For the last couple of weeks my wife has been trying out an electric pedal bike, as part of an environmental scheme to promote awareness and—it is hoped—adoption. Electric bikes … Continue reading Beware the peripheral variables when evaluating technologies
Some time ago I wrote about the error of slavishly following “best practice” without asking why. And I was reminded of this again the other day when a friend forwarded … Continue reading An example of the errors of “best practice”
The other day I was looking at some old Elm code, refamiliarising myself with one of the key language concepts (Signals) and found an article to help me. One part … Continue reading Plan for legacy systems
When a development team introduces new technology to solve a problem, they are adding a long term cost, too, even though it may not be obvious. This is one way … Continue reading The cost of new technology
Many years ago an experienced consultant was telling me about a company who was asking for his help. “They told me they wanted to develop a digital strategy. But they … Continue reading Follow the business strategy
I’ve been having fun this week watching some conference talks about my current favourite language, Elm, at Elm Europe 2017. And I enjoyed seeing an important idea discussed—important not just … Continue reading Always build for real people’s real problems
Are you looking for a better front-end coding experience? I’ve just spent several weeks completing my first project with the Elm language. This is my experience. (Spoiler alert: It’s pretty … Continue reading Discovering the Elm language
A software developer friend of mine has good advice, which he repeats solemnly: “You have to keep up to date aggressively .” I agree. He is specifically talking about software … Continue reading Keeping up to date aggressively
I’ve always been a fan of statically typed programming languages for my own work, simply because it makes my life easier. My mother always told me “the compiler is your … Continue reading Static typing as mistake-proofing
There is more to a legacy system than meets the eye. When we think about legacy systems we typically think about the old technology it’s built with, and how painful … Continue reading Legacy systems hide business knowledge
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