chip Heath, Dan Heath
This book was recommended by my trusted colleague, Stefan Bauer, as a bit of light reading over the weekend. Weighing in at only 291 pages, it was a book that proved very hard to put down once started. The authors take a look at what it takes to make ideas and messages resonate and stick with people. By using lots of case studies they illustrate just how easy it…
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“Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation” by David Robertson
We all know (and love?) the humble LEGO brick – that 4 pegged indestructible plastic cube, that come a nuclear attack, along with the the cockroach will be the only things that will survive. I have always been intrigued in the history of this company and how it got a foot hold in the lives of children and adults alike. This book takes a look at the history from…
the legend that is, Alan Williamson
For over 20 years, I’ve shared my thoughts whenever the muse strikes. It’s unpredictable, honest, unedited, and occasionally witty. I’m living the best years of my life, working harder than ever, and enjoying every second.
