I watched a YouTube video about how to play the guitar part for 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon. It’s an excellent video, that breaks things into manageable chunks that gradually build into the full thing. The video reminded me of diminished chords, and sliding them up and down a guitar, which … Continue reading Visualising music
Using tools in interesting ways (tool hacking)
This article is my response to the Ministry of Testing’s blogging challenge: How we hacked a tool to make it work for us. First, I’ll go into tools in general a bit, and then give two examples of how I have used tools in slightly non-standard ways. I've written a bit about tools already, but … Continue reading Using tools in interesting ways (tool hacking)
The coolest thing in technology?
I listen to the podcast Data Driven. One of the questions that they ask all their guests is: What do you think is the coolest thing in technology? This article is my answer to that. The short version is: standards, and the benefits they bring to users. The longer version is below. Standards might seem … Continue reading The coolest thing in technology?
Good software and how to get it
A little while ago, I was asked “What makes software good?”, which was followed up by “How do you end up with good software?”. I thought that they were excellent questions, and I will give my answers below. I don't claim to have the answer, just an answer. I’ll try to limit esprit d’escalier / … Continue reading Good software and how to get it
Different ways people add value in a software development team
There was a tweet about how tech companies measure people by the impact they make. I replied in the common terse Twitter way, and I want to expand on that here. I think that there are few different ways in which someone can add value in a software development team, and they're not all equally … Continue reading Different ways people add value in a software development team
Brains, tools, chess and programming
Seeing how unimportant the chess board and pieces seemed to Beth Harmon in the TV series The Queen’s Gambit, and a recent Software Engineering Radio podcast on The Programmer’s Brain made me think about how programmers work. How much of it is using tools out in the real world, and how much goes on inside … Continue reading Brains, tools, chess and programming
CI/CD pipelines are software artefacts
Someone asked a question on the Ministry of Testing forum about CI/CD pipelines, and I realised my answer was a blog post (an extended waffle, that others might find useful). The question was from someone just starting with CI/CD, and they asked more experienced people: What do you wish you knew when you started, and … Continue reading CI/CD pipelines are software artefacts
Confusing user value with other things
Programmers look at software they’re working on from the inside, but users look at it from the outside. This difference in perspective can lead to different views about what’s important – too often programmers can be consumed by the technical detail and lose sight of value to the end user. In fact, they too often … Continue reading Confusing user value with other things
Trends in UK Coronavirus cases, hospitalisations and deaths
A friend asked a question to do with Coronavirus that I couldn’t answer but I thought I should. So I got some data, did some calculations on it, and then worked out how to display it. The question was: how bad were hospitalisations and deaths from Coronavirus (in the UK) when the daily reported Coronavirus … Continue reading Trends in UK Coronavirus cases, hospitalisations and deaths
Senior software engineers, power and freedom
This is a follow-up article to my recent article on Senior Software Engineers. The reason why I’m doing a follow-up so soon is because some interesting and useful points came up in a Twitter conversation about it, and I want to capture and build on those. The points concern different ways of looking at power … Continue reading Senior software engineers, power and freedom
