When you estimate tasks, should the estimates be done in hours, or in days?
As I see it, the big advantage of estimating in hours is that if you THINK in hours, you tend to get a more accurate estimate. There are lots of development tasks which will seem like …
Posted Fri 13 February 2009 by mcherm in Uncategorized
I like automated code scanners, really I do. They can scan your code either before or after you check it in and review it for code formatting, memory errors, or even potential security problems. It can prevent lots of foolish errors and unnecessary inconsistencies.
But there is one catch: the …
Posted Wed 31 December 2008 by mcherm in Programming
Once upon a time, all good software used some sort of a command language. Whether it was a word processor like Emacs, a typesetting program like TeX, or even something like a graphing program, everything had a command line at the bottom and some kind of command language that could …
Posted Mon 29 December 2008 by mcherm in Programming
Suppose you are setting up your database table, and you want to create a column to store an email address. How many characters should you allow in the field?
In Oracle (what I use most often), the correct type to use for an email is VARCHAR2(x) for some value …
Posted Wed 17 December 2008 by mcherm in Programming
As Willie Sutton didn't say, "I rob banks because that's where the money is."
I work for a bank, and so I worry more about security than most programmers. After all, if a hacker were were truly motivated and competent who would they pick to go after? Probably a bank …
Posted Thu 04 December 2008 by mcherm in Programming