Mauritius Blog Tracker » Eddy

The K.I.S.S gear

Eddy — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 20:57:01 +0000

BECAUSE sometimes I want to be in the picture even if there is nobody apart from me who can operate a camera.

Because it runs on normal AA batteries and fits in my jeans pocket.

Also, because the asking price was just £5.

My “new” Fujifilm FinePix A370.

Eddy.

Whine of the week

Eddy — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:04:32 +0000

CAN YOU tell I had a bad week at work?

Hi all,

Having spent most of the last three days doing releases and having to work around issues that shouldn’t happen, I think I’ve earned the right to some moaning.

Here goes, with some rules of thumb that should make all our lives easier.

#0 – Put your changes in source control

If they are not in VSS or TFS and are confined to your machine, they are not completed to anyone but you, regardless of how hard you’ve worked on them. It’s that simple.

#1 – Commit code that works.

Code that is checked in should have been tested and should work. “Tested” means merged with what was already under source control, compiled, and tested.

This involves getting the latest code, merging, compiling, testing, THEN checking in your changes. Manual merge is preferred to automated resolution when conflicts are found. This means, looking at the lines of code that are conflicting, finding out why the conflicts exist (were the lines changed because of some other requirement that was implemented by another developer?) Do not assume that the code coming from the server can be replaced.

#2 – Commit code that works (again)

This goes for stored-procedures and database scripts too.

Don’t be tempted to change scripts directly on the database. It takes time either way, so instead of typing a script directly in SQL Management Studio, check out the corresponding file from source control, make your changes, copy the content to SMS, run the script, and test the changes. If the script fails your tests, go back to the file and make more changes there. Rinse and repeat. Once the script passes the test, check it back in source control if it can go in on its own.

IF THE SCRIPT IS A DEPENDENCY to some code, check them in together. This is to prevent the situation where code comes to rely on database scripts that are not available yet. If the code and script are under different source control databases, for either one add a check-in comment referencing the changeset of the other; that will ease resolution of problems when they arise.

#3 – Do not check in commented code

Code comments are fine, commented code isn’t. Commented code is old and not needed, get rid of it.

If we need the history of a file, we can turn to the source control database.

#4 – Some mistakes are not mistakes

Sometimes it is blatantly obvious that something has not been tested. A typo on a keyword, for example, says a lot about how much, if at all, something has been tested.

#5 – Don’t take shortcuts

Well, sometimes shortcuts are necessary and OK when you know where you’re heading, but always strive to use the full duration that you have estimated for a piece of work. Use time left over for some extra testing or improving the code. If your work overruns, ask for extension with a valid reason, even if just to say that you did not appreciate how much effort was required. When shortcuts work, everyone is happy, but when they fail, you get blamed for them. And NEVER BASE ESTIMATES ON SHORTCUTS

That’s it, folks. Rant over.

Eddy.

Why are you not shooting film yet?

Eddy — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:10:34 +0000

Isn’t it amazing that 1885 technology still rivals today’s all-digital?

I wish more people would join us in film photography.

Eddy.

New Habits

Eddy — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 18:02:15 +0000

BREAKFAST at 7.30. On a Sunday. I must be getting old.

Eddy.

Apparently, I was in Mauritius recently

Eddy — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:28:40 +0000

SO, what do I remember of my criminally-short visit to Mauritius? Not much, but fortunately the important bits are here.

First, the great wedding reception of Stéphane and Lynn on the evening of our arrival; second, five days of rushing from one government building to another in a bid to have our passports renewed in time for us to travel to the UK (yes, we barely just made it back); third, a quick visit to Casela Bird Park; and, last, five consecutive days and nights of eating out.

Somehow, before I had time to fully realise what was happening, I was back on a plane bound for England!

Eddy.

Bangers and mash

Eddy — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:01:59 +0000

WHAT 75 of us had for dinner in a 5-star Marriotts a couple of years ago during a company retreat week-end. Testament to the awesomeness of bangers and mash? Or, a meal unfit for the venue?

Eddy.

Declaring variables inside-versus-outside loops

Eddy — Mon, 10 May 2010 11:39:24 +0000

IN .NET, there is no difference between declaring variables inside loops and declaring variables outside loops. Here is the proof.

Here are two programs inside.cs and outside.cs, appropriately named to reflect the two ways respectively.

And, here is the ILASM obtained by disassembling inside.exe and outside.exe.

As you can see, the two are the same.

So, please leave those variables inside loops when they are not needed outside. Having the variables closer to their point of use makes the code easier to read.

Eddy.

Why so serious?

Eddy — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:21:37 +0000

I STARTED with a blog dedicated to programming some time in 2003, dabbled with other blogging projects, and now appear to have settled with the present incarnation. Looking back, it is strange to see how my blogging preference has shifted so much.

Although I still do a lot of programming, I have given up on writing about it. I feel that programmers, or those who write about the profession, are being too liberal about throwing acronyms, patterns, and what-nots around, and I do not want to be part of that.

Just yesterday, I came across a blog post about “a new Locator pattern”. Well, here was me thinking that the purpose of a pattern was to describe a distinct and recognised solution to a common programming problem. Let’s get this straight, you have ONE Locator pattern with VARIATIONS in implementation. Someone claiming “a new Locator pattern” is missing the point, surely. Imagine this, in the middle of a technical discussion, you suggest that a developer uses the Locator pattern. “Err, which one already?” Yep, that’s how ridiculous pattern abuse has become, all thanks to self-proclaimed programmer-blogger-gods!

And, this is why I prefer to post pictures. Like this one.

Eddy.

Random thoughts

Eddy — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:03:42 +0000

GRATUITOUS use of swear words in a foreign language does not make one become more proficient in it. Why do so many feel that they need a “f*ck” in every other sentence? How can the worst of a language make you better at it?

This is a reaction to bad taste wall posts seen on Facebook from mauritian “friends”.

Now, for the sake of completeness, a random picture.

Eddy.

Farnborough car boot sales

Eddy — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:23:12 +0000

I try to always have a camera on me when I go out looking at shops or visit markets as these outings present many opportunities for candid photography. This picture is part of a series (view the complete set) made at the Farnborough Sunday car booty a few weeks ago. On that occasion, like most these days, I used my Nikon FM2 film camera with Fujifilm Superia XTRA 400 expired some time in 2005.

Eddy.