Introduction Some people take the agile manifesto's ... We ... value ... working software over comprehensive documentation the wrong way. They think it means We don't value documentation This is: a) not the same as what the agile manifesto says; b) wrong, even if you act purely from self-interest. There are at least two selfish … Continue reading Writing documentation can be in your own interests
S.E. Radio podcast on latency
I'm still slowly working my way through the back catalogue of the Software Engineering Radio podcast. One episode that I particularly liked is 277: Gil Tene on Tail Latency. It has interesting and useful stuff that helps you see things clearly. For instance: How there's more than one measure of latency (mean, median, 90th centile, … Continue reading S.E. Radio podcast on latency
Three ways to summarise data sets
Introduction This article will talk about three ways to summarise a data set. It should be gentle stuff - two you're likely to know already, and the less-well-known one isn't tricky to understand. I'm talking about them together in one article to show how stats can often mean you need a toolbox with several stats … Continue reading Three ways to summarise data sets
An introduction to Entity Framework
Introduction This is article isn’t a hands-on guide to getting started with Entity Framework (EF). Instead it aims to give you an understanding of what EF is, whether it’s for you, and if so, which of its options apply best to you. In the next article I will do the hands-on stuff, where I walk … Continue reading An introduction to Entity Framework
When is a speech and language interface a poor choice?
Introduction This post is in a series about computers, speech and language: Why are speech and language interfaces useful? What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 1: Overview What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 2: Speech What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 3: Language … Continue reading When is a speech and language interface a poor choice?
What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 3: Language
Introduction This article follows on from a few about computers, speech and language: Why are speech and language interfaces useful? What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 1: Overview What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 2: Speech What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 3: … Continue reading What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 3: Language
What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 2: Speech
Introduction This is the third in a series of articles about using speech and text to interact with computers: Why are speech or language interfaces useful? What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 1: Overview What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 2: Speech What makes speech and language … Continue reading What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 2: Speech
Surgical drapes for programmers
Introduction You’ve probably seen medical dramas on TV where someone is lying on an operating table, and medical staff with gowns and masks are operating on them. You can’t see most of the person because they’re covered in green sheets, which are called surgical drapes. There’s a gap in the sheets big enough for the … Continue reading Surgical drapes for programmers
What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 1: Overview
This article is in a series about computers, speech and language: Why are speech or language interfaces useful? What makes speech or language interfaces hard to create? Part 1: Overview What makes speech or langauge interfaces hard to create? Part 2: Speech What makes speech or language interfaces hard to create? Part 3: Language When … Continue reading What makes speech and language interfaces hard to create? Part 1: Overview
Counting – fence panels or fence posts?
Introduction This is a post about fences, but not in the good fences make good neighbours sense that you might expect. (This could be the way into lots of good things about interfaces, encapsulation and so on.) In this post I'm not interested in the things that the fence is separating, but in the fence … Continue reading Counting – fence panels or fence posts?
Random Tech Thoughts 