Flexibility in software design is often seen as a good thing, but it can come at a cost. This isn’t surprising, because software engineering is a kind of engineering, and engineering involves making trade-offs among several good things. For instance, there is no “best” car, just the best car for a given situation, with a … Continue reading The cost of flexibility
CV tips
A friend recently asked for some advice in writing her CV (résumé) and suggested I turn what I told her into a blog post, so here it is. I don't claim to be an expert in CV writing; these are just the ramblings of some random bloke on the internet. I hope you find them … Continue reading CV tips
Senior software engineers, authority and ability
Some Senior Software Engineers feel they must win every argument, which I think is a bad idea. Not only is this bad for the team, it’s bad for the Senior Software Engineer as an individual. In this article I’ll explore this a bit, with the analogy of Top Trumps. It’s also related to the strong … Continue reading Senior software engineers, authority and ability
A prayer before going online
Are you always your best self when you’re online or otherwise using your computer / tablet / phone? No, I'm not either. Given how much of life is moderated by a screen, and how imperfect a window to the world that screen can be, is it any wonder? This imperfect window hides from us important … Continue reading A prayer before going online
Influences on me as a programmer
In this article I will talk about two things that have influenced how I approach my craft, which is programming. They appear to be contradictory, but I think I can live with both at once. This is an area where everyone has to work things out for themselves. I’m not trying to preach; just talk … Continue reading Influences on me as a programmer
Regression to the mean
In this article I’ll try to explain the statistics term regression to the mean. I’ll describe what it is, why it happens, and what consequences there are for important things like developing medicine, training and education. What is regression to the mean? Imagine there is a group of students taking a test, where the range … Continue reading Regression to the mean
Measurements that matter?
I talk about data a bit here, but this is a bit different from what I normally write. I was opening the packet inside a box of cereal and wondered how many times I'd done that over my life. These thoughts started rattling around my head, so I've put them down here partly to get … Continue reading Measurements that matter?
Visualising wealth inequality using Lorenz curves
In this article I will do some analysis and visualisation of data on wealth inequality. The data is, slightly randomly, a combination of historical data from three towns in Suffolk from 1522, and the most recent data about Great Britain. I’ll go through the data a little, the analysis, the visualisations, and why I think … Continue reading Visualising wealth inequality using Lorenz curves
The Struggle with Learning to Code
This post is, belatedly, inspired by the Ministry of Testing blog idea: The Struggle with Learning to Code. I have a Computer Science degree, and have been programming for a while. (I started doing it as a hobby, and then studied it, and then got paid to do it.) I struggle with learning to code, … Continue reading The Struggle with Learning to Code
Looking for copyright music in live streams
My friend Ted has recently started exercising in earnest, to get fighting fit for when he can go back into schools, museums etc. to blow children's minds about creative writing. While he exercises, he plays music from CDs to motivate him and he live streams it to Facebook for accountability. Sometimes the live stream is … Continue reading Looking for copyright music in live streams
