Month: August 2010

Categories
programming

Programming For Dummies

I (along with probably 1 000 000 other people) have found the self-help series of Dummies books quite amusing on different levels. As the saying goes, if I had a penny for every time “… for dummies” comes up in a situation joke…

Now there are a number of dummies books covering a host of programming topics. I would be surprised if they haven’t covered every mainstream language, framework and toolset available to the masses. Of course, there’s always “… in 24hrs” to cover what’s missed: C++ in 24hrs. You’ve got ask yourself: “Why, with the abundance of literature available, would a graduate want to spend 3 years (or more, sometimes involuntarily) studying something which can be studies in 24hrs?”

Well, truth be told: software is hard. It’s a popular quote, I’ve said it before and “kids” will probably still be quoting it generations from now. The only thing I could add to that quote is the word “really”. Software is really hard. Not all of it. Not all the time. But it is. Really.

Neither a dummies book, a 24hrs book, or even a 2 week course in learning how to code in c# is going to make you a programmer. In fact, no amount of certification is going to certify you as a competent programmer. The one common trait between certified (and good) programmers and not certified (yet good) programmers is the time spent on the keyboard. Voluntary time. That, and an odd fashion sense says I who doth dare venture out to the mall in my PJs.

Time behind the keyboard is a way of life. You need to develop (if you haven’t been born with it) a particular style of thinking and a particular approach. It’s not a one-style fits all either. There is no ultimate secret recipe to be a programmer (except for the time behind keyboard thing- and quite possibly the poor fashion). In KungFu, you can study the Crane, Tiger, Praying Mantis, Monkey and Snake and there are probably more too. In programming, there are no definitive animals to master. It’s more like a zoo from Star Wars. Looks like Monkey, walks like Snake but eats like Duck. It’s not too important what approach you have, so long as it does the job proper (sic).

Afterall, software is -really- hard but not always rocket-science (the two concepts are mutually exclusive). So don’t be fooled by dummies. It’s simple but not without complication. It’s straightforward but never cut-and-dried. It’s easy but really hard.

Categories
Technology

ADSL Upgrade

There’s been a lot of excitement in the local ADSL market with prices getting better and better and now with the lines being upgraded to 10Mbps, things are getting even better. If you need to check wether your line is eligible for a 10Mbps upgrade, check here on Telkom.

I once read the question that asked wether the bandwidth limitations do in fact impact on our behaviour (and hence performance in the education/business world).

For example, at the time of writing, a 5GB cap on bandwidth “seems” like a lot of bandwidth for home (or small office) users; and let’s say that’s on a 1024 kpbs line.

Now would getting 15GB (for the same price and maybe bump up the line speed at the same time) really make a difference to how you use the internet? Surely if you get by on what you got, getting more is not really going to affect you? Well, to argue by hyperbole, how would “no cap” change the way you use the internet?

Would it make you more productive?
Would your (small) business benefit from the boost- in a measurable financial way?

Or what about on the negative side; would it syphon time away from “real” world activities into the virtual world of increased time spent on social networking and virtual marketing. Is that so bad?

Whatever answer you come up with, the boost does impact on your home (or small business) at least in the short term. Think of a toddler who has been denied Smarties only to arrive at a birthday party with a bowl full of Smarties in the middle of the table (within easy reach) for everybody to snack on. And for one thing, it makes the cellular provider data bundles an absolute joke, trying to “sell” you increments of 10MB. But that’s a different rabbit hole..

Categories
programming Technology

BlackBerry Security

It’s not uncommon when moving across to the BlackBerry platform, to get a little confused or even frustrated. It’s a “who moved my cheese” series of moments because in reality, “we” tend to expect that BlackBerry will do things in exactly the same way as “our” previous handsets. And when it doesn’t, “we” might think it’s broken. Truth be told, BlackBerry does do a lot of things a little differently and IMHO those differences are what make it great.

Note:
I see the same kind of frustration when users migrate from Windows to Ubuntu or Mac.
I see the same kind of disappointment when users switch from Symbian to BlackBerry.
I see the same kind of disillusionment when developers switch from [insert-language-of-choice-here] to Ruby.

Security prompts on the BlackBerry platform are one of those areas that come up for discussion quite often. To understand “why” it does things the way it does things, here’s an 8min video clip which is extremely useful in explaining that. You decide wether that’s good or not, but whatever conclusion you come to, remember, it’s just the way it is.

Personally, I think giving the user (or the BES admin) the final say and control is the better policy when you start examining all the other options available.

Yes, it can be argued that it does demand a level of sophistication on the user’s part, but like anything out there (be it a carving knife, a phone, an OS, an application, a motor vehicle, a bank account or a piece of sports equipment) your understanding of that “thing” is directly related to your proficiency and enjoyment in using that “thing”. A phone, even a BB, is no different.

Categories
programming

Heroku

I’ve mentioned Heroku a couple times before in my posts and I mention them again today. I was impressed way back then when I started 2 years ago, and I’m further impressed today.

I finally managed to get around to moving Morty from the now deprecated HerokuGarden onto the Heroku platform. And it was a cinch! (just one little surprise on the .gems file tripped me up easily sorted though)

The heroku gem makes life (too?) easy and even on a the most basic of basic (read: free) deployments, Morty is running pretty smoothly.

Categories
programming

(Again) Why Test?

When whipping out the Josephus game, I used Jasmine to write the tests… er.. spec for anticipating the behaviour of the code. Among the many reasons I use a “test-driven methodology” (even in the smallest of projects) is that I like to (nay, NEED to) keep a close eye on the strategic direction of the code while I’m minutely engaged in the technical direction. And a picture like this is so easy to read:

Strategy