MuddyHorse Farm and Tech » programming

The Definition of Good Software

pforhan — Sat, 08 May 2010 13:28:37 +0000

In my mind, the definition of well-made software is this: The absolute minimum required to get the job done.

There’s a little agile in there, relating to software design minimalism. That’s not what I’m getting at. Whether you are developing something new, or fixing something broken, deliver the very least you must for the desired outcome.

I did not say to do the least amount of work required, I said deliver the very least required; go quickly and completely in the direction you must move. Destroy that bug, hack that web page, do something terrible and glorious. After getting it working, though, take that next step, and wash all the mud off what you just did. That is, minimize the actual changes you’re about to apply. Make sure every change makes sense and is required. Don’t lump another change or some code reformatting in just for “because it needs to be done eventually”. Focus on only what you are doing.

It is a massive accomplishment to delete code from a working system and still have a working system. It is thrilling, and you’ve saved yourself and “the next guy” a lot of trouble in the future. This applies whether you are fixing a bug or making something completely new.

Podcast Rotation

pforhan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:00:12 +0000

I just wanted to capture the current set of podcasts I listen to. I commute two hours a day, and this set keeps me lightly stocked — Sometimes I run out for a day or two, and I rarely fall behind.

This is my current gold-standard set of podcasts:

Podcast / RSS Link	Category	Average Length	Description
Major Nelson Radio	Gaming	1:15 - 2:00	Gaming podcast, focussed almost exclusively on the Xbox 360. Interviews and news.
IGN Games Podcasts	Gaming	0:40 - 1:15	I listen to the following podcasts from this RSS: Game Scoop (all around gaming news) Three Red Lights (ostensibly 360, often silly) Nintendo Voice Chat (Wii / DS) Command Prompt (PC Gaming)
IGN Entertainment Podcasts	Television / Movies / Technology	0:40 - 1:00	I only currently listen to Channel Surfing, but occasionally there are other interesting podcasts
Bungie Podcast	Gaming	1:30 - 2:00	Bungie studios talking mostly about Halo. Note: Not bleeped, not filtered.
Anger, Sadness, Envy	Gaming	1:15 - 1:45	Rampancy.net's podcast discussing all things halo. Fun deep dives into story and gameplay.
The Dealnews Podcast	Technology, Consumer News	0:40 - 1:00	A medium-length, somewhat lighthearted take on tech news and product deals.
The Java Posse	Programming	1:00 - 1:30	Java and JVM news and sessions

Here are some podcasts I’ve just started listening to and am still evaluating:

Podcast / RSS	Category	Average Length	Description
This Week in Android	Mobile	?	News and interview regarding Android phones and OS. Just got started.
This Ain't Your Dad's Java	Programming, JavaFX	1:00 - 1:30	News and comments about JavaFX
Librivox Community Podcast	Audio Books	?	Community thoughts from the Librivox audio book site
NPR Science Friday	Science and Technology	?	Segments from NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Fridays
NPR Talk of the Nation	News	?	Segments from NPR's Talk of the Nation
Marketplace Morning Report	Financial News	0:08	Short but dense financial news

Coolish: Mozilla Bespin

pforhan — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:14:27 +0000

I know I’m late to the game, but I was looking over Mozilla Bespin — a web-based IDE with a surprising amount of features, including source control and syntax highlighting. Right now, it’s all about web techs, with a strong focus on HTML, Javascript, and CSS, but it is extensible and seems like it is headed in the right direction.

This could be a cool way to develop/test the GamesByEmail game I’ve been fiddling with, perhaps. I don’t think code-completion is in there, yet, which will ultimately be a must-have, but I can play for now…

Big bonus: the editor is high-performance, and is implemented with my favorite, the HTML5 Canvas tag. See also my experiments right here (I’d recommend planetaryZ2, and don’t forget to mouseover/click a planet).

There is some work going on integrating eclipse with this… not sure exactly what, yet, though. See Eclipse in the Cloud and E4/Bespin.