APPropriate Behaviour
The book about all the things software writers do that aren't writing software.
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Monthly Archives: August 2014
Why is programming so hard?
I have been reflecting recently on what it was like to learn to program. The problem is, I don’t clearly remember: I do remember that there was a time when I was no good at it. When I could type … Continue reading
Posted in edjercashun
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Programming, maths and the other things
Sarah Mei argues that programming is not math, arguing instead that programming is language. I don’t think it’s hard to see the truth in the first part, though due to geopolitical influences on my personality I’d make the incrementally longer … Continue reading
Posted in philosophy after a fashion
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Intellectual property and software: the nuclear option
There are many problems that arise from thinking about the ownership of software and its design. Organisations like the Free Software Foundation and Open Source Initiative take advantage of the protections of copyright of source code – presumed to be … Continue reading
Posted in economics, IANAL
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On Mental Health
This post has been a while in the writing, I suppose waiting for the perfect time to publish it. The two things that happened today to make me finally commit it to electrons were the news about Robin Williams, and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Contractually-obligated testing
About a billion years ago, Bertrand Meyer (he of Open-Closed Principle fame) introduced a programming language called Eiffel. It had a feature called Design by Contract, that let you define constraints that your program had to adhere to in execution. … Continue reading
Posted in architecture of sorts, code-level, OOP, TDD
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The Wealth of Applications
Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations opens by discussing the division of labour. How people are able to get more done when they each pick a small part of the work to be … Continue reading
Posted in economics, futurology
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One decade in
The first working week of August 2014 comes ten years after the first working week of August 2004. You knew that. The first working week of August 2004 was the first week since completing my degree that I worked for … Continue reading
Posted in whatevs
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