Snippets

Making the Switch From RSpec to Shoulda

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:58:07 +0930

not worth it

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:51:00 +0930

“I have 2 problems with this

I have to learn and start using this new language to talk about tests
I have to learn a whole new syntax to write tests”

#RSpec
describe Account, " when first created" do

  before do
    @account = Account.new
  end

  it "should have a balance of $0" do
    @account.balance.should eql(Money.new(0, :dollars))
  end

  after do
    @account = nil
  end

end


# Test::Unit
class AccountTest < Test::Unit::TestCase

  def setup
    @account = Account.new
  end

  def test_should_have_a_balance_of_0_dollars
    assert @account.balance == Money.new(0, :dollars)
  end

  def teardown
    @account = nil
  end

end

RSpec == Yoda-speak?

Halting a Problem

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:35:00 +0930

Halting a Problem:

We live in a day and age where many people still believe that our world is mostly deterministic, and that through action we can and will fix all of our problems, regardless of whether or not a solution is really possible.

Mixing Cucumber with Test::Unit/Shoulda

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:31:38 +0930

Mixing Cucumber with Test::Unit/Shoulda

From RSpec to Shoulda

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:04:43 +0930

From RSpec to Shoulda:

“What’s the best Rails testing framework? The one that makes your testing life most enjoyable, of course. For me, this has been RSpec, but I’m beginning to prefer Shoulda.”

The 'Language' in Domain-Specific Language Doesn't Mean English (or French, or Japanese, or ...)

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:26:51 +0930

The 'Language' in Domain-Specific Language Doesn't Mean English (or French, or Japanese, or ...):

“…language is deceptive. They try to make it English-like. But it isn’t English. It’s a programming language. And it has rules and a syntax that are very unEnglish like. There’s a major cognitive dissonance—I have to take ideas expressed in a natural language (the problem), then map them into an artificial language…”

Ruby at ThoughtWorks

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:11:34 +0930

Ruby at ThoughtWorks:

“ThoughtWorks started using Ruby for production projects in 2006, from then till the end of 2008 we had done 41 ruby projects.”

WPS: PostScript for the Web

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:30:28 +0930

WPS: PostScript for the Web:

a PostScript and PDF interpreter for HTML 5 canvas

Simple Compiler And Runtime

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:52:00 +0930

Simple Compiler And Runtime:

a BASIC dialect for developing Android applications

Dynamic Ramblings

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:51:17 +0930

Dynamic Ramblings:

A while ago I was discussing some software architectural options with a fellow developer and we ran into a little hitch with our conversation. Put quite simply, the word ‘dynamic’ has a couple of possible meanings. He was using it one way, and I was off on a complete different definition.

Search Patterns

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:49:52 +0930

Search Patterns:

A sandbox for collecting search examples, patterns, and anti-patterns.

iPhone Application UI Design Patterns

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:49:21 +0930

iPhone Application UI Design Patterns

An Easy Way to Increase Creativity

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:48:45 +0930

An Easy Way to Increase Creativity

How to deal with iPhone Device Provisioning without Stabbing Your Eyes Out

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:48:27 +0930

How to deal with iPhone Device Provisioning without Stabbing Your Eyes Out

The Ripple Effect

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:47:52 +0930

The Ripple Effect:

When a program is in it’s infancy, with few features and few lines of code, adding a new feature can usually be done quickly. But as the program evolves, although adding a new feature may still be quick and easy it may cause little side effects in other parts of a program. So adding the new feature may not take long but adjusting the rest of the program so that everything flows properly will take time.

How to build a desktop WYSIWYG editor with WebKit and HTML 5

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:54:10 +0930

How to build a desktop WYSIWYG editor with WebKit and HTML 5

The Ripple Effect

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:07:08 +0930

The Ripple Effect:

“Software by it’s very nature, tends towards complexity… When a program is in it’s infancy, with few features and few lines of code, adding a new feature can usually be done quickly. But as the program evolves, although adding a new feature may still be quick and easy it may cause little side effects in other parts of a program.”

A Toxic Paradox

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:05:48 +0930

A Toxic Paradox:

“Everyone is an adjustment. When you’re interacting with anyone, you leave the core you and become slightly them. This is not a betrayal of who you are, this is the middle ground we define between any two people. It’s a place of compromise so we can communicate.”

The Words You Wear

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:53:10 +0930

The Words You Wear:

Every group in the company has their own unique set of words and every group uses these words to verbally define who they are, what they know, and what they own. These words, these phrases, have value when everyone is in agreement as to what they mean, but used outside of your part of the organization, their value decreases, especially the closer you get to engineering.

Transitioning from Developer to Software Entrepreneur

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:50:35 +0930

Transitioning from Developer to Software Entrepreneur:

“You’ve probably realized by now that software development and entrepreneurship are two very different things. Software development is a tiny subset of the skills an entrepreneur needs to launch and operate a successful software or web startup.”