There is an ancient saying that “the only thing that does not change is change itself”. This is true! So, the real question, in software development, is how do we deal, effectively, with change? This is a tough question and over the past three decades of Rapid Application Development, there have been different approaches to [...]
Recently, I was reading my Computer Magazine from the IEEE Society (where I am a member) and there was an advertisement for Google Code University. Amazing? You bet. Google now is featuring this website so that programmers and developers, students, and entrepreneurs can all collaborate, discover, and mutually benefit from sharing code, coding and software [...]
CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, www.comptia.org) Formerly ABCD: The Microcomputer Industry Association, it is a membership organization of resellers, distributors manufacturers dedicated to business ethics and professionalism, founded in 1982. It is involved with many issues including product returns, freight and warranty claims and price protection. CompTIA is also well known for [...]
In the same way that a waterfall survives many hundreds of years, just like the image above, so “the waterfall process” of software development survives generations of software development and technological change. Essentially, in my fifteen years of software development experience, there are four “tiers” which a software program much pass on its journey to [...]
Documentation is always considered important by organizations. At the same time, few people enjoy spending time to actually create meaningful and helpful documentation. Our world today is on the move. However, like the age-old expression goes “haste makes waste”, the very same holds true for documentation. There are many people creating, developing, testing, and implementing [...]
Because I work in the Microsoft .NET environment, from time to time I read white papers that have something important to say about this software development platform. Most recently, I have discovered a really cool company and website called Submain. Their website and white papers are really informative and well-designed. I am not sure if [...]
A friend of mine (Mr. Dennis Chu) from the newly created Google Buzz is the webmaster and innovator of a new website called Goofy2 Dot Com. I recently joined this site, and it is definitely interesting. Click here to check out Goofy2 This website is a social/open instant messenger that enables users to stay in [...]
Dear Readers: Today’s post is a simple one but important one. A keyword that you should always keep in your mind, especially in today’s Information Age, is the word repository. Why do I say this? Well, it is because there is always a discrepancy between your actual knowledge-base and applied information. In other words, regardless [...]
At a recent LinkedIn group discussion, the topic of “documentation checklists” was raised. Is there such a thing as a documentation checklist? Can one silver-bullet documentation checklist be drafted that will ensure successful completion of a documentation guide? Is this really necessary? Here are my thoughts on this. Yes, you can formulate a basic list [...]
As a Technical Writer, I sometimes ask people (like at a social event) “so, do you really document your internal processes and procedures at your workplace?” Most people say “Oh, sure, I document these things.” But, the truth is, I believe, that people shy away from composing quality documentation because they don’t think it matters [...]
