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Showing posts from January, 2015

Software Quality

Greg Finzer asked the question on a Linedin Group "What practices do you use to improve the quality of an application?" . Greg shared is ideas on improving application quality here , and focuses on developer practices to increase quality. I have my own ideas on what quality means, and how to improve it. Here's my take on it. How do you define quality? Quality is hard to define, and I don't know of any satisfactory description (much like architecture). In Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the narrator (Pirsig) spends a great deal to time trying to define quality, which eventually drove him insane (requiring shock therapy). One way you can define quality might be how close the item comes to ideal, when viewed through different perspectives. For example, for a software project, we can look at quality from the perspective of the end user - does the application work? How easy is it to use? We can look at code quality - How complex is the code? How much

The Software Craftsman

I've just finished reading  The Software Craftsman: Professionalism, Pragmatism, Pride by Sandro Mancuso, and I must say that it resonated with me. Treating software development as a craft, and striving for mastery is something that I admire. This book reflects my attitude towards building software, and is now one of my favourite development books ( The Pragmatic Programmer being my all time favourite). The only thing I don't really agree with is the emphasis on XP practices, notably TDD. I think professional developers should know about TDD and have practiced it, but I don't think it's a requirement to being a software craftsman. The debate between Jim Coplien and Uncle Bob on TDD is good food for thought.