Within the code-base, as already mentioned, defensive programming can cause defects to become entrenched. Instead, we should adopt a more confident style, where code fails hard and fast. – Stop the clock, squash the bug I heartily agree with that statement.  I think it can be reworded in this way: Fail, then fix the failure, [...]

I came across this article today: The Young Man’s Business Model. It stuck me as being needed advice that most people can use, me included.  It highlights several points: When you’re young, you brute force everything.  Literally, everything, until you finally get some experience and learn that there are other ways. In business, brute force [...]

I discovered an interesting bit of insanity in PHP while at work the other day. Define a function in PHP and make sure it has at least one argument, but that argument should not have a default. So the function should be something like: public function foo( $bar ) Not: public function foo( $bar=fubar ) [...]

I wish I had more to add to Steve McConnell’s post Measuring Productivity of Individual Programmers, but I don’t. The short summary: don’t measure productivity of individual programmers.  Just don’t.  It’s a bad idea that returns you nothing. He says a follow up post on measuring the productivity of teams is coming (which is something [...]

I admit, that like many bloggers, I am stat obsessed.  I like to think I matter in the technology sector, even just a tiny bit, even though, at least at the moment, I really don’t.  Still, I hope you’re getting some value out of my blog.  You must be, or you wouldn’t be reading it. [...]