The Whole Story

I read an article recently on The Inquirer which discusses why software developers should stop writing code from scratch, and start learning to be ‘agile’ and recycle existing code.

“Apparently the keys to unlocking the “agility paradox” are architecture, a focus on software process and engineering, and recycling” - Nick Farrell, The Inquirer

Sure, programmers are definately not going to loose their jobs based on opinions in this article, they will still need to be there to assemble a variety of packages to implement greater functionality in whichever software project they are working on. As a programmer myself (BCompSc, final year), I have noticed that over the years, especially with the introduction of the .NET framework by Microsoft, that work is being done to cut down the workload of a programmer by the amount of ‘fresh code’ they need to come up with to make a program functional.

The idea of reusing or recycling code has been around for quite some time, probably ever since modern programming languages have been around. A programmer could write a new class() which provided ‘x’ functionality, and could keep reusing that class wherever and whenever he needed that same functionality over again, whether it be in the same or different projects.

My main languages I code in are C/C++, JAVA and VB.NET (.NET framework, I should probably learn Visual C# or something too hehe). Whenever I switch between these various languages to program in the .NET environment, you can really notice a big different in the amount of code you need to write to achieve a similar result as you would get if you wrote the same program in C++ for example. Microsoft’s .NET framework includes a vast amount of ‘pre-defined’ code if you will, objects that can be reused to save time.

I noticed this when the .NET framework v2.0 was released, and started using Visual Studio.NET 2005, we programmers had access to a bevy of new and interesting functionality at our fingertips. No new code needed to be written as we could simply recycle objects and code from which had already been writen and provided to us by .NET. One new object which stands out in my head is the Web Browser object which provides web browsing functionality to an application with basically no extra code required.

I also remember a week ago I think, I read an article online somewhere (forgot exactly where) which discussed how programmers spend their time predominantly whilst they are programming. Either writing code, modifying existing code or understanding code written by other developers. The biggest chunk of time amongst many programmers (~60% est.) was when they were sitting there, reading and understanding other’s code, then (~30% est.) modifying existing code and finally on average (~10% est.) of programmers would actually be writing new code.

Don’t take this data I just spewed out at you as accurate, but based on these estimates, you can see that many programmers don’t write new code these days as it is, so have these guys at ‘The Inquirer’ totally lost it in this recent article, saying that programmers “need to stop writing code”?

At Gartner’s Application Development Summit event recently, Matt Hoyle (Gartner Analyst) gave a keynote speech saying, “The future of application development is not about programmer productivity,”…”but in assembling functionality from components.”

I Think this couldn’t be more true, especially with everything I just talked about earlier about reusable objects in the .NET framework for example.

Programmers shouldn’t stop writing code altogether, but the future of Rapid Application Development (RAD) is definately to assemble functionality from existing componments. Who knows, maybe in 20 years time, Software Architect maybe a better term for a programmer. We shall see.

Just a quick post, but I thought I’d let others out there know that operate a blog at wordpress.com, that you can now embed your favourite podcast via Odeo into a written post on your blog. The kind folks here at WordPress.com have given us bloggers a brand new feature which creates a small little Odeo Podcast player on a post we’ve written.

To use this new feature, all you have to do is:

1. Find your favourite podcasts ‘audio player page’ and grab the URL from the address bar. It should look like: http://odeo.com/audio/1968091/view

2. Write out this URL in your blog post like this:

3. Thats it! An audio player will appear in your blog, simple as that.

This is really cool. I figured i’d get in on the action and post one of my favourite podcasts, diggnation.

The related update post ‘Odeo Support‘ that Matt here at WordPress wrote can be checked out here. Thanks again to the busy guys at WordPress for making life for us bloggers that much easier.

These days it seems as though everybody is a computer security expert, or needs to be anyway. Picking a good strong password is always a challenge, and there are many online services that will generate you a very strong password with letters, numbers, misc characters ($%*&#@!), etc, but did you know Windows XP has a built-in password generator of its own?

The folks over at Microsoft didn’t really make this feature very obvious to find, namely as it is more of a computer administrator tool than for something a ‘regular joe’ would need, but I don’t understand why. Something like this would be very useful, especially if you share a single PC, or have a number of computers on a network which contain sensitive data, or with the potential for its security to be breached.

So, how do you find and use it? Simple:

• Go to Run on the Start menu and type ‘cmd’ (without the quotes)
• A DOS (’esque) command prompt window will open.
• At the command prompt type ‘net user administrator /random’ (without the quotes)

Based upon Windows XP’s on security rules, it will generate you a fairly solid password for you to use, that will at least be harder to crack than an egg on a sunday morning!

Enjoy!

I came across this joke somewhere on the net and just had to post it here for you to read, its quite obvious, but funny nonetheless. Enjoy!

Two elderly women were driving around town in a large car. Neither could barely see over the dashboard.

As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went on through.

The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself “I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light.”

After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection and the light was red again. Again, they went right through.

The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous.

At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was red and they went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, “Mildred, do you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!”

Mildred turned to her and said, “Oh shit—am I driving?”

I was going about my daily online business when I stumbled across a blog called Time and Again. I loved it so much, I just had to share it here with all my readers. Credit goes out to her for picking this one up!

You see a fabulous girl/guy at a party. You approach them and say, “I’m fantastic in bed.”That’s Direct Marketing.

You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a fabulous girl/guy. You have one of your friends approach them, point at you and say, “She’s/He’s fantastic in bed.”

That’s Advertising.

You see a fabulous girl/guy at a party. You approach them to get their telephone number. The next day you call and say, “Hi, I’m fantastic in bed.”

That’s Telemarketing.

You’re at a party and see a fabulous girl/guy. You get up, straighten your clothes, walk up and pour them a drink. You open the door, pick up their bag after it drops, offer them a ride, and then say, “By the way, I’m fantastic in bed.”

That’s Public Relations.

You’re at a party and see a fabulous girl/guy. They walk up to you and say, “I hear you’re fantastic in bed.”

That’s Brand Recognition.

Lol funny huh! I remember jokes like these a few years ago when I was in high school. Great stuff!

Are you a serious simpson’s fan who just can’t get enough? Can’t be bothered waiting for every season to come out on DVD? Well folks, I think I may have your answer…try streaming EVERY episode to your computer FOR FREE!

There is a website I just stumbled across called AllSimps - All the Simpson’s you need and they have every episode of every season freely avaliable for direct streaming across the Internet. They make it possible to do this becuase they are in no way distributing the content illegally by providing download links, just merely allowing them to be viewed online whilst retaining ownership.

Finding the episode you wanna watch is really simple. Just choose the season (1-1 you wann watch, and pick your episode and watch it stream directly to your computer. I always find myself around friends residing simpson’s quotes which (us anyway) just think are absolutely hilarious. If you are just like me, I always like to remember which episode some of these killer quotes came from so I can go back and look around for others, or just to hear them once more.

So, if you are a huge simpsons fan, or casual watcher you cannot go past this new site (link above), becuase it truely is All the Simpson’s you’ll ever need!

OMG! I absolutely have to watch this. For any Office fan, the arrival of the first episode from the new 3rd season is definately a huge momentous occasion. All our questions will (hopefully) finally be answered, Jim and Pam’s story will have just begun and a whole new season of hillarious office drama to watch.

Follower’s of my blog may remember a post on the office I wrote a few months back now (”The Office back for season 3“); I discussed a few possibilities as to what might happen this season between Jim and Pam. It was hinted in the season 2 finale’ that they ‘might’ get together, but not exactly definate and we were left with a cliffhanger.

So can’t wait to watch this episode, in about 20mins i’ll have it downloaded to watch at my pleasure. God bless the office, what would we all do without it?

How many of you guys use applications such as Limewire, BearShare, etc to download music share legitimate files between anyone who wants it your friends and family online? Well, there is apparently an easier way to find stuff you like, all from the comfort of our favourite search engine Google.

In the search box, simply type:

“band” last modified mp3 “index of” -html -htm -php -asp

Where you replace the “band” with the band or artist you are looking for. Now ladies and gentlemen, I in no way promote or endorse illegal downloading of music or anything for that matter, just thought this was really interesting and can be used for other purposes also.

Instead of looking for files of type mp3, you could do a search for .avi files, or .mid’s or .zip files too. Here are some sample search strings looking for different file types:

“searchTerm” last modified avi “index of” -html -htm -php -asp

“searchTerm” last modified mid “index of” -html -htm -php -asp

“searchTerm” last modified zip “index of” -html -htm -php -asp

Simple as that, cool huh.

Wii Price & Release Date Details:

 Nintendo fans worldwide finally have something to hang on the millions of playstation fanboys…Nintendo fans beloved next gen console will be hitting stores in North & South America Novemeber 19th with the rest of the world (including Australia & New Zealand) getting the Wii in stores BEFORE the christmas holidays. The console will retail for USD$250 and will (apparently) be shipping with the following items in 1 pack (no basic and platinum packs here xbox fans):

• Nintendo Wii Console
• 1x Wii remote
• 1x Wii nunchuck attachement
• AC Adapter
• A/V cables
• 1x sensor bar (what this is exactly im still not sure, Roberto…help me out with that one!)
• 1 x sensor bar stand
• Wii console stand
• 2x batteries

The US package of the Nintendo Wii will also include a copy of Wii Sports which is a compilation of sports games designed specifically with the wii in mind such as basketball, baseball and tennis all controllable with the new wii remote.

Right as of this moment, im not 100% sure if all us in here in Australia will be getting the same (or similar) deal with Wii Sports, but its looking pretty promising I would imagine.

Wii Virtual Console Download Service:

When the Nintendo Wii launches, it is expected that there will be 30 games from a range of consoles avaliable for download off this service online including games from the Zelda, Mario & Donkey Kong franchises, along with a wide assortment of games from the NES, SNES & N64 consoles which shall be fun. The only downside that i’ve seen is that the cost of each download of a game from this service seems pretty hefty. Virtual console games will cost anywhere between $5 and $10 dollars to download…obvioulsy being cheaper to download games from the NES console than the Nintendo 64.

I so can’t wait until the Nintendo Wii arrives on Australian shores by the year’s end. I will definately be picking 1 up before the year is through and a copy of Zelda: Twighlight Princess for starters amongst many others. Just the whole idea of their new controller is so interesting and different, plus the awesome price point will no doubt lure otherwise uninterested non-nintendo fans to perhaps go out and grab one, cant wait!

Today, you and I use email on a daily basis. It’s quick, easy, fast and most often reliable, but has the art of effective emailing been lost? Is it just another mundane chore we do online along with our instant messaging and RSS feeds?

I asked myself these questions as I’ve been using email much more frequently in recent times, whether it be communicating with my university lecturers or keeping in touch with old friends living abroad.

E-mail is a great way to quickly get a message off to whoever you need to write to, and is alot faster than tradition paper-based mail, but is it just as personal than a hand written letter? I guess it could be if you really tried. A written message of love sent to a girlfriend for example is still a written message of love is it not? Regardless of the medium in which something is written, every writer has the ability to add that ‘personal touch’ to their document/letter/communicae, correspondence, etc in whichever situation may deem appropriate.

These days, email can be send with all kinds of things that we ‘used’ to use when writing hand written documents or letters such as the use of stationary, signatures (electronic signatures), attachments, pictures and graphics and even things that we never really could attach to our writing before such as audio and video.

Many people i’ve heard saying that email is great, but it doesn’t have that personal touch you get with writing good old traditional letters, and I’ll agree with these people up to a certain point. I know that if you are trying to be romantic, a beautifully hand written letter will kill an email hands down, but for more business oriented or ‘quick message’ situations, email is great and should be used as much as possible.

When was the last time any of you out there hand wrote a letter to somebody? A friend, family member, significant other…the list could go on i know. I can’t remember the last time i actually sat down and wrote a letter to somebody for anything really, email is definately the way to go I think. Its just sitting there waiting for you to send something off. You don’t have to leave your house to post the letter, its just a matter of sitting at your computer, write whatever the hell you want to say and send it.

Here’s an open question for anybody to respond to: Which do you prefer, hand written letters or e-mail? It would be interesting to see i think.