Wednesday, November 29, 2006 TechnologyReview.com has a very good interview with Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++. In the interview Bjarne talks about what is wrong with software development. One quote that really stuck a cord with me is:
"Looking at "average" pieces of code can make me cry. The structure is appalling, and the programmers clearly didn't think deeply about correctness, algorithms, data structures, or maintainability. Most people don't actually read code; they just see Internet Explorer or Windows "freeze," have their cell phone drop a call, read the latest newspaper story about viruses, and they shudder."
So true, so true.
Many programmers today are only worried about getting a feature out the door as quickly as possible ignoring the fundamentals of software development. This is typically driven by demands from management. I for one have been guilty of taking shortcuts just to meet unrealistic demands. This is one of the reasons I left the corporate IT world. I was losing pride in my work and I felt I was starting to forget the fundamentals of software development.
Bjarne also says (towards the end of the interview):
"A lot of thinking about software development is focused on the group, the team, the company. This is often done to the point where the individual is completely submerged in corporate "culture" with no outlet for unique talents and skills. Corporate practices can be directly hostile to individuals with exceptional skills and initiative in technical matters. I consider such management of technical people cruel and wasteful."
I am by no means the best programmer nor do I consider myself an expert, but this is something I have definitely experienced first hand on more than one occasion and with more than one employer. In a way it was good for me (I worked with good companies) because I got to do a lot of R&D work inventing new things, which was a lot of fun, that never went into production but aided in completing production systems. I have been called everything from a maverick to a hero to a lose cannon. And all because I insisted on being myself, an individual with a passion for software development. It wasn't that I was against the team or company. I just wanted our software to be the best it could be. I wanted time to think about proper algorithms and data structures, and most importantly maintainability. I knew as I do today that the right amount of up front time can have huge payoffs in the long run. Unfortunately too many in the software industry think only of the next 6 months and not of the next 6 years. posted by Kirby | November 29 01:19 PM | comments (1)
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 I just posted a bunch of photos (200+) to the gallery for the photo-junkies out there. posted by Kirby | November 28 07:07 PM | comments (0)
Monday, November 27, 2006 My hosting provider for thecave.com and whitepeaksoftware.com was hit with a DoS attack this morning. As a result the mail and web servers for both domains have been down today since around 9:30 AM Eastern. The attack seems to be contained as of 2:30 PM Eastern.
My apologies to family, friends, and customers who have been trying to reach me by email and to those at thecave.com who have been without email since this morning. posted by Kirby | November 27 02:25 PM | comments (0)
Wednesday, November 22, 2006 Early this morning, around 2:45 AM, my wife and I were woken up by a thunderous boom that shook the house. We both jumped out of bed, looked out the window, but all was quiet. I thought maybe the explosion was downstairs in the basement so I went down to check it out. My wife turned on the TV and tuned in to local Boston news channels but there was nothing about an explosion. No breaking news. Nothing. Finally I went outside to see if I could tell what happened. Still not luck.
We were up for almost an hour worried that something bad had happened. It was hard to go back to sleep. For us, being from New York City, it was strange how quiet the streets were. It seems the explosion did not wake any of our neighbors. And there was nothing on the local news. As a matter of fact the local news was nothing more than a re-broadcast of an early news broadcast. Boy, we miss NY1 at times like this.
Well, the mystery of what happened was uncovered this morning when I checked Boston.com. Seems there was a major chemical explosion in near by Danvers.
We live a few miles from Danvers and we felt the affects of the explosion, so it must have been one heck of an explosion. As I said it woke up from our sleep and shook the house. And we live a few miles away. It's amazing no one was seriously hurt. posted by Kirby | November 22 06:45 AM | comments (1)
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 White Peak Software is 3 years ago today. What an amazing ride it has been over the last 3 years. It's almost hard to believe 3 years has past.
White Peak was start a month after I got married. Talk about major life change. Nothing like getting married and starting a new business at the same time to make life interesting. I wonder what my wife was thinking back then. She was dating an employed, well paid guy, but married an paid computer geek with big dreams of the ultimate life style.
Lucky for me my wife shares my hopes and dreams of the ultimate life style, and she is one of the main reasons White Peak Software can celebrate its 3 year old birthday today. This would not have happened without her love and support.
When I started White Peak the plan was to provide consulting services to businesses. After much soul searching, and with help for a business coach (thanks Brian!), I realized I really wanted to have a product company. This is something I have dreamt of doing since the time I first slang code for a living (around 1985 - boy, I'm getting old).
So the plan for White Peak is to publish useful software products. It's been harder than I expected and is taking longer than expected. But that's fine because with each passing year I am one step closer to the primary reason for starting White Peak Software, to support a particular life style.
White Peak Software is about building a life style for me, my wife, and (one day) our family. It's not about building a large software company. It's about having the freedom to spend time with each other, traveling, and going on adventures. Sure, it's nice to make a few extra dollars and I'm happy to see White Peak's revenue grow each year, but the thing I really like is the freedom I have. As they say in the credit card commercials, it's priceless.
There is still a long road ahead for White Peak Software, and more work is needed to get closer to the ultimate life style. 3 years ago I was more pessimistic more unsure about the future. But today I look back on the accomplishments over the last 3 years and I'm more optimistic more sure about the future and what it holds for me, my family, and White Peak Software.
Happy birthday White Peak. posted by Kirby | November 21 04:05 PM | comments (1)
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 It's official. Borland's Developer Tool Group, aka DTG, aka DevCo, has spun off. The new company is called CodeGear.
Here are various links about CodeGear and today's announcement:
- CodeGear blog posting by Allen Bauer, CodeGear Chief Scientist
- Letter from Ben Smith, CEO CodeGear
- Borland Spins Off Its Tools Unit
- Borland Launches CodeGear to Supply Developers with Tools of the Trade
- Borland forms CodeGear - FAQ
Tuesday, November 07, 2006 Boston.com is reporting a naked man arrested for concealed weapon. So how can a nake man conceal a "6-inch metal awl wrapped in black electrical tape" you ask? You'll have the read the article. Ouch... posted by Kirby | November 7 09:45 PM | comments (0)
