There are numerous issues that you need to consider when developing almost any software. If you are working on software that connects to a network in any way, security is yet another thing that you need to consider. To introduce this series on Designing Secure software, I’m going to talk about something that normally gets… Read More »
Release It! Michael T. Nygard Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2007 I’ve had this book on my shelf for a few years, and finally got some time to start reading it. I should not have waited. Nygard takes the position that the life of a piece of software actually only begins when it is released. He spends a… Read More »
I began this series on Least Common Denominator Code (LCDC) with The Myth of Code Anyone Can Read. In the posts that followed I attempted to show how this kind of code is not actually possible in a real development shop. I’ve shown how different code should be written for different audiences, and how real… Read More »
In the last few posts, beginning with The Myth of Code Anyone Can Read, I’ve focused on what you can expect from your programmers in general. Of course, generalizing is what got us into this discussion in the first place, so let’s spend a little time not generalizing. When teaching new programmers, I always tell… Read More »
In The Myth of Code Anyone Can Read, I introduced the idea that least common denominator code (LCDC) is not a goal anyone should aim for. Despite my assertion, I’ve seen a number of places where this is a requirement. Even if you don’t believe any of the other reasons for code to not cater… Read More »
In The Myth of Code Anyone Can Read, I introduced the idea that least common denominator code (LCDC) is not a good approach to writing software. Among other things, this approach ignores programmer specialization that happens in any team of more than two developers. Mental Caching As a project becomes larger than one person can… Read More »
In LCDC: Fundamental Knowledge, I explained how hard it is to specify a minimum level of knowledge or experience for all programmers. This minimum level would be needed to determine what is allowable for Lowest Common Denominator Code (LCDC). Anyone who has been programming for any time is probably shouting at the screen, calling me… Read More »
In The Myth of Code Anyone Can Read, I introduced the idea that least common denominator code (LCDC) is not a good approach to writing software. One reason for this problem is caused by the knowledge base of your average programmer. Different Programmers Have Different Backgrounds Programming is still a relatively new field. It’s also… Read More »
I got into a conversation recently coming out of the Houston.pm user group meeting. As usual, we wandered over numerous technical topics, but one stuck out in my mind: whether or not to use more advanced or more complicated language idioms. I’ve written about programming idioms and advanced code many times in the past (see… Read More »
One of the design ideas that came out of the early days of the agile movement was YAGNI. As I have written before, this idea is push back against the tendency of many programmers to over-engineer or over-complicate our designs. We normally use some variation of the flexibility argument to justify this tendency. In fact,… Read More »