July 2004 Archives
Geometry in Action. Lots of geometry links. Excellent.
Rory Blyth wishes Canada would move a little to the right...His essay also contains a great explanation of why imperial units are important.
Also: the park has free wi-fi. Even if it's a joke, it would still be just what to expect in the valley.
A couple of interesting thoughts on how to document APIs: It's not enough to say what it does. Altough the examples and lessons are drawn from a strictly technical background (documenting an API), they apply to end-user documentation (manuals, tutorials etc.) as well.
...although the Morgan Aero 8 is a great car, I'm wondering if the Lotus Elise isn't a better deal (about half the price) and still a great sports car. No roadster, though...
...the search engine for Outlook, can now be downloaded for free from Microsoft (via Joel on Software.) A must-have.
...chenau. Morgan Aero 8. Und dann auch noch von Wolfram Siebeck besprochen. Der Mann hat Geschmack, aber das wußten wir ja. Dank an Christoph.
Obwohl ein Aero 8 doch irgendwie was für Weichlinge ist. Ein +8 (wird leider nicht mehr gebaut) wäre schon irgendwie noch etwas stilvoller. Aber die schielenden Scheinwerfer des Aero 8 sind schon der Hit.
George Burns: "Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxi cabs or cutting hair." (via Scripting News)
George, you forgot the people who are busy writing code.
Pointy-haired boss on sales tactics.
James Robertson and Patrick Logan comment on an article titled The Dangers of End-User Programming:
James Robertson - If we want secure and safe software, we have to make it possible for the domain experts to create that software. Banishing them from the field sounds like 1960's glass house thinking to me.
Patrick Logan - End user programming is to be encouraged
While I'm all in favor of securly scriptable applications, I don't think domain experts should create software. After all, their expertise is in the domain. Creating complex software systems (not scripting software for a particular task) requires a special set of skills most "normal" folks just don't have. And I'm not talking in-depth technical knowledge about .NET, sockets etc. here.
We (read "Software professionals") have to come up with tools and processes enabling domain experts to fully participate in the software development process. User stories, acceptance test frameworks etc. come to my mind. Plus we have to come up with scriptability features allowing the automation of other tedious tasks.
...while thinking about Progressive Disclosure, I found an interesting site on UI design. Nothing dramatically new, but a great compilation of different UI patterns. If you're interested in UI design (or should be interested), a must-read. For experienced UI designers, still a great refresher: UI Patterns and Techniques.
SketchUp 4.0 will feature a Ruby Scripting Interface.
Didn't I talk about scripting languages for plug-in development just a few weeks ago?
Don Park on Test-Driven Development.
I like the comparison with being deeply involved with a video game and pushing aside deep thoughts on design.
Hard thinking, heavy lifting and thinking deep thoughts is way overrated in software development. Most of the time, deep thoughts aren't necessary to accomplish the task at hand. Concentrating on following a set of simple practices will result in a better and more maintainable product than thinking deep thoughts.
The Autodesk Informer. I wonder when the first VectorWorks blog will appear.
John gruber hits the nail right on the head. Excellent. In-depth.
