Software People Inspiring

Rock S.O.L.I.D. Sept 16th

 

Talking of OO design, we still have a handful of places left on the OO design master class being run at (and in aid of) Bletchley Park on Sept 16th.

It's in a very good cause, and it's a packed and hands-on course that will provide a practical kick-start for OO newbies and stretch experienced developers.

Session Inspirations for SC2010

 

I've had emails from folk who are coming to Software Craftsmanship 2010, and would love to lead a session, but are a bit stuck for ideas.
It's easy, really, though. Do what I do. Take an existing kata (or "etude", as I prefer to call them 'cause I'm a musical, peace-loving kind of guy) and add a twist.

For example, how about running the Roman Numerals kata (yawn), but forbid people to use the mouse/touchpad (hoorah!)? Or FizzBuzz, but the rules are that you can't have more than one line of code in any method? Or how about a bit of deliberate anti-craftsmanship? How many code smells can you cram into 100 LOC? What's the most complex implementation of "Hello, world!" you can conjure up in 30 minutes? We can learn a lot about doing it better by trying to do it worse.

A boring old exercise can become an interesting challenge with a couple of extra rules. Like swimming lengths, but this time you gotta do it in your pyjamas.

Or how about working off a Bletchley Park theme. The logic of an Enigma machine fits into about 50 lines of code, which is just right for a 60-90 minute TDD workout. Just Google "enigma machine" + your favourite programming language and you'll be surprised how many examples there are. You could run a spy school and have pairs compete to send each other messages with their Enigma simulators.

Practice is not just about mastery through repetition. We need to stretch ourselves, and spicing up old katas is a great way to add variety and to make us work those codecrafting muscles.

Express Yourself In Code: Seeking Session Leaders for SC2010

 

Hello there!

As you may have heard, Software Craftsmanship 2010 has sold out. Which is great news for Bletchley Park and great news for software craftsmanship in the UK and Europe. I'm not aware of any conference in our line of work that has sold out as quickly.

Having a mansion full of enthusiastic craftsmen (and craftswomen) with their laptops, coding together, will be an exciting experience. The coding sessions at SC2009 went down very well, and it was great to see some well-established practices and theories coming under practical scrutiny.

Session submissions have been coming in, albeit slowly, and I think we already have enough great sessions to fill one track.

If you're stuck for session ideas, or a bit put-off by screencasting, I thought I'd post a few pointers which might spur you on.

1. Screencasts are easier than you think. The tools are out there, both free and commercial, and your screenacst doesn't need to be a polished video production. If it's a bit rough around the edges, a bit unrehearsed, don't worry. As long as people can get what you're trying to say, it's good enough.

2. Tools: I use Camtasia, which is very good indeed for screencasting. They have a free 30-day trial, which gives you plenty of time to record your SC2010 submission. Free screencasting tools include Jing and Camstudio.

3. Rehearse your screencast. Just run through it a couple of times to iron out any major kinks.

4. Cue cards. Bullet-point a rough high-level outline of the order of your screencast and key points to cover.

5. Keep a back up of any initial code. If you're going to run through it 2-3 times, and you're starting with some code already written, make a copy before you start.

6. Keep it simple. If it's a complicated screencast, it could be a very complicated session. Take a look at some of the submissions so far to get a feel for what would work well in a 30, 60 or 90-minute session.

7. Don't be afraid. We all worry too much about coding in front of an audience. First you'll disover is that you're really no worse than the rest of us at typing and using the shortcuts etc.And we're not expecting everyone who submits to be a coding rock star. Indeed, less of those would be dandy, thanks very much. If you've got a technique, a kata, a burning question, a challenge or just a bit of silly fun, we want to see it. Expressing yourself in code is the most meaningful way for a programmer to communicate, and at SC2010 we want to hear ideas from all quarters.

8. Video hosting in HD is now pretty commonplace. YouTube supports up to 1080p, Vimeo up to 720p. and for videos < 10 mins and 1 GB in size, it's completely free. If you're screencast is > 10 mins, just break it into smaller chunks.

Sharing is very much a cornerstone of craftsmanship, and free and cheap HD screencasting's giving us a way to share like we've never been able to before. If a picture's worth a thousand words, a 10-20 minute screencast can pretty much convey a whole book. It will be interesting to see what effect this has on the learning curve in software development as a whole, and especially within the craftsmanship community.

[Video] Rock S.O.L.I.D. - S is for Single Responsibility

 

Book your place on Rock S.O.L.I.D., Bletchley Park, Sept 16th. All proceeds got to charity.

OO Design Principles In Practice

 

From the Codemanship blog:

I'm running the first of the newly redesigned OO design principles workshops this weekend in London (and a -day version on Sept 16th at Bletchley Park - places still available and all proceeds to charity).

OO design principles run the risk of being a bit too abstract and theoretical, and the major challenge has been to reframe my original training to be as hands-on and practical as possible. Indeed, this may be where so many OO courses and books have faltered.

A particular challenge is to apply the principles on a day-to-day basis. How does S.O.L.I.D. translate into coding habits?

Well, I've had a stab.

Read More...

SC2010 Session Leaders

 

I just wanted to quickly clarify something that I'm sure most of you already know, but I've had a couple of emails asking, so I thought I'd better post something.

To lead a session at SC2010, you need to be registered. If you were planning to lead a session but didn't register before we sold out on Monday, I'm afraid you've missed the boat for this year's conference. I wish we could take more people, but the places are limited. There'll be another one next year, but please don't forget to register.

Rock S.O.L.I.D. OO Master Class In Aid Of Bletchley Park

 

Sept 16th is work4bletchley day, where a whole bunch of us who haven't done at all badly out of the whole computing thing are donating one day's pay to help Bletchley Park.

To raise even more cash, I've decided to make the best use of that day I can. So I'll be running an intensive and very hands-on master class in object oriented design principles for the very reasonable price of 249 GBP (the average one-day OO course costs 500+ GBP). Every penny of the profits will go to Bletchley Park. I'm not even claiming expenses.

So you can do double good on Sept 6th - get to grips with good OO design and help preserve the birthplace of modern computing to inspire future generations of software professionals.

The fun-packed day will include a tour of Bletchley Park.

You can find out more by visiting Codemanship's training page, and book through the Bletchley Park online shop using your credit or debit card.

It's all in two very good causes - clean code and Bletchley Park - so please tell your friend and colleagues.

Software Craftsmanship 2010 Is Full

 

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather. Barely 3 weeks after we opened registration and SC2010 is now full to bursting.

Big thanks to everyone who registered. You've done a great service to craftsmanship and Bletchley Park.

And commiserations to anyone who didn't manage to get a place. But please don't be downhearted. If you follow the SC2010 submissions blog, you'll get to see screencasts of the practical elements planned for every session (including any sessions that don't make it), which is almost as good as being there. Well, maybe not. But it's a start.

Eden Development Sponsors Software Craftsmanship 2010

 

I'm delighted to announce our first officially confirmed Gold Sponsor for SC2010. Those brilliant chaps at Eden Development are supporting craftsmanship and Bletchley Park with their generosity. These folks take software craftsmanship very seriously, and if you're coming to SC2010 (which is sold out, by the way) then seek them out in the conference reception area or in their sponsored track and you'll find out about all the very cool work they've been doing.

If you'd like to sponsor 120 rabidly enthusiastic software craftsmen on October 7th, and help the birthplace of computing into the bargain, then drop me a line.

Just 14 Places Left At SC2010

 

Crikey! By the power of Twitter and InfoQ.

We've sold 106 of the 120 places at Software Craftsmanship 2010, and we're predicting we may be fully booked by the end of the week. Session proposals are starting to trickle in and I'm hearing some exciting things about session submissions that are in development as we speak.

This is going to be a unique experience, so please book now to ensure you get your place.

The evening's starting to shape up nicely, too. If you were planning on heading straight home after the conference, you might want to reconsider as we're laying on some fantastic diversions courtesy of generous sonsors like Eden Development.