So anyway, here’s to the last ten years. Things have changed a lot eh.

Chapter 3 - A Monstrous Forest.

Chapter 3 was a huge challenge for me as I wanted the first impression of the Wormworld to be a lasting one. This chapter is the longest chapter so far and it is full of elaborate full scale backgrounds. Including prelim, concept art and layout, I worked over 400 hours on Chapter 3. I think that it shows and I hope that everyone will enjoy the ride.

And then we have something else, which I must confess I hadn’t seen coming (I’ve just been too “heads-down” lately to know what’s going on in the Java world):

Oracle Releases Java SE 7 Update 4 and JavaFX 2.1

First Java Development Kit and JavaFX Software Development Kit for Mac OS X Available From Oracle

(My emphasis). Crikey! Read more (and get the JDK) from Oracle.

Well no, not for this one. The fact is, since I opted to take a year out from contracting at the tail-end of 2010, preferring to focus on pure freelance work, the job has gone bonkers (in a good way). Multiple projects are at the forefront of everything I do. Most evenings are spent working, with bits at the weekend too. Whilst I’m a firm believer in the saying “Make hay whilst the sun shines”, this can go too far. I love what I do, and I love learning about our craft. It would be terrible to end up resenting the coder’s life—that would never do!

I reckon that there will be a little more activity here in the coming months as things calm down a little. I’ve got lots to write about, but some of the posts will be pretty technical, and will require a lot of thinking and drafting. There shall be HTML5, CSS3, Java, JavaScript, and who knows what else. Hopefully some people remain to read it ;-)

John Barton’s RFC.

Hevery’s document contains a number of tips designed to make code more testable, but really it goes wider than that. Hevery picks out four basic flaws, gives examples of each, how to detect them (“warning signs” if you will), and of course, how to address them.

The four flaws:

1. “Constructor does real work” (don’t do any more than basic assignment, and certainly don’t do any static “initialisation” method calls)
2. “Digging into collaborators” (avoid a deep chain of wrapper objects)
3. “Brittle global state & singletons” (globally-accessible elements can / will cause havoc when trying to test and debug)
4. “Class does too much” (remember the classic principle of “single responsibility.” Also, spaghetti code is blummen’ hard to test)

Read more… Guide: Writing Testable Code.

1. The “How would I test for xyz” mind-set, and;
2. A fast simple development environment

That’s it, that’s all you need. The first comes with practise, and the second is pretty straightforward nowadays. Of late I have been writing a lot of PHP in Eclipse, Coda and the new kid on the block, Sublime Text 2 (check it out: very nice). All of these tools make it easy to write test-able code, because one simply pulls in the unit testing framework of choice, and then one writes code: job done, very low barrier to entry.

As a small aside, I am constantly amazed at how much PHP stuff goes out the door with minimal-to-no tests, especially when one considers the fluid nature of the language (its typing and such). This contrasts sharply with the mind-set we see amongst Rubyists, who regard their language’s dynamism as raison d’être for excellent test coverage.

So a diligent approach to testing is one thing, but contrast my comments about editors above with other recent experiences writing Java in an Eclipse-based editor called Domino Designer (some of you may be familiar with it). Making that code test-able has been more problematic, given DDE’s reluctance to play nice with plug-ins like JUnit, and the way a typical Java agent is structured. So, a couple of tips:

1. Abstraction is key: write as much of your Java code as you can abstracted away from the Domino object model. This way you can code in a proper Eclipse instance, and you can write easy test cases. Break up big problems into small solvable components, and test them. Your Java agents should be very “light”—minimal code perhaps just looping a collection or whatever. Let your custom, tested classes do the heavy lifting.
2. If you’re like me, and not at Lotusphere, you will be missing out on a session from Messrs. Myers and Robichaux covering effective Java in the Domino environment. As soon as their presentation is made available, I have it on good authority that you will want it, and that the Wookiee has some tricks up his sleeve when it comes to JUnit :-).

(Finals words of “wisdom”: it is a lot quicker, and simpler, to write test-able code up-front. Adding tests after the fact is always more burdensome).

]]>http://benpoole.com/weblog/201201170736testing, programmingBen Poolehttp://benpoole.com/weblog/201201170736http://benpoole.com/weblog/201201170736#commentsThu, 5 Jan 2012 18:45 +0100Yesterday I posted about Code Year, an initiative to get people learning the gentle (chortle) art of programming. But what of the seasoned professional, the much-maligned code monkey, the long-suffering developer?

Well, Matt Might has a splendid list of twelve resolutions for the rest of us:

Matt Might, 12 Resolutions for Programmers.

]]>http://benpoole.com/weblog/201201051845programming, matt might, resolutionsBen Poolehttp://benpoole.com/weblog/201201051845http://benpoole.com/weblog/201201051845#commentsWed, 4 Jan 2012 22:30 +0100After checking out the Code Year site recently launched by Codecademy, I moved on to read an interesting post from that site’s designer, Sacha Greif: How I Designed CodeYear.com in 1 Hour. Definitely check this post out: Sacha deftly guides the reader through the over-arching thought processes behind an effective site re-design. There are some handy tips and links along the way for any budding designers, or coders like you and I who simply want to to create more pleasant web experiences.

As for Code Year, what a great initiative!

If you are not a programmer, you are one of the programmed. It’s that simple.

Douglas Rushkoff says it best.

]]>http://benpoole.com/weblog/201201042230codeyear, douglas rushkoff, programming, codecademyBen Poolehttp://benpoole.com/weblog/201201042230http://benpoole.com/weblog/201201042230#commentsFri, 30 Dec 2011 16:33 +0100Yes, it’s me ;-). Time to break the long silence with an end-of-year post! No exhaustive review (especially given the paucity of posts in the first place), just a simple summary:

Music

I loves my music I does, and 2011 was another corking year. Far from the madd(en)ing crowd, there’s always plenty of good stuff out there being made and re-discovered. The year started off with my continued rediscovery of Frank Zappa (one of my early music loves), and a special new liking for the 1981 album, You Are What You Is, which is as good an introduction to his music as any I reckon. Album of the year? I have two, both of which came out towards the end of 2011: 50 Words For Snow from my all-time favourite Kate Bush, and Grace For Drowning, a wonderful double album from Steven Wilson. About a month after Wilson’s album came out, I got to see him and his band live in London, and will be seeing him again in 2012: an absolutely stunning show—go and see him if you get the chance! Finally, honourable mention again for Kate Bush, this time with her May release (yes, two albums in 2011), Director’s Cut.

Work

Funny old year. In November 2010 I finished a long-term assignment in London, and decided not to jump back on the contract wagon straight away. Instead I opted for the freelance life for the next eleven months, working on all manner of projects and technologies. This has been absolutely fantastic in many regards: lots of mobile web development, some work with IBM Connections, and so on. There was some XPages action, but 2011 was really the year that Domino dropped off the radar for me, with a lot of Java, PHP, HTML5, Javascript and Ruby instead. I am now working on another contract assignment, this time in MediaCityUK, doing lots of new (and high profile) stuff, which has been a tremendous learning experience thus far.

This site

The aforementioned work events have thus left me with a wee dilemma when it comes to this site; I’m not really sure in which direction to take it. Earlier in the year I experimented with some Ruby-themed posts, and also some HTML5 and Javascript how-tos, but neither “series” made much of an impression. I guess I still get a lot of Domino people here maybe ;-) Anyway, I have a back-log of tech stuff to write about, some of which should be of interest to the yellow world, so stay tuned!

Enough navel-gazing. I wish you and yours all the very best for 2012: here’s hoping it’s better than 2011 for all of us (it’s already looking good, as Daniel Lieske has released the next chapter of his Wormworld Saga!)

]]>http://benpoole.com/weblog/201112301633steven wilson, kate bush, wormworld, navel-gazing, 2011Ben Poolehttp://benpoole.com/weblog/201112301633http://benpoole.com/weblog/201112301633#commentsWed, 2 Nov 2011 22:53 +0100Ooops. I haven’t updated this blog in precisely one calendar month. How bad is that? There’s stuff piling up to be written and posted, honest guv—it’s just a matter of finding enough hours in the day.

Almost three weeks ago I started a new full-time contract, unusual for me in that it is based miles away from home in Manchester (MediaCityUK to be precise). I’m working as a mobile web developer, using technologies such as HTML, CSS3, Javascript, Linux and PHP (Zend framework, amongst other things). All very interesting, and with a very pleasant team in delightful offices. The downside of the job is that I’m away from home Monday - Friday, spend a lot of time on trains, and eat peculiar meals at strange times of the day :-).

So, more content as and when, but I felt I owed some sort of explanation for my absence here!

]]>http://benpoole.com/weblog/201111022253work, projectsBen Poolehttp://benpoole.com/weblog/201111022253http://benpoole.com/weblog/201111022253#comments