Note To Clients: Please Tell Me More Than “It’s broken!”
Ever have that one client who says “it’s broken” and can’t give you any more information than that? I’ve been there. Before I get into it, let me put a disclaimer out there: I’m not calling anyone out....
View ArticlePaying Down Technical Debt
Much has been written about technical debt, and the way it’s both accrued and paid off. For the uninitiated, here’s the definition of technical debt: The amount of time, money, or effort it takes to...
View ArticleOn Code Commenting And Technical Debt
If you’ve been in development for any length of time, you’ve probably come across a project or a company that doesn’t take the time to incorporate comments into its code. The argument is often made...
View ArticlePainless Spec and Schedule Development
In the time that I have developed software, I don’t know that I’ve ever met a developer who got excited about writing specs for anything. In fact, most developers loathe writing specs, or developing...
View ArticleThe Reasons To Attend PHP Conferences
Recently, php|architect announced that they were extending the early bird pricing for the TEK-X conference being held this year in Chicago, IL. As someone who has been and will be going this year, this...
View ArticleUpgrades In Open Source
PHP 5.3 has been out now for eight months, and in that time lots of projects have made decisions to begin developing against this version of PHP. Juozas Kaziukenas makes the argument that you shouldn’t...
View ArticleThe Fallacy of Sunk Cost
Last week, I began working on something that didn’t pan out. For whatever reason, I went down the wrong path, and ultimately abandoned the task I was working on. In discussing it with my boss, he...
View ArticleRevisiting: Why Every Developer Should Write Their Own Framework
In November of 2009, I wrote about why developers should write their own frameworks. I pointed out at the time that often developing a framework forces developers to make the kinds of architectural...
View ArticleIntroducing “Do This, Not That” For PHP Developers
When I was a new PHP developer, I discovered that there’s a myriad of solutions, options, configurations and frameworks available. I thought, how does one sift through all the noise and get something...
View ArticlePrivate Methods Considered Harmful
The following is an excerpt from a draft version of Do This, Not That: Object Oriented Development. Sign up today to be the first to get a copy this week! A few weeks ago, I was tasked with integrating...
View ArticleThe Value In Offering “Time To Tinker”
Years ago, I worked for a company that had a strictly governed bug fixing process. The bugs to be fixed per release were specifically regimented, right down to the amount of hours available to fix each...
View ArticlePaying Down Technical Debt
Much has been written about technical debt, and the way it’s both accrued and paid off. For the uninitiated, here’s the definition of technical debt: The amount of time, money, or effort it takes to...
View ArticleOn Code Commenting And Technical Debt
If you’ve been in development for any length of time, you’ve probably come across a project or a company that doesn’t take the time to incorporate comments into its code. The argument is often made...
View ArticlePainless Spec and Schedule Development
In the time that I have developed software, I don’t know that I’ve ever met a developer who got excited about writing specs for anything. In fact, most developers loathe writing specs, or developing...
View ArticleThe Reasons To Attend PHP Conferences
Recently, php|architect announced that they were extending the early bird pricing for the TEK-X conference being held this year in Chicago, IL. As someone who has been and will be going this year, this...
View ArticleUpgrades In Open Source
PHP 5.3 has been out now for eight months, and in that time lots of projects have made decisions to begin developing against this version of PHP. Juozas Kaziukenas makes the argument that you shouldn’t...
View ArticleThe Fallacy of Sunk Cost
Last week, I began working on something that didn’t pan out. For whatever reason, I went down the wrong path, and ultimately abandoned the task I was working on. In discussing it with my boss, he...
View ArticleRevisiting: Why Every Developer Should Write Their Own Framework
In November of 2009, I wrote about why developers should write their own frameworks. I pointed out at the time that often developing a framework forces developers to make the kinds of architectural...
View ArticleIntroducing “Do This, Not That” For PHP Developers
When I was a new PHP developer, I discovered that there’s a myriad of solutions, options, configurations and frameworks available. I thought, how does one sift through all the noise and get something...
View ArticlePrivate Methods Considered Harmful
The following is an excerpt from a draft version of Do This, Not That: Object Oriented Development. Sign up today to be the first to get a copy this week! A few weeks ago, I was tasked with integrating...
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