This is the Joel Spolsky article with the good old Shlemiel the painter’s algorithm: Back to Basics.
Category Archives: Programming
Technical Writing Courses
Today I discovered: Technical Writing Courses via Docs for Developers.
Formally Modeling Database Migrations
This is great: Formally Modeling Database Migrations. I need more formal methods in my life.
REST API doco
Some tools for API documentation: Say Goodbye to Manual Documentation with these 6 tools.
WinBox.js
Via r/programming today, this is great: WinBox.js.
Intelligent brute forcing
Via r/programming today: Intelligent brute forcing.
Speed matters
Today via r/programming: Speed matters. My favourite quote was from the end:
I like being able to make more things. I like being able to take on more ambitious projects. I like being good at what I do, and I like trying to get better.
Smart CSS Solutions For Common UI Challenges
This via r/programming today: Smart CSS Solutions For Common UI Challenges.
Specific vs general
So over on The Configuration Complexity Clock the author says “at a certain level of complexity, hard-coding a solution may be the least evil option.” Programmers disparagingly call it “hard-coding” but I call it “specific”. Write specific applications! Generalisations aren’t useful until you have specific uses of them.
20 Things Learned in 20 Years as a Software Engineer
Today I happened upon: 20 Things I’ve Learned in my 20 Years as a Software Engineer. Of the 20 points my favourites were: “6. Sometimes you have to stop sharpening the saw, and just start cutting shit” and “8. Every system eventually sucks, get over it”.