In Part 1, I suggested a fairly simple approach to interviewing developers: prepare properly, make the process clear, and let candidates discuss code they understand. Then explore the decisions behind it. I'm now researching how parts of that process could be…
"We're building an AI-powered knowledge assistant that will revolutionise how our employees access information..." Every job advert, pitch deck, and consultancy proposal in 2024-2025 Introduction I've spent the past month or so properly immersing myself in the…
Why treating your branch as a sandbox—and play as legitimate work—produces better software with less stress. Hot take: Most developers are trying to be perfect at every stage of development, and it's killing both their creativity and their productivity. Here's…
Why I write tests last, and why that's not what you think it means Controversial take: Test-Driven Development is a brilliant practice that solves the wrong problem for most creative work. Here's what works better. The Three Phases of Building Software (That…
Over the years I've read / written hundreds of feature specifications. Some were brilliant; most were bloody awful. The difference between a good spec and a bad one isn't about length or formality; it's about whether it actually helps developers build the…
Another of my fairly simple functions (actually written by a colleague of mine, Jonny Anderson) - this time just a simple way to validate a Guid - in this implementation you pass in a Guid as an 'out' parameter along with the string you want to test - it then…
If you have an office like this in Scotland - I WILL come and work for you...I've said it before, but would you really want to bet against Joel Spolsky for anything - I mean, this guy has some of the best ideas on the planet...Microsoft, how did you let this…
Linked to the other 3, here's part 4 , very interesting stuff about Virtual methods in C# This is really interesting stuff (well, I think it is!)...here's a section on 'contracts' and virtual methods...the Java bit is SO true! Bill Venners: What do you mean by…
Okay, I realise that probably everyone and his / her mother knows this already, but if you want to log ALL errors in an ASP.NET application, the simplest way I've found to do it is in the Global.asax.cs (or whatever codebehind)...simply do this: protected void…
Cool new Blog - http://xplsv.com/blogs/devdiary/ by David Notario