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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectSoftware
authorGeorge V. Neville-Neil
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When Should a Black Box Be Transparent?
From Communications of the ACM

When Should a Black Box Be Transparent?

When is a replacement not a replacement?

Getting Off the Mad Path
From Communications of the ACM

Getting Off the Mad Path

Debuggers and assertions.

Patent Absurdity
From Communications of the ACM

Patent Absurdity

A case when ignorance is the best policy.

Divide and Conquer
From Communications of the ACM

Divide and Conquer

The use and limits of bisection.

In Praise of the Disassembler
From Communications of the ACM

In Praise of the Disassembler

There is much to be learned from the lower-level details of hardware.

Aversion to Versions
From Communications of the ACM

Aversion to Versions

Code needs to run anywhere as long as the necessary dependencies can be resolved.

The Non-Psychopath's Guide to Managing an Open Source Project
From Communications of the ACM

The Non-Psychopath's Guide to Managing an Open Source Project

Respect your staff, learn from others, and know when to let go.

Kabin Fever
From Communications of the ACM

Kabin Fever

KV's guidelines for KFH (koding from home).

Sanity vs. Invisible Markings
From Communications of the ACM

Sanity vs. Invisible Markings

Tabs vs. spaces

Broken Hearts and Coffee Mugs
From Communications of the ACM

Broken Hearts and Coffee Mugs

The ordeal of security reviews.

Kode Vicious Plays in Traffic
From Communications of the ACM

Kode Vicious Plays in Traffic

With increasing complexity comes increasing risk.

Numbers Are for Computers, Strings Are for Humans
From Communications of the ACM

Numbers Are for Computers, Strings Are for Humans

How and where software should translate data into a human-readable form.

Koding Academies
From Communications of the ACM

Koding Academies

A low-risk path to becoming a front-end plumber.

MUST and MUST NOT
From Communications of the ACM

MUST and MUST NOT

On writing documentation.

Know Your Algorithms
From Communications of the ACM

Know Your Algorithms

Stop using hardware to solve software problems.

Writing a Test Plan
From Communications of the ACM

Writing a Test Plan

Establish your hypotheses, methodologies, and expected results.

A Chance Gardener
From Communications of the ACM

A Chance Gardener

Harvesting open source products and planting the next crop.

The Obscene Coupling Known as Spaghetti Code
From Communications of the ACM

The Obscene Coupling Known as Spaghetti Code

Teach your junior programmers how to read code.

Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud
From Communications of the ACM

Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud

Cache is king. And if your cache is cut, you are going to feel it.

Watchdogs vs. Snowflakes
From Communications of the ACM

Watchdogs vs. Snowflakes

Taking wild guesses.
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