Tag Archives: systems

Impermanence and Software Design: on systems

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Karl

When you’re building software, it is probably best to look at things half-Buddhist. Kent Beck writes about building software that won’t be around longer than him in a recent Facebook note: …nothing I am doing now with software will remain … Continue reading →

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On People, Process, and Passion and Persistence

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Karl

My boss back at Bell Atlantic, who became my friend and mentor, Pat Trongo, had the following quote from Peter Senge’s “The Fifth Discipline” on his cube wall in big bold letters. I found it inspirational back then. But now … Continue reading →

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On ever growing complexity in programming: on systems

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Karl

Edsger W. Dijkstra gave a lecture, in 1972, that has since been come to be called “The Humble Programmer”. It’s a short piece that explains why software development, why programming, was growing more, not less complex over time, and some … Continue reading →

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On Making and Working Towards Big Things: on innovation

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Karl

Wondering why we’re living in an age of ever increasing decreased expectations? You are not alone. Author Neal Stephenson wrote a thought provoking must read for World Policy Institute titled, “Innovation Starvation”: The imperative to develop new technologies and implement … Continue reading →

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Screaming Architecture: on systems

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Karl

In “Screaming Architecture” Uncle Bob lays out one of the biggest wins by designing to the problem domain, instead of your weapon (ahem.. framework) of choice: “If you system architecture is all about the use cases, and if you have … Continue reading →

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Anemic Domain Model: on systems

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Karl

Martin Fowler wrote a piece in 2003 that addresses a subtle anti-pattern – developing your domain model code devoid of behavior. It’s a short, interesting read, that is related to the development of fat controllers in MVCish applications: “AnemicDomainModel”: “In … Continue reading →

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The Web is 20

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Karl

I’d like to say thank you to Tim Berners-Lee and all those who were part of making the Web happen. The original announcement (where? on Usenet of course!) W3C Design Issues for the World Wide Web World Wide Web Foundation … Continue reading →

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What is “Fast Fashion”, how it relates to big data, Facebook and us

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Karl

Speed. Data. Lack of security. Encouraged anxiety. What makes a self-identity? And… fashion, clothing retailers and social media. n+1 has an interesting read in: The Accidental Bricoleurs: …As the fast in fast fashion implies, the companies’ comparative advantage lies in … Continue reading →

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An open data challenge from Anil Dash

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Karl

Anil Dash: “The Health Graph: Mortal Threats & Signs of Life”: As a community of developers and technologists, we have to build powerful, indispensable apps and services on top of this data. Killer apps that save lives. If we can … Continue reading →

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Be a Builder, not a Leader

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Karl

Read Umair Haque’s Builders’ Manifesto and get inspired. Screw that actually. Put it into action. Be it. Because the organizations we are part of need it to navigate the fast pace of change. Because our communities need us to act … Continue reading →

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