September 18, 2009 – 09:57
Last week I attended JavaZone 2009, where I was allowed to give a presentation on using the script engine interfaces defined in JSR 223 (Scripting for the Java Platform) to easily add scripting capabilities to Java applications.
For those of you who have no idea what that means, here’s the abstract:
By combining the power of [...]
A question that often comes up when people start using Scrum for the first time is how to deal with bugs. One approach is to convert them into user stories and add them to the product backlog. This way the bug can be prioritized, estimated and planned like any other requirement, feature or change request.
An [...]
After having Windows XP crash on me in an infinite loop of blue screens last week (I was running it with unsupported and outdated drivers, so I guess I had it coming), I had to spend the weekend installing Windows Vista and reinstalling all my basic software for everyday use. In order to remember what [...]
February 12, 2009 – 23:47
From time to time people ask me to help them write a résumé for a job application or review their CV. I have also noticed the topic popping up elsewhere, so I decided to write down some of my general advice and recommendations for everyone to see (and discuss). These guidelines are intended for programmers, [...]
If you have ever implemented “real-world” application logic in an uncommon or less advanced programming languages, you may have had to deal with the fact that features you take for granted in other languages are not available. When I encounter such obstacles I am often fascinated by the challenge of trying to add the missing [...]
September 3, 2008 – 18:16
Last week I read about Jeff Atwood having some database problems on his new site. Being a popular blogger, he soon had hundreds of comments, most of them telling him how elementary his problem was and how disappointed people were that someone of his skill and reputation did not know how to solve such a [...]
Browsing through programming blogs at wordpress.com I noticed an interesting post (inspired by a similar post at toxicsoftware.com) asking people how they got started programming. It turned out this has been going on for a while, with various people answering and passing the questions on to new people, and so on. Even if nobody actually [...]
I recently read an interesting blog post asking “what’s the most fun you’ve ever had… programming?” After thinking about it for a while, I realized I wasn’t able to answer. Not because I don’t have fun programming, but because I have so much fun programming, I can’t easily single out one project as the one [...]
Source code version control systems have been around for decades, but sometimes I suspect people are using them just because everybody else is, or because their manager told them to do so, or because it’s company policy. Although most people will agree that using version control is a prerequisite for any serious software project, many [...]
As a programmer I spend a significant amount of my time punching keys on a keyboard while writing code, and even documentation. Over the years I have also accumulated a wide variety of shortcut key combinations that I use for everyday tasks. Because of this, a keyboard’s layout and physical design is very important to [...]
