A father and son is cooking ham. Every time they do this, the father cuts a chunk off each side of the ham before it goes into the pan. The son asks why they perform this ritual. Dad responds: "I don't know. Grandfather is a good cook and he always does this, so I just … Continue reading Programmer Friday: Do you need daily standup meetings? →

Some level of documentation is necessary in software projects. We like to say that "the code should speak for itself" and "docs always get outdated anyway". Both of these arguments are valid, but they should not be an excuse to drop documentation altogether. Having some documentation in place both: A) makes it easier to onboard … Continue reading Android Friday: Things I want to see in the README file →

I have been working as an independent consultant for a few years now. Sometimes I talk to others who are considering going the same route. I now have a more or less standard list of advice that I send to them. I'm turning it into this blog post, so I can simply point here next … Continue reading Programmer Friday: How to work for yourself →

When you build software, it's easy to get wrapped up in the wrong details or to get ahead of yourself. Programmers sometimes optimize code prematurely. Or we apply unnecessary patterns, structures and frameworks. This makes our work more complex than it needs to be. Newer programmers seem to fall into this trap more, but experienced … Continue reading Programmer Friday: Make it work, make it right, make it fast →