Category Archives: Pragmatism

You Are Not Paid To Write Software

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Derick Bailey

I saw the phrase “I’m paid to write software, not tests” recently, and it drove me up the wall crazy. I hate this phrase and all of the misleading, misinformation that it spews. This phrase is not only false, it’s fallacy. … Continue reading →

Also posted in AntiPatterns, Business, Philosophy of Software | 22 Comments

Abstraction: The Rule Of Three

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Derick Bailey

I often hear people say something like “if you need it once, build it. If you need it twice, abstract it.” People often say then in the context of the “DRY” – or Don’t Repeat Yourself – principle. In theory … Continue reading →

Also posted in AntiPatterns, Javascript, Principles and Patterns, Risk Management | 13 Comments

It’s Not Always “All Or Nothing”

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Derick Bailey

Have you ever been terrified to try something? Not because you don’t think you would enjoy it, but because it’s new, different, scary and potentially dangerous? Or because you see one potential path – the easy path – that it … Continue reading →

Also posted in Business, Consulting, Management | 4 Comments

Anders Hejlsberg Is Right: You Cannot Maintain Large Programs In JavaScript

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Derick Bailey

There’s a quote over on a Channel 9 video of Anders Hejlsberg: Erik Meijer: Are you saying you cannot write large programs in JavaScript? Anders Hejlsberg: No, you can write large programs in JavaScript. You just can’t maintain them. With … Continue reading →

Also posted in AntiPatterns, Composite Apps, CQRS, Craftsmanship, Javascript, Philosophy of Software, Principles and Patterns, Risk Management | 29 Comments

Stop Using Backbone As If It Were A Stateless Web Server

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Derick Bailey

In the web development world with MVC based back-end servers, nearly everything is kicked off with routes. Look at rails for example. If you want a list of items, you hit /items and the router executes the index method on … Continue reading →

Also posted in AntiPatterns, Backbone, Javascript, JQuery, Model-View-Controller, Principles and Patterns | 27 Comments

Sometimes It’s Better To Use A Ruby Hash Than Create A Custom Class

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Derick Bailey

The Eloquent Ruby book talks about the use of hashes and arrays vs classes. One of the things it covers is how hashes and arrays are often used by experienced ruby developers in place of custom classes. Coming from a … Continue reading →

Also posted in AntiPatterns, Model-View-Controller, Principles and Patterns, Ruby | 6 Comments

Good Refactoring / Patterns For Simple UI Logic?

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Derick Bailey

I’ve got a chunk of C# that sits inside of a very simple form. The form downloads an update from a web page – one of two possible downloads, based on which one is available – and shows a message … Continue reading →

Also posted in .NET, C#, Principles and Patterns, Refactoring | 7 Comments

Don’t Make Me Choose To Follow The Standards

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Derick Bailey

Most systems that involve humans making decisions have a set of standards: guidelines, rules and/or policies that help people make good decisions. These standards are usually in place for good reason – to prevent bad things from happening or to … Continue reading →

Also posted in Analysis and Design, Management, Principles and Patterns, Security, Standardized Work, User Experience | 10 Comments

Evaluating Alternatives vs Reacting To Differences

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Derick Bailey

Have you ever noticed that we tend to “evaluate” new products and services through the perspective of the existing products and services that we use? We compare feature implementations and making judgements on whether or not the implementations are the … Continue reading →

Also posted in Product Reviews | Leave a comment

Cost vs. Risk In Testing

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Derick Bailey

There was a bit of interesting discussion on twitter this morning, concerning the cost of test-first vs. risk. Here’s the visual version of what I’m saying: The premise behind the value of test-first is that we will wash out (or … Continue reading →

Also posted in Analysis and Design, Productivity, Quality, Risk Management, Testing | 12 Comments