OK, so I haven't done a lot here for a while, have I?
Well, I just posted a question I've been thinking about for a while over on Larkware (http://www.larkware.com), and I thought I might as well pop it here as well, so here you go...
----------------------------------
OK, so here's a question for you great and good who visit here. Before I ask it, if any of you happen to have a vested interest in the answer, I'm trusting you to put it aside for a moment... My team is not following most of the best practices we should be. I'm thinking about version control, unit testing, automatic documentation, help files, daily builds, ... I have just read (i) "Coder to Developer" and (ii) "The Pragmatic Programmer". Both books cover best practice, and recommend very similar practices (most of which I am very keen to start following). They do this with quite different styles and at different levels. Which book should I give to my team to read first?
Please don't feel limited to just those 2 books! tell me what you suggest. My team have varying levels of programming experience and aptitude, but they're smart guys, and I hope that they'll respond well to reasonned argument! What other books, courses, websites, articles, etc. can I use to educate them?
All polite suggestions welcome!
Thanks :)
- AJ
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Thursday, July 29, 2004
Yesterday (28th) was our anniversary.
We had the best yet (of 4). :0)
I took the day off and booked us in for lunch at Thackeray's. It's a top notch restaurant in Tunbridge Wells. Their lunchtime menu is basically the same as their evening menu, but the prices are much lower, and we'd often talked about going there. So I organised Amy to babysit for us. I didn't tell Sarah until the evening before. It was all v. fun. We wore our nice clothes and (oh luxury) took a cab both ways! :)
It was a sunny day, and we sat out in their courtyard bit. The food was fab. I mean absolutely amazing. The service was some of the best I've experienced (we were addressed as Monsigneur and Madamme). I have already inflicted detailsed descriptions of the meal itself on too many people, ... but I'm still going to repeat it here:
bread: hot from the kitchen, half a dozen different types of bread roll. We chose the dried apricot ones. As soon as I finished mine, the nice lady popped up and enquired as to whether I would like another. I declined (good call, as it turned out).
pre-starter: we were served an amuse bouche, a fish consomme. I am surely a pleb, but a meal where they bring you stuff you haven't even ordered: how posh is that?!
starter: I can't remember what Sarah had, but I went for the smoked eel. It was a pretty tiny amound of breaded smoked eel on top of a small tower of grated vegetables in some kind of dill sauce. The tastes were beautifully balanced, but - not having tasted eel before - I'm still not sure exactly what eel tastes like!
main course: Sarah had a salmon thing, about which she made positive noises. I chose the assiette of Kentish lamb - a wise choice, if M'sieur says so himself! There was liver, some joint meat (not sure which joint) and some bits I couldn't identify - but they tasted great :0) The meat was all cooked perfectly. I mean it fell apart, but all the tastes were there. Amazing.
They slipped up minorly in that they forgot Sarah's side salad, but they remedied that in about zero seconds, so who's complaining?
sorbet: Next, my lovely new ladyfriend appeared bearing orange sorbet. Again, the real taste was there, not just a sugary cold lump, which is how sorbet often turns out. I think part of the secret was that it was served above absolute zero, so the orange juice and the water hadn't separated out into distinct layers.
dessert: We were both tempted away from the "cheap" menu for dessert: Sarah had a banana tarte tatin, and I had the assiette de chocolat. I really must congratulate myself again on a simply impeccable descision. I recieved: a mini baked alaska with chocolate ice-cream, a mini chocolate souffle (!? how do they do that??) a shot glass filled with layers of different mousses and a slice of chocolate torte. Somehow I ended up with a glass of muscat to wash it down. Oh well.
coffee: So: coffee. "How can they turn a cup of coffee into an upmarket culinary experience?" I hear you ask. Well, they managed: coffee was duly delivered, accompanied by petits fours, brandy snaps and a pile of truffles the size of East Sussex. How I managed to get up the stairs, through the main restaurant and into the cab, I'll never know!
PS. Huge thanks to Amy for babysitting. She did well under difficult circumstances! :0)
why was this our best anniversary yet?
This was the first year when we haven't been cross with each other about something. In the last year, we've talked about and dealt with some things that had come betwen us. We've been really helped in this by the marriage course (http://www.htb.org.uk/marriage/), which was top. I think the most useful thing was that it gave us time with no distractions to simply talk about things we needed to talk about.
The most exciting thing about this being our best anniversary yet is that if this year we love each other better than we did last year, then it's possible that next year we'll love each other better still. - that sounds worth looking forward to, doesn't it?
We had the best yet (of 4). :0)
I took the day off and booked us in for lunch at Thackeray's. It's a top notch restaurant in Tunbridge Wells. Their lunchtime menu is basically the same as their evening menu, but the prices are much lower, and we'd often talked about going there. So I organised Amy to babysit for us. I didn't tell Sarah until the evening before. It was all v. fun. We wore our nice clothes and (oh luxury) took a cab both ways! :)
It was a sunny day, and we sat out in their courtyard bit. The food was fab. I mean absolutely amazing. The service was some of the best I've experienced (we were addressed as Monsigneur and Madamme). I have already inflicted detailsed descriptions of the meal itself on too many people, ... but I'm still going to repeat it here:
bread: hot from the kitchen, half a dozen different types of bread roll. We chose the dried apricot ones. As soon as I finished mine, the nice lady popped up and enquired as to whether I would like another. I declined (good call, as it turned out).
pre-starter: we were served an amuse bouche, a fish consomme. I am surely a pleb, but a meal where they bring you stuff you haven't even ordered: how posh is that?!
starter: I can't remember what Sarah had, but I went for the smoked eel. It was a pretty tiny amound of breaded smoked eel on top of a small tower of grated vegetables in some kind of dill sauce. The tastes were beautifully balanced, but - not having tasted eel before - I'm still not sure exactly what eel tastes like!
main course: Sarah had a salmon thing, about which she made positive noises. I chose the assiette of Kentish lamb - a wise choice, if M'sieur says so himself! There was liver, some joint meat (not sure which joint) and some bits I couldn't identify - but they tasted great :0) The meat was all cooked perfectly. I mean it fell apart, but all the tastes were there. Amazing.
They slipped up minorly in that they forgot Sarah's side salad, but they remedied that in about zero seconds, so who's complaining?
sorbet: Next, my lovely new ladyfriend appeared bearing orange sorbet. Again, the real taste was there, not just a sugary cold lump, which is how sorbet often turns out. I think part of the secret was that it was served above absolute zero, so the orange juice and the water hadn't separated out into distinct layers.
dessert: We were both tempted away from the "cheap" menu for dessert: Sarah had a banana tarte tatin, and I had the assiette de chocolat. I really must congratulate myself again on a simply impeccable descision. I recieved: a mini baked alaska with chocolate ice-cream, a mini chocolate souffle (!? how do they do that??) a shot glass filled with layers of different mousses and a slice of chocolate torte. Somehow I ended up with a glass of muscat to wash it down. Oh well.
coffee: So: coffee. "How can they turn a cup of coffee into an upmarket culinary experience?" I hear you ask. Well, they managed: coffee was duly delivered, accompanied by petits fours, brandy snaps and a pile of truffles the size of East Sussex. How I managed to get up the stairs, through the main restaurant and into the cab, I'll never know!
PS. Huge thanks to Amy for babysitting. She did well under difficult circumstances! :0)
why was this our best anniversary yet?
This was the first year when we haven't been cross with each other about something. In the last year, we've talked about and dealt with some things that had come betwen us. We've been really helped in this by the marriage course (http://www.htb.org.uk/marriage/), which was top. I think the most useful thing was that it gave us time with no distractions to simply talk about things we needed to talk about.
The most exciting thing about this being our best anniversary yet is that if this year we love each other better than we did last year, then it's possible that next year we'll love each other better still. - that sounds worth looking forward to, doesn't it?
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
08:25 / 09:25
Got a lift to station (it was blowing and tipping it down) from Will (in-laws staying with us for a few days).
Bump still not happy. makes rather pathetic sobbing sound (cross between moaning and crying, really) when not dosed up on nurofen / calpol. poor little boy :-( His rather lovely mummy was up a couple of times in the night just holding him. Eventually, we took him to bed with us, and all slept most of the night. Still rather tired this am. Sq must be even worse! :-(
Got a lift to station (it was blowing and tipping it down) from Will (in-laws staying with us for a few days).
Bump still not happy. makes rather pathetic sobbing sound (cross between moaning and crying, really) when not dosed up on nurofen / calpol. poor little boy :-( His rather lovely mummy was up a couple of times in the night just holding him. Eventually, we took him to bed with us, and all slept most of the night. Still rather tired this am. Sq must be even worse! :-(
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
08:25/09:30
Still quite tired after Bump's bad time Sunday night.
Have now invested in bottle of nurofen for kids.
It comes with nifty syringe so they don't have to take it from a spoon (slightly tricky if you're very little). The syringe fits snugly into the top of the bottle so you can invert it and draw off just the right amount. cool :0)
Read some of Is 61, 63 this morning.
Don't have a lot of NRG to tell you about my thoughts, but I'll start with some notes I made the other day:
Colossians 1:9+
Paul prays for the Colossians. What is his prayer, in essence? That they be filled with the knowledge of God's will.
This, he prays, will happen by having all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Sounds cool.
The result, Paul says, will be that they live lives worthy of God, and please God in every way.
So, the way to please God is to be full of spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you are filled with the knowledge of God's will. I guess that sounds sensible.
How do we please God? Reading on, Paul explains:
Glory! :0)
Most of this, then, seems to rest on what God does in me: strengthenning me with power, filling me with wisdom and understanding. The way to obtain these, then, is twofold: prayer and obedience.
I don't know about you, but I'm working on both of these ;-)
Still quite tired after Bump's bad time Sunday night.
Have now invested in bottle of nurofen for kids.
It comes with nifty syringe so they don't have to take it from a spoon (slightly tricky if you're very little). The syringe fits snugly into the top of the bottle so you can invert it and draw off just the right amount. cool :0)
Read some of Is 61, 63 this morning.
Don't have a lot of NRG to tell you about my thoughts, but I'll start with some notes I made the other day:
Colossians 1:9+
Paul prays for the Colossians. What is his prayer, in essence? That they be filled with the knowledge of God's will.
This, he prays, will happen by having all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Sounds cool.
The result, Paul says, will be that they live lives worthy of God, and please God in every way.
So, the way to please God is to be full of spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you are filled with the knowledge of God's will. I guess that sounds sensible.
How do we please God? Reading on, Paul explains:
- Doing good works which bear fruit.
- Growing in the knowledge of God.
- Endurance and Patience ...
... which come by being strengthenned with power from God. - Give joyful thanks to God.
Glory! :0)
Most of this, then, seems to rest on what God does in me: strengthenning me with power, filling me with wisdom and understanding. The way to obtain these, then, is twofold: prayer and obedience.
I don't know about you, but I'm working on both of these ;-)
Monday, November 24, 2003
09:05 / 10:00
cold gone, but Bump was wailing distressingly from the time he went to bed last night. Rang TTDOC. Finally took him in at c. 23:00. Nice doctor diagnosed ear infection. Isn't that what wussy kids get who are ill all the time? Don't want any of that, thank you! Still, could be a follow-on from his cold. Doc said to give nurofen rather than calpol, as it's much more effective for this kind of pain. Dosed B up accordingly, and he slept after some TLC from his mummy.
I slept until 08:10.
Apart from that, had a busy but effective weekend.
Sale thing went OK.
Fun Evening was fab. I really enjoyed myself. My contribution seemed to go down well.
Lots of talented people did turns - most of whom hadn't done this sort of thing before. All really encouraging. Also, I got to know more people - several from the Calvery crew, which is really cool.
I used most of my verbal gags - forgot all props for the visual ones! ... mainly as a result of the general level of hassle of the day. Still, it all went well. Next time (if I get asked to do it again - which, in all modesty, I think I might - although, it's good to give other people a chance too), I must recruit assistants to be in charge of marshalling the acts, humping the microphones, etc.
It occurs to me that I ought to blog my daily bible readings, and my thoughts on them - as well as what God says about them.
So, I've been reading Colossians (after Dave gave a short talk from bits of chapters 1 & 2 about the Trinity).
I haven't got too far. Tomorrow I plan to go into more detail.
Until then...
cold gone, but Bump was wailing distressingly from the time he went to bed last night. Rang TTDOC. Finally took him in at c. 23:00. Nice doctor diagnosed ear infection. Isn't that what wussy kids get who are ill all the time? Don't want any of that, thank you! Still, could be a follow-on from his cold. Doc said to give nurofen rather than calpol, as it's much more effective for this kind of pain. Dosed B up accordingly, and he slept after some TLC from his mummy.
I slept until 08:10.
Apart from that, had a busy but effective weekend.
Sale thing went OK.
Fun Evening was fab. I really enjoyed myself. My contribution seemed to go down well.
Lots of talented people did turns - most of whom hadn't done this sort of thing before. All really encouraging. Also, I got to know more people - several from the Calvery crew, which is really cool.
I used most of my verbal gags - forgot all props for the visual ones! ... mainly as a result of the general level of hassle of the day. Still, it all went well. Next time (if I get asked to do it again - which, in all modesty, I think I might - although, it's good to give other people a chance too), I must recruit assistants to be in charge of marshalling the acts, humping the microphones, etc.
It occurs to me that I ought to blog my daily bible readings, and my thoughts on them - as well as what God says about them.
So, I've been reading Colossians (after Dave gave a short talk from bits of chapters 1 & 2 about the Trinity).
I haven't got too far. Tomorrow I plan to go into more detail.
Until then...
Friday, November 21, 2003
08:25 / 09:25
throat slightly better.
sq drove me to station, cos poor AJ so ill and it was raining.
I'll walk up to yoof from High Brooms tonite - I'm sure RMump will give me a lift home afterwards.
not sure what to say in my 1-minute talk. Will probably say that we all have a Jesus-shaped hole in us, and that if we let Jesus fill it, life will go right.
Only 3 more yoofs till end of term (plus the last one, but I can't make that).
tomorrow is a bit of a packed day: sale thing in the am (yoof - in the persons of Sq and self and a few kids) are doing "guess the name of the cuddly dog", "guess the number of sweets in the jar" and helium-filled balloons - He He He! :0)
Then I've got the Fun Evening in the - er - evening. Hope my throat is OK - I'll be doing a lot of talking. I'm sure the Lord is well in control, and will work it all out for his glory - which is what we want, isn't it?? 0;0-)
throat slightly better.
sq drove me to station, cos poor AJ so ill and it was raining.
I'll walk up to yoof from High Brooms tonite - I'm sure RMump will give me a lift home afterwards.
not sure what to say in my 1-minute talk. Will probably say that we all have a Jesus-shaped hole in us, and that if we let Jesus fill it, life will go right.
Only 3 more yoofs till end of term (plus the last one, but I can't make that).
tomorrow is a bit of a packed day: sale thing in the am (yoof - in the persons of Sq and self and a few kids) are doing "guess the name of the cuddly dog", "guess the number of sweets in the jar" and helium-filled balloons - He He He! :0)
Then I've got the Fun Evening in the - er - evening. Hope my throat is OK - I'll be doing a lot of talking. I'm sure the Lord is well in control, and will work it all out for his glory - which is what we want, isn't it?? 0;0-)
Thursday, November 20, 2003
got the 08:01, but only because it didn't arrive til 08:25.
into work 09:20
definitely got a sore throat.
eating loads of strepsils.
prayed that God would heal it, but clearly I have doubts. What's the way around this? Pray about it, obviously. God seems to be delivering answers to so many prayers, that I can't see any other way of tackling problems.
Incidentally, there are some people for whom I try to pray each week.
My prayer list is:
Mon - RHGJ & CMJ
Tue - Fluf & the girls
Wed - SH
Thu - C,M & J (may take these guys off now, as I'm not really in contact)
Fri - K & S.
Also, pray for: Liz & Roshan, Sq & Bump and occasionally David & Marion.
into work 09:20
definitely got a sore throat.
eating loads of strepsils.
prayed that God would heal it, but clearly I have doubts. What's the way around this? Pray about it, obviously. God seems to be delivering answers to so many prayers, that I can't see any other way of tackling problems.
Incidentally, there are some people for whom I try to pray each week.
My prayer list is:
Mon - RHGJ & CMJ
Tue - Fluf & the girls
Wed - SH
Thu - C,M & J (may take these guys off now, as I'm not really in contact)
Fri - K & S.
Also, pray for: Liz & Roshan, Sq & Bump and occasionally David & Marion.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
got the 08:25.
into work for 09:20!
the train must have been speeding.
Sq went to family meeting last night. had great time of worship, which took up most of the meeting. Also, S & C are now officially Youth Pastor (& Pastoress??!), which is great. Still, we had a not-short chat about yoof stuff afterwards.
Had coffee with K today. fab. chatted about things bothering him, things bothering me. Great chat. I found it really theraputic! I'm sure K found my advice as amazingly great as I thought it was.
Did actually replace brakes last night.
(a very oily experience).
This morning, I found, novelly, that I am able to arrest progress with some efficiency!
Chances of living to 100 now significantly improved!
btw, last wed. was birthday (37).
Have spoken to Sq.
Seems that my bd prez has at last arrived: 4-DVD LOTR 2 Towers :0)
into work for 09:20!
the train must have been speeding.
Sq went to family meeting last night. had great time of worship, which took up most of the meeting. Also, S & C are now officially Youth Pastor (& Pastoress??!), which is great. Still, we had a not-short chat about yoof stuff afterwards.
Had coffee with K today. fab. chatted about things bothering him, things bothering me. Great chat. I found it really theraputic! I'm sure K found my advice as amazingly great as I thought it was.
Did actually replace brakes last night.
(a very oily experience).
This morning, I found, novelly, that I am able to arrest progress with some efficiency!
Chances of living to 100 now significantly improved!
btw, last wed. was birthday (37).
Have spoken to Sq.
Seems that my bd prez has at last arrived: 4-DVD LOTR 2 Towers :0)
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Spent an hour or so @ church last night with Richard and Prill, rehearsing our illusion for Saturday.
We'll be on as the last act of the first half (I think it's a bit off to put yourself as the closing act of the whole thing! Plus, I'm not quite confident enough to do that ;). We came a long way - it definitely looks good if it works. I'm really glad we rehearsed - we found some dodgy angles, and were able to work out how to handle everything - where to stand, which hand to pick things up in, etc. Most importantly, we were able to work out and practise the details of how Prill gets on. I would tell you, but that would rater spoil it, wouldn't it??? ;0)
If you fancy, come along - it's this Saturday (22nd Nov 2003) at New Life Church, Speldhurst Road, Tunbridge Wells. ;0)
Got the 08:25.
On time. Into work for 09:25.
I REALLY must replace the brake blocks on my bike before I kill myself.
I think Sarah's going out tonight, so I'll do it then.
We'll be on as the last act of the first half (I think it's a bit off to put yourself as the closing act of the whole thing! Plus, I'm not quite confident enough to do that ;). We came a long way - it definitely looks good if it works. I'm really glad we rehearsed - we found some dodgy angles, and were able to work out how to handle everything - where to stand, which hand to pick things up in, etc. Most importantly, we were able to work out and practise the details of how Prill gets on. I would tell you, but that would rater spoil it, wouldn't it??? ;0)
If you fancy, come along - it's this Saturday (22nd Nov 2003) at New Life Church, Speldhurst Road, Tunbridge Wells. ;0)
Got the 08:25.
On time. Into work for 09:25.
I REALLY must replace the brake blocks on my bike before I kill myself.
I think Sarah's going out tonight, so I'll do it then.
Monday, November 17, 2003
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