Inventing on Principle
I just finished watching an excellent talk by Bret Victor on Inventing on Principle. The talk inspires you to find your guiding principle through a process of defining your identity using experience and having insight into a particular problem. His personal guiding principle is that creators need an immediate connection, viz., any changes that the creator makes should have instantaneous feedback.
Interestingly, he says that one’s identity is not defined by craft but by the guiding principle that you uphold. He uses Larry Tesler as an example whose guiding principle is “No person should be trapped in a mode” and Richard Stallman whose guiding principle is “Software must be free”, among others. I urge you to take the time, watch this video and find your guiding principle.
Bret Victor – Inventing on Principle from CUSEC on Vimeo.
Programming Titles : 2011
This site is called Third Shelf and so I thought it befitting to list some of my favourite programming books. By the way, they are actually on my first shelf.
When buying programming books, there are a few considerations. Do you need them at work and home? What about when you are travelling? They tend to get heavy. For this reason, I decided to buy a Kindle. Well, that was a nice idea. It is comfortable and has the same weight no matter how many books you load on it. Great for travelling. Well, that only lasted for a short while until I had to read source code which is justified by the Kindle. It’s just ugly. Diagrams are not great and tend to be small and not very readable. I decided that I will only buy them in paper form. Some publishers will let you have the e-book for free when you purchase the paper version.
Most of these books are applicable to object-oriented programming, while others are simply timeless practices that are bound to stick for a long time. This is not a definitive list but merely what influenced my thoughts, concepts and styles.
- Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
- Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
- Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software
- Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction
- The Design of Everyday Things
- The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master
- Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
Jenkins and Git
The road split for Hudson and Jenkins. It happens.
Getting the source code…
I don’t have Cygwin or MSysGit installed on the server for my own perverse reasons. In order for Jenkins to get hold of the source code from a git repository is usually straight forward. Well, now comes the time to get the source code from git. I can clone repository into a local directory using GitSharp. GitSharp is the .net version of git and very cool, but not quite finished yet. The alternative is a Java application called JGit. GitSharp, by the way, is a derived work of JGit.
Setting up Jenkins…
Download the shell script of JGit which, by the way, is a self-contained command line executable. With that, I am able to test the cloning of a repository into a new folder with the following command line:
C:\JGit>java -cp org.eclipse.jgit.pgm-0.10.1.sh org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.Main clone
http://dev/git/myproject.git c:\projects\myproject
After executing the above command line, I have the source files in the c:\projects\myproject directory. To use this in Jenkins, I need to make use of the batch command execution since the git plugin makes use of git.exe and all the other things I didn't setup.
After running a build, I have the following console output in Jenkins and the source code in the build factory directory:Started by user anonymous [MyProject] $ cmd /c call C:\Windows\TEMP\hudson12048252217381411.bat d:\builds\factory\MyProject>"C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\java.exe" -cp c:\jgit\org.eclipse.jgit.pgm-0.10.1.sh org.eclipse.jgit.pgm.Main clone http://dev/git/myproject.git d:\Builds\Factory\MyProject Initialized empty Git repository in d:\Builds\Factory\MyProject\.git remote: Counting objects: 342, done From {0} * [new branch] master -> origin/master d:\builds\factory\MyProject>exit 0 Finished: SUCCESS
by Sydney du Plooy
Git and Hudson Brothers
For a while now, I’ve been thinking about creating a source control and build server for a couple of projects that I’m working on. I’ll admit, I moonlight. Anyway, a great analysis ensued. Starting with the OS; what will it be, what does it need to be? Considering that I’m building .NET projects and they’re Windows based; well that kind of settles that. Next up, which source control system? Oh boy, this took a while…
Source Control
Since everyone, OK, almost everyone, raves about Git, I suppose I’ll have to succumb. But, this is where the fun starts. I want Git, I want Windows. Pushing, cloning and so on is what really I want. What a painful story… This requires the installation of MSysGit or Cygwin and some SSH server, blah blah, whatever. It was simply too much.
I decided to run VisualSVN on the server and then use git-svn to bridge that little dilemma. Well, that kinda sucked. After formatting and configuring and formatting and configuring, I finally found this post by Jeremy Skinner. It explains how to setup Git on Windows using IIS 7.0, without any other fancy installations and configurations. He calls it git-dot-aspx (GitAspx). To my surprise, this worked elegantly, the first time. Push, pull and clone without any issues. Great.
Continuous Integration
What a mental battle this turned out to be! What should I use, what do I need to use? There is from CruiseControl.NET to Hudson. A colleague mentioned Hudson and, being quite popular, I decided to investigate. This turned out to be a fantastic piece of software. It is a Java application, but I decided that it is well worth it. One click and it installs as a Windows service. One command line and it uninstalls cleanly. Unbelievable! Such a polished product. Also, it has many plugins from MsBuild to Git to Twitter. Talk about pressure, having your build status published to Twitter!
For a good Windows alternative, these two products turned out to be highly effective and user friendly.
Programming pragmatically
Don’t program if… you have not yet read The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master by Andy Hunt and David Thomas. I never understood what all the fuss was about and here I am making a fuss about it.
pragmatic 1540s, from M.Fr. pragmatique , from L. pragmaticus ”skilled in business or law,” from Gk. pragmatikos ”versed in business,” from pragma (gen. pragmatos ) “civil business, deed, act,” from prassein ”to do, act, perform.” (1)
Pragmatic programmer
So, what makes a pragmatic programmer? A pragmatic programmer is someone who exhibits certain attitudes and practices when thinking, writing, testing and deploying software. This includes being an early adopter or fast adapter, being inquisitive and thinking critically. It also means being realistic and being anything-ready. And to be anything -ready one must learn continuously.
One of the major philosophies is to always place the problem and the solution in a larger context. This means to always think beyond the immediate problem and see the bigger picture. Why? Simply, so that you can make informed decisions such as deciding where to comprise and where to apply the Pareto principle.
A pragmatic programmer takes responsibility for everything they do. They don’t just sit there and watch the code rot. A pragmatic programmer will always endeavor to keep the code pristine.
Instigating change is another important skill that a pragmatic programmer must learn to apply. People are naturally opposed to change and in order to be a pragmatic in a software project, it is sometimes necessary to break the “we have always done it like this” mentality.
Skills and Tools
Using the appropriate tools is one of the best ways to amplify your productivity. Try various tools and pick the ones that work for you. Then, learn them extremely well. Mold them to the shape of your hand. Consider the following categories of tools:
- Source control
- Text manipulation
- Debugging
Another important tool is to be able to touch type. This is a worthwhile skill to learn, so be prepared to put in a lot of time.
Life as a pragmatic programmer
Being a pragmatic programmer does not make you write perfect programs. Accept it. Things will go wrong and when they do, we should ensure that the data always remain consistent. As the book says “dead programs tell no lies” and sometimes it is best to just simply kill it.
As long as there are people, software will change, continuously. That’s life. Pragmatic programmers guard themselves against the impact of these changes by observing the Law of Demeter (it’s not a dot counting exercise) and decoupling dependencies. Keep separate concepts separate.
Coding is not just a matter of transcribing requirements into source code. It is a continuous process of making decisions. Decisions that will either pave your way or cause you grief later on. The choice is yours. Think critically about every line of code and remember to refactor continuously. Test, test and test some more.
While building software, there are two important principles that a pragmatic programmer always observes. These are avoiding duplication at all costs and avoid splitting a piece of knowledge across multiple components. Failing to observe these two principles will invariably bring you headaches in the future as the source code spirals out of control.
This is the way of the pragmatic programmer.
By the way, there are loads of tips in the book that will not only benefit you now, but for as long you write code.
(1) Dictionary.com, “pragmatic,” in Online Etymology Dictionary. Source location: Douglas Harper, Historian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pragmatic. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: June 13, 2010.
Kindle review
I finally took the plunge and purchased the Kindle 6″ Global Wireless edition
Packaging
The packaging was so impressive it is almost worth its own blog post – the attention to detail was outstanding.
For example, how much attention do you pay to bar codes? Well, Amazon didn’t slip on bar code detail. Have a closer look and you’ll see that little man sitting under the tree reading his book…
The next interesting part is the “Certified frustration-free packaging” seal. That seal lives up to the promise. Opening the box is done with a peel-off strip. What a neat way to open the box. Again, Amazon had the detail going – the opening strip read “Once upon a time…”. Mission accomplished: frustration-free packaging.
Cover
I decided to get the well-worth-it leather cover for the additional $31.99. At the bottom right there is a metal branding insert. Nice idea, although, I was a little disappointed with the top right hand corner as the leather wasn’t properly fitted around the plate. The stitching around the edges is very neat and the feel of the cover is luxurious.
Inside, it has a soft padded inner; front and back; that is essential to protect the screen from accidental bumps. Before I bought the cover, I was perplexed about how the device attaches to the cover. Maybe with elastic bands around each corner, I thought?! The website wasn’t too detailed about it and for the price of $31.99 I would expect it to be a decent cover with a proper attachment mechanism. And so it was. The attaching mechanism of the cover just simply blew me away. 
With only two ingenious hinges the cover and the device will have a hard time separating by itself. The bottom hinge slides into the device at an angle and the top hinge slides into the device. It has a spring action and releases when pulled downwards. So, the device attaches by sliding in the bottom hinge at an angle and secured by the top hinge. Ingenious.
Power adapter
B
attery powered devices have this tendency to run down from time to time and needs to be charged every so often. Luckily the Kindle ships with more than one way to get this much needed charge. Firstly, there is charging by USB and secondly, charging by plugging into the mains. The latter is done with an American style two pin plug. Having ordered the global edition, it is a little unusual to find an American style plug in the packaging. With this in mind Amazon realized that this is not quite optimal and included another adapter that converts the American style to an European two pin style plug. Great, I live in South Africa where we have huge three pin plugs. Nothing that another adapter can’t fix. A downside is that the battery is not easily replaced, except by sending it in to Amazon. I suspect that this is by design. Annuity income?
The device
When taking the device out of the packaging, I was surprised that instructions were printed on the screen. How amazing to realize that E-Ink doesn’t consume any power to display static text or images. As can be seen in the photo, a random image is rendered on the display every time it is switched off.
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the display. It renders fonts with a very nice smooth precise anti alias effect. The display can be read from almost any angle. The downside is that it doesn’t have a back light and I hope that it will make an appearance in future editions. Although I can easily justify it by saying “you can’t read a book in the dark, can you?”. Another little annoying thing with the display is the “clearing” effect when paging. With e-ink, the reader first has to black the current page, clear the page and then render the text or image. However, this process is fairly quick on the Kindle and one gets used to the effect quickly.
In South Africa I was also surprised to find the 3G connection worked first time round without any hassles and automatically registered the Kindle at Amazon when the first connection was established.It seems to be making use of the Vodacom network. Using the 3G connection is weighs down on the battery and I would recommend using it only when necessary.
The buttons are perfectly placed on the device – when you are not using the cover. Using the left-hand buttons with the cover on is not user friendly. It is rather silly that the previous page-button is only on the left. Not a problem if you use the device without the cover. The five-way scroll button is perhaps a little on the small side but quite functional. Don’t expect to use the keyboard like an ordinary one. The buttons are tiny. Why is there a keyboard on Kindle?
When reading a book on the Kindle, you’ll be surprised to know that it comes with a dictionary that is automatically invoked when you scroll to a word and hover. Brilliant. You can do manual searches in the dictionary, make annotations on pages. Setting a bookmark on a page makes a little dog-ear shape appear in the top right-hand corner.
Another surprise was the back of the device. It has a very neat brushed metal finish and makes it feel expensive. The serial number is printed at the bottom, in case you are wondering. Beside that the Kindle has built-in text-to-speech functionality which works brilliantly.
Loading your own PDF documents to the Kindle is a cinch. It mounts the same as a flash drive in Windows and books and PDF documents are copied to the documents folder. One thing that I found is that when plugging it into the USB port the device becomes “unusable” until you eject it from Windows. I have tried to eject it to get it usable while plugged in but with no success. Maybe it’s just me?
Being able to load PDF documents (from version 2.3) is great. Not being able to zoom them is not so great. I hope to see a zoom feature added to the PDF documents reader. The display can be rotated but the reader just doesn’t feel right being read in a rotated manner.
Shopping on the Kindle is great experience with custom layouts specially formatted for the Kindle. Beware that the quickest way to being broke is to enable the Buy now with 1-Click facility. It’s ease of use is addictive.
When reading a book the Kindle disappears once you get into the book. It’s a great reading device and at the price of $259 I strongly recommend it.
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