It has been more than a year since I wrote my first article about awesome computing power of the Sony PlayStation 3; and almost as long since it was released for sale. I’m more than happy to discover that I was not the only one to recognize the punch packed by this little gem. Gaming machines have pushed technological boundaries for years, but I don’t believe any have done so to the extent of the PS3.
Like many veteran software developers, I am sold on the value of defensive programming. It seems that no matter how thorough the requirements, nor how good the design, things can go wrong; and I’d like my code to be able to handle it. So imagine my surprise when no less than a DER provided me with a perfectly valid and well-reasoned argument to discard defensive programming techniques altogether.
I just finished reading the “Best Kept Secrets of Peer Code Review (Modern Approach. Practical Advice.)“, by Jason Cohen. While this book is available from resellers at Amazon.com, for the time being it is being offered free of charge from Smart Bear Software, a software tool company founded by the book’s author. Continue reading “Best Kept Secrets of Peer Code Review – A Book Review” »
An article was brought to my attention recently. It contains an interview with Bjarne Stroustrop, of C++ fame, discussing the language to which he gave life. Aside from a few technical non sequiturs, such as referring to C++ as “the archetypal ‘high level’ computer language (that is, one that preserves the features of natural, human language)”, I found the article rather entertaining.
In 1968, Edsger Dijkstra published the paper that put him on the map permanently in the minds of most of the software development community. While he made a number of very important contributions to computer science during his lifetime; I believe that “Go To Statement Considered Harmful” has spawned what has become perhaps the most enduring and pervasive religion in the annals of computing history. In my two-plus decades in the industry, I’ve seen only one coding standard which did not entirely prohibit the presence of the goto statement; and even that one that allowed it in one limited circumstance.
I wanted to express my thanks to Todd, over at FAAConsultants.com. He placed this site on his resource page, and we’re beginning to see some referred traffic as a result.
Continue reading “FAAConsultants.com: Compliance Made Simpler” »
