http://kosmaczewski.net "The four magic constants of the apocalypse: Nothing, Null, Empty, and Error." Verity Stob Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:32:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've sent the final version of my dissertation to the University of Liverpool. I've been doing this Master's degree since 2005, and now it's over. It feels good and weird at the same time. Rem 1.0, the final result and main objective of my Master's thesis work, has been released today. ... http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/08/28/master/ Frederick P. Brooks Jr. has written about prototypes, saying that they are not only useful but strictly fundamental pieces of the overall software process, as in many other engineering activities. He gives the example of a pilot chemical plant, prepared to process 10'000 units per day instead of the 2 ... http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/08/15/dangers-of-prototypin/ In 2006 I had the opportunity to work as a "project leader" into a small failing project. Three developers were working in an ad hoc basis, creating a software application for an important client (a government office in Lausanne), without any kind of detailed formal specification, without any kind of ... http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/08/11/saving-a-failing-project/ A comment I've left in David's last article: The ceremony? A revolting demonstration of how “One World, One Dream” means the destruction of all diversity for the sake of some governing power that be, forcing a single idea on everyone. A vomiting sequence of thousands of ants and bees moving at ... http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/08/09/ceremony/ Published in 1975, "The Mythical Man-Month" is considered an all-time classic in the software engineering field. The book author, Frederick P. Brooks Jr., used his experience as the project manager of the IBM System/360 and its software, the Operating System/360, to explain a common set of problem patterns, applicable to ... http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/08/08/adding-manpower/ While several other professions have a long, established and standard procedure of certification, the title "software engineer" is applied to both self-made developers, turned into experts of some technique, or to people with PhD degrees, and a long history of both academic and professional achievements. When in some situations it is ... http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/08/05/certification/ Software Engineering is the youngest of all the professions, being born around 50 years ago, but since then it has been continually improved. Practicers have fiercely debated upon it through the years, given the extremely fast pace of the innovations in the field, and the extremely difficult and inherently dynamic ... http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/08/03/challenges-for-software-engineers/ I'm sure the pun between the acronym for "NeXT Interface Builder" and this definition of "cocoa beans" is intentional, but it surprised me anyway: http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/07/14/nibs/ A watch might be one of the most common types of objects, but it remains also one of the earliest pieces of human craftmanship to show an extreme level of complexity, all contained in a small amount of space. Since the late 1700s, artisan watchmakers in Switzerland and elsewhere have ... http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/07/13/a-watch-from-an-oop-perspective/ Available right now: http://kosmaczewski.net/2008/07/10/iphone-at-the-swiss-apple-store/