Object-Oriented Reengineering Patterns

If you've ever inherited legacy software (and legacy software doesn't mean old software), or jointed a company with a large software system that's already seen some time in the field, here's a gem worth looking at: Object-Oriented Reengineering Patterns. Aimed at software professionals who are comfortable with design and development (what the authors call "Forward Engineering"), the book will introduce you to and clarify the terms and practices around "Reverse Engineering" and "Reengineering." It's accessible and full of useful insights into how to get your arms around systems quickly, and battle-tested techniques for making legacy software better.

I'm about 70 pages into the book, which is an accomplishment for most technical books which are best used for reference, but this work (at least, so far) is very readable front-to-back as a tutorial on how to take on a reengineering project, with a plausible case study woven into the pattern language of software reengineering.

Best of all, it's free in digital form, and if you prefer paper for reference works, links are available on the site to purchase the book from Amazon or have it printed-on-demand by Lulu.  Definitely worth a look.

Unity Sample in C#: Holographic Hello World

Something I really want to play with, and maybe someday I'll even have the hardware for it: Holograms 100

No Silver Bullets

Watched through a large portion of Steve McConnell's online course Code Complete Essentials late last week, and if I had the spare cash, I'd complete the course -- I was thoroughly enjoying Construx Software's free trial and can only rave about the courses I saw, including overviews of Scrum and Kanban Agile methodologies. During the Code Complete course, McConnell referenced Fred Brooks' paper "No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accident in Software Engineering", and I both wanted to share the paper he referenced and save it for later reading, which is a little odd since I know I downloaded this paper probably ten years ago, but never got back to read it. Oh well, maybe I will this time, and maybe you'll benefit from it, too. Cheers!

Modern JavaScript Explained for Dinosaurs

The title alone makes this worth it: Modern JavaScript Explained for Dinosaurs. I freely admit my need for such a site and the actual fit for myself as a technology dinosaur. HT: .NET Rocks!

Dear Internet: I'm Sorry

I can't tell you -- seriously, can't -- how many times I've started blogs for different reasons, but I NEVER KEEP THEM GOING because they don't serve a real use for me. Let's face it: I spin these things up because I have an overinflated value of my own opinion at some point or another, or because I think somebody, somewhere might care about some insight or other that I've (rather haphazardly) stumbled over as a software professional.

And there they sit, with one or two published (and usually a stack of never-published) posts, languishing on Blogger until I either dust them off (briefly) or killing them (most often).

But here's the thing: I'm in a place in my career now where a lot of friends and co-workers are now spread out across several companies and locations, and when I come across fun or useful things, I'd like to put them in one place and let others come and get them... and if they really care, they can follow the blog. And I might even need to be reminded that I saw or thought something at one time or another.

So, I'm dusting this thing off (again). So, Internet, I'm sorry. You don't need another programming blog. But here goes.

A Shout-Out to KCDC 2014

A note of thanks to the organizers, volunteers, sponsors, speakers, and attendees of the 2014 Kansas City Developer Conference.  I had a fantastic time, learned a good deal of new things, got some ideas rolling, and had a blast getting to meet several new people in the KC technology community.  Looking forward to seeing you all again next year!