APPropriate Behaviour
The book about all the things software writers do that aren't writing software.
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Category Archives: social-science
The Ignoble Programmer
Two programmers are taking a break from their work, relaxing on a bench in the park across from their office. As they discuss their weekend plans, a group of people jog past, each carrying their laptop in a yoke around … Continue reading
Posted in advancement of the self, learning, social-science
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How to answer questions the smart way
You may have read how to ask questions the smart way by Eric S. Raymond. You may have even quoted it when faced with a question you thought was badly-formed. I want you to take a look at a section … Continue reading
Story points: because I don’t know what I’m doing
The scenario [Int. developer’s office. Developer sits at a desk that faces the wall. Two of the monitors on Developer’s desk are on stands, if you look closely you see that the third is balanced on the box set of … Continue reading
The whole ‘rockstar developer’ thing is backwards
Another day, another clearout of junk from people who want ‘rockstar iPhone developers’ for their Shoreditch startups. I could just say “no”, or I could launch into a detailed discussion of the problems in this picture. Rockstars are stagnant No-one, … Continue reading
Posted in advancement of the self, social-science
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Programmer Values
A question and answer exchange over at programmers.stackexchange.com reveals something interesting about how software is valued. The question asked whether there is any real-world data regarding costs and benefits of test-driven development.[*] One of the answers contained, at time of … Continue reading
Posted in social-science, TDD
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Know what counts
In Make it Count, Harry Roberts describes blacking out on stage at the end of a busy and sleepless week. Ironically, he was at the start of a talk in which he was to discuss being selective over side projects, … Continue reading
The future will be just like the past, right?
I’ve been having a bit of a retro programming session: The computer in the photo is a Cambridge Z88, and it won’t surprise you to know that I’ve owned it for years. However, it’s far from my first computer. I … Continue reading
Posted in social-science
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Are you an [X] programmer?
On my twitter bio, I describe myself as: a Lovelacologist for portable transactators which is, in keeping with the way I’m dressed in the avatar pic, a steampunk way of saying that I’m a programmer of mobile computers. But is … Continue reading
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APPropriate Behaviour is complete!
APPropriate Behaviour, the book on things programmers do that aren’t programming, is now complete! The final chapter – a philosophy of software making – has been added, concluding the book. Just because it’s complete, doesn’t mean it’s finished: as my … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Objective-C!
OK, I have to admit that I actually missed the party. Brad Cox first described his “Object-Oriented pre-compiler”, OOPC, in The January 1983 issue of ACM SIGPLAN Notices. This describes the Object Oriented Pre-Compiler, OOPC, a language and a run-time … Continue reading
Posted in AAPL, code-level, social-science
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