Comments for niksilver.com http://niksilver.com Mostly about the management of software development Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:08:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 Comment on Lightweight versus heavyweight: The cost is in the management by Nik http://niksilver.com/2007/12/27/lightweight-versus-heavyweight-the-cost-is-in-the-management/#comment-33904 Nik Mon, 19 May 2008 16:35:24 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2007/12/27/lightweight-versus-heavyweight-the-cost-is-in-the-management/#comment-33904 Hi Alex, there's none that I could recommend, because I've not used any sufficiently. The reason we built our own (twice) is that nothing out there met for our needs, although of course our needs will not be the same as yours. Hi Alex, there’s none that I could recommend, because I’ve not used any sufficiently. The reason we built our own (twice) is that nothing out there met for our needs, although of course our needs will not be the same as yours.

]]> Comment on Lightweight versus heavyweight: The cost is in the management by Alex http://niksilver.com/2007/12/27/lightweight-versus-heavyweight-the-cost-is-in-the-management/#comment-33903 Alex Mon, 19 May 2008 13:51:15 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2007/12/27/lightweight-versus-heavyweight-the-cost-is-in-the-management/#comment-33903 Dear Nik, is there an open source heavyweight cms you could recommend? Kind regards from Switzerland. Alex Dear Nik, is there an open source heavyweight cms you could recommend?

Kind regards from Switzerland.
Alex

]]> Comment on Big lessons from a little project by Nick http://niksilver.com/2008/04/06/big-lessons-from-a-little-project/#comment-33463 Nick Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:11:36 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2008/04/06/big-lessons-from-a-little-project/#comment-33463 Probably should mention this in person but have you tried the <a href="http://www.aptana.com" rel="nofollow">Aptana</a> plug-in for eclipse. It has code completion for JavaScript amongst a whole heap of other helpful features a front-end developer might want. Probably should mention this in person but have you tried the Aptana plug-in for eclipse. It has code completion for JavaScript amongst a whole heap of other helpful features a front-end developer might want.

]]> Comment on Big lessons from a little project by Nik http://niksilver.com/2008/04/06/big-lessons-from-a-little-project/#comment-29841 Nik Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:16:43 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2008/04/06/big-lessons-from-a-little-project/#comment-29841 Ajay: Yes, Javascript is powerful, and a line-for-line count comparison isn't really fair. Firebug is indeed very useful, but as I'm writing a Firefox extension my Javascript isn't seen by Firebug. On the IDE, I want to type one character, hit Ctrl-Space, cursor-down twice, Enter -- rather than type an entire variable name. I suspect I might be lazy. Ajay: Yes, Javascript is powerful, and a line-for-line count comparison isn’t really fair.

Firebug is indeed very useful, but as I’m writing a Firefox extension my Javascript isn’t seen by Firebug. On the IDE, I want to type one character, hit Ctrl-Space, cursor-down twice, Enter — rather than type an entire variable name. I suspect I might be lazy.

]]> Comment on Big lessons from a little project by Ajay http://niksilver.com/2008/04/06/big-lessons-from-a-little-project/#comment-29819 Ajay Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:16:42 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2008/04/06/big-lessons-from-a-little-project/#comment-29819 To #6. I code both Java and JS. I generally do all my java work in one stretch and then the JS work - kindaf helps me context switch to the JS pradigm (which I crib about but still love). One thing is I do not have the need of an IDE when I do JS - my functions are short, modules are short - cruft free. I feel 200 LOC in JS equals anywhere between 600-700 lines in Java for trivial code and the factor is like 5x when it gets more complex (especially if I need more nested structures). However I use the IDE for things like version control, syntax highlighting but never wanted more out of it. Also have to mention -FireBug is your friend for JS :) To #6.
I code both Java and JS. I generally do all my java work in one stretch and then the JS work - kindaf helps me context switch to the JS pradigm (which I crib about but still love).
One thing is I do not have the need of an IDE when I do JS - my functions are short, modules are short - cruft free. I feel 200 LOC in JS equals anywhere between 600-700 lines in Java for trivial code and the factor is like 5x when it gets more complex (especially if I need more nested structures).

However I use the IDE for things like version control, syntax highlighting but never wanted more out of it. Also have to mention -FireBug is your friend for JS :)

]]> Comment on Big lessons from a little project by Devolio http://niksilver.com/2008/04/06/big-lessons-from-a-little-project/#comment-29689 Devolio Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:20:00 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2008/04/06/big-lessons-from-a-little-project/#comment-29689 <strong>Big lessons from a little project...</strong> I’ve just finished a fortnight’s holiday which I (foolishly) spent mostly in front of a PC developing a never-ending little application. But unexpectedly, despite the trivial nature of my project, I rediscovered a number of important lessons more u... Big lessons from a little project…

I’ve just finished a fortnight’s holiday which I (foolishly) spent mostly in front of a PC developing a never-ending little application. But unexpectedly, despite the trivial nature of my project, I rediscovered a number of important lessons more u…

]]> Comment on QCon London 2008: A Michelin-starred deli by James Governor’s Monkchips » links for 2008-03-18 http://niksilver.com/2008/03/17/qcon-london-2008-a-michelin-starred-deli/#comment-26524 James Governor’s Monkchips » links for 2008-03-18 Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:28:55 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2008/03/17/qcon-london-2008-a-michelin-starred-deli/#comment-26524 [...] niksilver.com » QCon London 2008: A Michelin-starred deli some nice praise for a couple of contributors to case study track at QCON, managed by yours truly (tags: qconlondon2008) [...] [...] niksilver.com » QCon London 2008: A Michelin-starred deli some nice praise for a couple of contributors to case study track at QCON, managed by yours truly (tags: qconlondon2008) [...]

]]> Comment on We (heart) UAT by Nik http://niksilver.com/2007/12/09/we-heart-uat/#comment-25562 Nik Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:48:42 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2007/12/09/we-heart-uat/#comment-25562 Sonny, no, I don't have such a diagram, and I suspect it will vary depending on the organisation. For me the key function is to get final feature approval from the business user, controls will be the originally defined acceptance criteria, inputs will include a piece of functionality that's QA-approved tp sufficiently justify the business's time working on it, and outputs will include the thumbs-up from the business user, or comments on what needs to be changed. Sonny, no, I don’t have such a diagram, and I suspect it will vary depending on the organisation.

For me the key function is to get final feature approval from the business user, controls will be the originally defined acceptance criteria, inputs will include a piece of functionality that’s QA-approved tp sufficiently justify the business’s time working on it, and outputs will include the thumbs-up from the business user, or comments on what needs to be changed.

]]> Comment on We (heart) UAT by Sonny Matharu http://niksilver.com/2007/12/09/we-heart-uat/#comment-25510 Sonny Matharu Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:00:21 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2007/12/09/we-heart-uat/#comment-25510 Hi, this article/information is very helpful - many thanks. I was looking for some diagrammatic representation of a UAT function within a large organsiation. Something describing the function, its key controls, inputs/outputs to the team, etc. Do you have any material/diagrams that might help me in illustrating this pictorially? Regards, Sonny. Hi, this article/information is very helpful - many thanks. I was looking for some diagrammatic representation of a UAT function within a large organsiation. Something describing the function, its key controls, inputs/outputs to the team, etc. Do you have any material/diagrams that might help me in illustrating this pictorially?

Regards,
Sonny.

]]> Comment on Guardian.co.uk: Steps to a smooth launch by links for 2008-02-13 « David Black http://niksilver.com/2008/02/11/guardiancouk-steps-to-a-smooth-launch/#comment-24320 links for 2008-02-13 « David Black Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:23:30 +0000 http://niksilver.com/2008/02/11/guardiancouk-steps-to-a-smooth-launch/#comment-24320 [...] Guardian.co.uk: Steps to a smooth launch - niksilver.com “The secret is that the weekend’s work was only the final step after a great many before it, all of which were safely out of the way before the weekend…” (tags: internet newspapers newspapersites webdesign redesign guardian) [...] [...] Guardian.co.uk: Steps to a smooth launch - niksilver.com “The secret is that the weekend’s work was only the final step after a great many before it, all of which were safely out of the way before the weekend…” (tags: internet newspapers newspapersites webdesign redesign guardian) [...]

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