Author Archives: Tim King
Seven Truths of Good Code
What is “good” code? Some define it as “beautiful.” Some equate it with experience. Some with cleverness. Some can’t tell you what it is. Others know it when they see it. For me, “good” means maintainable. Good code, yes, has … Continue reading
Quick and Dirty May Be Dirty, But Is It Quick?
I’ve been meaning for some time to write about how slow “quick and dirty” is, how misnamed the term is, how misguided are the hoards of managers (many of them former and current software developers) who embrace “quick and dirty” … Continue reading
Fix for w3mir With Latest URI.pm
What brought this all on was that one of my computers died. So I updated software on another computer, and discovered I needed a fix. It’s a fix for a recent improvement in a Perl library, URI::file::Base, that coupled with … Continue reading
Dead Fish and Other Things People Wear
Lidor Wyssocky at The Mindset writes about “The Emperor’s New Clothes Syndrome.” This reminded me of a talk Tim Lister gave earlier this year at the Boston SPIN. “The problem is that although we know exactly what doesn’t work right … Continue reading
Top Eight Reasons to Abandon SourceSafe
How many of us work in Microsoft shops? I’m ashamed to admit that I do. When I took the job, I thought the benefits of working in a new domain with new technologies would outweigh the fact that I had … Continue reading
When the Best Tool Isn’t, and Why a Growing Team Doesn’t Care
Kathy Sierra excellent post on When the “best tool for the job”… isn’t misses an important point. It’s not that she missed the point so much as she just didn’t go into it. But I think it deserves going into. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Alistair Cockburn, Crystal Clear, Kathy Sierra, process, tools
8 Comments
Five Things Software Teams Can Learn From Build-A-Bear Workshop About Customer Relations
I never would have bought this book for myself. I won it in a drawing at InBubbleWrap.com. I’m not sure what made me enter the drawing. Maybe it was, Eh, it sounds moderately interesting, and it’s free. Or maybe it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged entrepreneurship, marketing, Maxine Clark, The Bear Necessities of Business
5 Comments
How DeMarco, Lister, and Cockburn Helped Me Find a Better Job (Part 2)
How DeMarco, Lister, and Cockburn Helped Me Find a Better Job (Part 2) (Part 1 was posted yesterday.) After four months of teamicide, Peopleware-style, I was ready to die. And when HR or my manager asked me, I told them … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Alistair Cockburn, Crystal Clear, job-seeking, Peopleware, Tim Lister, Tom DeMarco
3 Comments
How DeMarco, Lister, and Cockburn Helped Me Find a Better Job (Part 1)
Two years ago, I was enthusiastic, energized, and about to plunge into depression. I was enthusiastic and energized because I had started a new job two months before, and I was in a position where I could make choices, and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Alistair Cockburn, Crystal Clear, job-seeking, Peopleware, Tim Lister, Tom DeMarco
4 Comments
