I recently found myself doing a lot of stupid things, in rapid succession, so I thought I’d jot down a few “do not” style commandments. The context here is software development 🙂 Do not develop a subsequent feature, until the previous feature is in production use. Do not code a feature that seems odd toContinue reading “Do Not…”
Author Archives: John DeHope
Kinds of Conflict
I think if you clarify the kind of conflict you have with somebody, then it can help you better allocate resources in combating them. If you have a political conflict, then likely political resources will be easier and more applicable to beat them. If you are in a physical conflict, then only physical violence (withinContinue reading “Kinds of Conflict”
Things That Aren’t Journalism
The words “news”, “journalism”, “journalist”, “reporting” should have stricter definitions. I’m painting the below in broad strokes. Obviously, there are exceptions and special circumstances and mitigating context. But also obviously, a lot of media sources clearly and unambiguously fall into these non-journalism buckets. A lot of media isn’t journalism, and that’s fine. Nobody expects anContinue reading “Things That Aren’t Journalism”
Computer vs. Human Time
I got interested in comparing the experience of human time to computer time. I didn’t double verify the exact numbers below. Take it with a grain of salt. I think it’s interesting, if only from a sci-fi perspective. Computer Information Computer Time Human Time Human Information 1 CPU cycle 0.3 ns 1 s Add twoContinue reading “Computer vs. Human Time”
Pragmatic Null
I’m still working to embrace strict null in C#. In the mean time here are a few notes on how I try to deal with null today. Avoid null as a sentinel value. Sentinel values are really just a specific example of the more general “magic number” anti-pattern. Magic numbers are bad enough in general.Continue reading “Pragmatic Null”
Software Development T’s
Talk about how it’s going. What else we could do?Think about next steps. How could technology help?Tap tap tap. The developers bang away on their keyboards.Try it out. What do you think? Is this better?Turn it to production for end users.
On boss’ day
To my boss, on boss’ day… my boss is really wonderfulhe deserves a round of applausehe keeps me out of troublethat my boss’s bosses cause
Congrats on your one year corporate anniversary
Congrats on your one year corporate anniversary… In just a year, you’ve done a lotBut what it is, I know notYou see I’ve been busy fighting firesAlthough what they were, I know not either
Include Everyone
I was recently asked an uncomfortable question: “I already gave you this information, why are we meeting again?” Ouch. The truth hurts. I had made a mistake. Hint: my mistake is the last item in this list. TL;DR: When inviting people to cooperate on a task, make sure you invite everybody who is involved. DifferentContinue reading “Include Everyone”
True vs. Useful
In this excellent blog post, in the epilogue, the author explains JavaScript’s difference between let and var. I use var because it works really well, it’s very flexible, and it behaves according to a predictable set of rules (just like the rest of JavaScript). But, var doesn’t always work the way I want it to;Continue reading “True vs. Useful”
John DeHope 