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Monday, October 06, 2003

Two log entries in as many days.

Stardate 57100.6 (10-06-2003) 

Two log entries in as many days. I was just now idly wandering the net, browsing one of geekdom's holy shrines, SlashDot.org. I found an interesting article on software fashion. It got me thinking about the technologies. I've played with each of the three they single out. The first is Enterprise Java Beans a.k.a. EJB. I never did too much with this, because it was meant for distributed networks and that meant I needed a network. I was never sure what issues this technology was designed to address. 


The second is Struts. The issue this was meant to address was the variety of display devices. I agree with the author, it was good in concept, but way to complex. One of the design issues I consider each time I write a program is the fact that I will need to come back to it and make modifications. In this case, complex is not good. Actually, I can't think of when complex is good. Past entries have stated what I have been playing with, C/C++, Perl, Java, and C#. Each time I have come up with a task, each of these has been able to fulfill the job. Each has weaknesses, but if you know what those are, then you can make them dance to the tune. 

The last is my favorite: Extreme Programming or XP. I like this one because when it was a big fad, I bought the concepts. Basically, it took the best practices of other methodologies and took them to extremes. If unit testing was good, build automated unit testing that runs each time you make a change. If code reviews were good, put two programmers at the same computer, with one reviewing the code the other is writing (pair programming). I put a lot of this to practice, and found some flaws. Automated unit testing was good, but it fast became a monster that smashed its' head into the immoveable and immutable object called THE DEADLINE. Pair programming fell to a personality flaw of mine that my carpool buddy points out each time he ponders an answer I give to his questions. "Don't get bored and wander away!". I found the answer, and I want to move on. 

Yes, April, blah, blah, blah. Thomas has decided that he no longer wants to wear diapers. This was brought on by pressure from Dad, his brother and sister, but mostly from friends. He's been successful a few times, but it's an uphill battle. 

End of Entry

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