Thursday, May 26, 2005

Object Orientated Design (OOD).

OK, I am a big fan of OOD. Why? Well, it makes your life easier. Yes, it can be a bit harder to understand and grasp what's actually going on, but the payoffs are immense. Once you get into the concepts, you really see how it's just logical.

If you want to know more, read http://blog.objectmentor.com/ArticleS.UncleBob.PrinciplesOfObjectOrientedDesign

Please.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Epiphany

Epiphany: the comprehension of the meaning of something through a sudden intuitive realization.

Had one just the other day.

It's strange. You read something and go "yeah, that's good." And you acknowledge that it's something that you "should" do, but you don't.

And then, some time later, you're discussing it with someone else, thinking about it in the shower or the realization just pops into your head from your subconscious. And you just suddenly get it. A total and utter understanding of WHY you should do it.

Wow.

Friday, May 13, 2005

best book ever

No, I'm not going to tell you that the best book ever is "The Davinci Code". It's good, but not that good.

What I am going to say is that the best book ever is "Code Complete 2" by Steve McConnell. If you're a developer (or even just someone involved in the whole IT industry), then please, do yourself a favour and read this book.

'Nuff Said.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Process, Process, Process

Sorry. I should have made this more obvious in my last post. I do think that process is important. Very important. I would have to say that I prefer Agile type processes to waterfall for a few reasons:
- it helps you identify progress and problems early and frequently
- it accepts what IS going to happen and embraces it (i.e. iterations)
- more team focused and skilling orientated.

That's not to say that you can't do all that in a waterfall project. Infact, I bet that the waterfall projects that are classified as successfull actually implemented those points, but not in a formal fashion.

Friday, May 06, 2005

wondering

There's so much talk around at the moment about how many projects are failing and the quality of the result when they do succeed.

The main thing that industry experts suggest is that the issue is the process. I.E. Waterfall projects tend to fail and XP projects do not.

Hmmm.....