Tag Archives: software design

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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Software Development

28 Friday Feb 2014

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Software development can be hard to describe or compare because it depends so much on the use of abstraction. One can visualize a continuum of professions based on how much abstraction they tend to require from their workers. Software tends to be on the far end of that spectrum. Not only do programmers deal almost entirely with abstraction, but often with multiple layers of abstraction!

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New Blog!

26 Wednesday Feb 2014

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I have a lot of computer programming stuff I’d like to write about, but it’s way too specific for my regular blog (which has a hard enough time attracting readers), and it’s too general to be appropriate for my Book of BOOL blog.

So here I go with blog number three. (Technically, blog number four; my very first blog was my now-long-abandoned baseball blog.) This blog is exclusively for writing about computer programming topics. Expect a mix of “stuff I’ve done that was fun” plus “stuff I’ve thought about and want to document” plus “good advice for coders.”

I’ve written some of those last kind on my regular blog. To get things going, and to put them in a more sensible place, I’ll re-post them here.

Soon. But for now, “Hello, World!” It’s a whole new blog!