And no, this “death of the desktop” post is not about how mobile devices or the browser is taking over the world – it’s about taking a step back and rethinking how we actually use computers (desktop, mobile or otherwise), and then trying to take a more usable step forward. Thanks to Chris Jones for [...]
Category Archives: programming
Data is more agile than code
Posted by svec on June 16, 2008
0 comments
Peter Norvig talks about the need for a startup company to go fast – and also in the right direction – at his Startup School 2008 talk. “Sure you gotta go fast, but if you’re not getting feedback to figure out if you’re going in the right direction it doesn’t matter how fast you go.” [...]
Knuth hates XP
Posted by svec on April 25, 2008
0 comments
In this recent interview, Donald Knuth says: “Still, I hate to duck your questions even though I also hate to offend other people’s sensibilities—given that software methodology has always been akin to religion. With the caveat that there’s no reason anybody should care about the opinions of a computer scientist/mathematician like me regarding software development, [...]
Understanding C pointers: Part 1
Posted by svec on January 1, 2008
3 comments
As I said in “Understanding C pointers: Part 0,” I’m going to try to explain how C pointers work. Let’s start with the basics. Here’s some simple C code: int x = 23; int y = x; You can think of each variable as a box which holds the value of that variable. So in [...]
Understanding C pointers: Part 0
Posted by svec on December 28, 2007
2 comments
“C/C++ Pointers are evil. Ditto direct control of memory via malloc, free, new and delete. Java, C# and other ’safe’ languages are the wave of the future, man!” Even if you shouted a hearty, “Amen, brother!” after reading those sentences, the C/C++ languages can teach you something useful. Understanding how to directly control memory with [...]
A Great Quote From “Dreaming in Code”
Posted by svec on June 19, 2007
0 comments
“What are the odds your software is going to change?”[David] Cook asked in a jovial blare. “Oh, 100 percent. It’s going to be around for 10 years. You’re going to have to modify it more times than you can imagine. You’re gonna have to change it for different hardware and software environments, change languages three [...]
vim in print
Posted by svec on November 26, 2006
1 comment
From “JPod,” Douglas Coupland’s latest book (official book website, Amazon link): “John Doe was full of vim…” Here vim is used to mean “enthusiasm,” not “the world’s greatest editor.”
Member variables are the new global variables.
Posted by svec on November 25, 2006
0 comments
I read that (reworded slightly) here.
Smart Bear Software – Peer Code Review Book
Posted by svec on October 27, 2006
0 comments
A while back I promised to read and review Smart Bear Software’s book “Best Kept Secrets of Peer Code Review” – I read the book right away, but haven’t yet made the time to actually write up a review – so let me give a brief review now: I like it. The book is easy [...]
Hot Wasabi, Hot Jobs
Posted by svec on September 14, 2006
2 comments
Conspiracy theory: Joel posted his Language Wars and Wasabi posts on September 1, 2006. He announced the new Joel on Software Jobs Board on September 5, 2006. Hmm… Joel knew that his Language Wars and Wasabi posts would get a lot of attention, and perhaps some of that attention would last long enough to get [...]
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