Tag Archives: software design

DataBridge

06 Monday Jan 2020

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The last story was about PF.EXE, a file-processing utility I wrote for my own uses way back when. That one was a combination of C code and 8086 assembler, written for MS-DOS (worked fine in Windows), that read and wrote disc files. It had a toolkit of things it could do to them, depending on command line switches.

Many years later, using Java, I created more capable versions, the culmination of which was a suite called DataBridge. It turned out to be some of the most valuable work I ever did for The Company.

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Anyone Can Code?

14 Friday Sep 2018

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There’s a general ethic these days — that anyone can code — and like a lot of things, there’s some truth to it, but also some silliness. As usual, it really depends on what we mean by “anyone can code.”

If we mean it in the same way we might say, “anyone can drive,” I think it’s silly. But if we mean in the same way we might say, “anyone can doctor (or lawyer),” well, then I still think it’s silly.

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The Software Industry

11 Saturday Aug 2018

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xkcd #2030 by Randall MonroeI cracked up when I saw this recent xkcd cartoon. Randall Munroe rarely fails to deliver, but this one especially caught my eye. It’s painfully on-point and quite dismaying on at least two points:

Firstly, that it should still be this bad given all the time, money, and attention, it has received is reason alone for dismay. Part of the problem here may be that we haven’t admitted how hard software is to get right.

But, secondly, software is central to our lives now — far more than airplanes, and even more likely than elevator rides. You might ride an elevator, at most, a dozen times a day, but software enters your life more times than that.

Especially if you use a mobile computing device!

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Getting to the Next Hill

23 Monday Jun 2014

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Last week I took my car in for scheduled service, and when I asked how long it might take, the guy said it was specified as one-and-a-half hours of labor. He could do that because there are thousands upon thousands of data points where a competent mechanic has performed that exact service, so there is a very clear idea how long it takes.

But ask a researcher how long it will take to find what they’re looking for, and the answer is usually, “I have no idea. I’ll know after I find it.” The path a researcher follows is usually new and unexplored, so it’s impossible to predict how long the path actually is.

Creating new software is much more like research than auto service, because it involves traveling unknown ground. Despite this, software development managers often act as if new development is predictable.

It often isn’t!

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Computer programming is hard!

16 Monday Jun 2014

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Computer Programming is hard! It’s at least as hard as what commercial architects do, and I will argue that it’s as intellectually difficult as what doctors and lawyers do.

Many people think it’s easy, because they know some nine-year-old who “programs,” but there’s a difference between fooling around with the computer and building good software applications.

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Managing Complexity

22 Thursday May 2014

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Somewhere I heard someone claim that: “Programming is an exercise in managing complexity.” The word “is” makes the sentence slightly ambiguous. It could mean: “Programming is just an exercise in managing complexity,” implying that that’s all programming is. Or it could mean: “Programming is an exercise in managing complexity (in addition to other things).”

I would absolutely disagree with the first interpretation; programming is definitely more than just managing complexity. On the other hand, managing complexity is a huge aspect of programming.

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The Universal Answer

10 Monday Mar 2014

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At some point it strikes you. For some it  happens early in Computer Science class after hearing a professor say it for the umpteenth time. For others it happens when hearing it come from their own mouths for the umpteenth time. The Universal Answer to any (and all) computer (science) question(s).

“It depends.”

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Too much specialization!

06 Thursday Mar 2014

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To make this blog (I hope) useful, I have tips and advice and bits of advice. But the initial motivation was wanting to write about programming or software in general — topics too technical for my regular blog. In particular, I wanted a place to document past projects, ideas and personal (but sharable) thoughts about coding. I wanted a place to tell stories.

Today I have a story to tell about a programming project I’m working on.

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Software Engineer

01 Saturday Mar 2014

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I don’t like the term Software Engineer. Real engineers have licenses and certifications and prescribed educations. No such exists (currently) for software makers. It is still a new craft in our society (it goes back only to the 1950s or so), and we haven’t caught up to how complex and demanding it really is. Anyone can use the term Software Engineer, so it doesn’t have the meaning it could.

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