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Blog Archive 2005-December 2005-November 2005-October 2005-September 2005-August 2005-July 2005-June

Tue, 16 Aug 2005

I'm speaking at No Fluff Just Stuff!

I've been corresponding with Jay Zimmerman about the NFJS tour and it looks like I'll get a shot at speaking at two events! I'll be a trial speaker in Reston, Virginia October 28th-30th and in Charlotte, NC November 4th-6th. If people like me I'll get to come back again. I'm very pleased to have the opportunity and being in the same event as people like Dave Thomas... well, hopefully I won't bring the average down too far! ;)

I'll be talking about (big surprise!) the three major sections of Ship It!. Each of the major sections in the poster of Key Practices will be a session. Techniqes, Infrastructure and Techniques.

Here are the short version of each session. If you look over them and see room for improvement, please let me know! ;) I'll take all the help I can get. (grin).

Software Tools That Make Life Easier

• Do you spend more time fighting your tools than writing code?
• Do you avoid merging your code with your teammates because of “Integration Hell”?
• Do the same bugs keep sneaking back into your product?
• Do your builds depend on the roll of the dice?

A good set of infrastructure tools can go a long way toward smoothing out these and other problems. Come see how to make your toolset work seamlessly in the background so you can Just Work. We'll cover source code management (SCM), build scripts, automated test harnesses, automatic builds, feature tracking and issue tracking.

As part of the session, I intend to install Subversion, create a project, and then add code for the SCM section ... just to obliterate the "it takes too much time to set up and use" argument. For build scripts, we'll add an Ant script. Let's throw in a few JUnits to demonstrate test automation, and then I'll put it all together in CruiseControl. The live demo will include breaking the build, then breaking the JUnit test, and then finally fixing it and seeing it all work.

Software Development Techniques

Throughout our software careers we learn habits from our coworkers, from books we've read, and occasionally, from conferences we attend. Much of our competence comes from the tips and tricks we pick up as we go. In this session, learn five of the techniques I've borrowed along the way. We'll discuss The List, code reviews, code change notifications, daily meetings, and tech leads. These techniques are often abused, but when used properly they can make a huge difference in how you develop software. Take this opportunity to add these practices to your toolkit.

Pragmatic Tracer Bullets

Are your product designs hit or miss? Do you have trouble building a loosely coupled system? Is your code incestuous? Refactoring not an option with your code base? Tracer Bullets help keep your project out of the fire. Tracer Bullet Development:

• helps you create great software
• lends itself to an iterative cycle
• can be used for demos early and often
• is easily refactored
• allows your teams to work in parallel
• makes a very testable system

Tracer Bullets can coexist with nearly any other development methodology. In this session we'll write some basic Tracer Bullets in Java. Come see how easy it is!

Have fun!

Jared

posted at: 20:51 | path: | permanent link to this entry

Ergo tip of the day

I've had problems with my upper back and shoulder area for years. I've had a gradually worsening problem with a muscle that cramps or seizes. The muscular lockups have been at times spread into the shoulder, the other side of my back, etc. I've been in physical therapy, on various meds, ergo chairs, keyboards, workstations, track balls, etc, all to no effect. Various treatments could decrease the problem but not eliminate it.

I think I've finally found the problem and it's so annoyingly simple... I've turned down my mouse acceleration. I've slowed down my mouse speed. I'm one of those people who have their mouse accelleration turned all the way up. The only thing that moved was my wrist... the rest of my arm and shoulder stayed locked in position. Over time, this becomes a Really Bad Thing.

The earliest I can recall having this problem was before my oldest daughter was born and she just turned seven. I think this has been going on for nearly a decade now. In that time I've seen doctors, PTs, chiropractors, massage therapists, and ergonomic specialists.

Now, instead of keeping my shoulder locked in position, I have to move the mouse to one side of my desk, then pick it up and move it back to the other side and move it a bit more to get the cursor from one side of the screen to the other. And at home I've got dual monitors, so I have to move even more. This constant exercise seems to be just what I needed! And it really hasn't slowed me down on the computer.

And yes, I've tried the left handed track ball as well, but it did no good. I suspect the exercise of picking up the mouse and moving it left and right is playing a major role. :) Isn't this sad?

I'm sharing this in hopes it will help someone else out. High mouse speeds are great in video games (UT anyone?) and they make you slightly more productive, but over time it can cause real problems.

Jared

posted at: 20:21 | path: | permanent link to this entry