(No excerpt) →
September 2002
24
Sep
2002
You want to make it as easy as possible for a client writer to inform the user of abnormal conditions. The easier it is to write a client, the more likely your service will be quickly adopted. Therefore, present error messages both as an easily machine-parsed code, and as a textual description. →
23
Sep
2002
Too much of the marketing of development environments seems to ignore the fact that the thing coders spend the majority of their time doing is either writing code, or thinking about writing code. “Just fill in this wizard, and you've deployed your very own web service” does not impress me much when all the service does is say “Hello World” →
15
Sep
2002
Charles' guide to making the perfect cup of Earl Grey tea. A vital read if you ever end up working with him. →
9
Sep
2002
One of the User Interface fads that emerged in the 1990's was ‘skinnability’, the ability to customise the appearance of an application right down to its controls and window decorations. Skinning continues to be a big hit amongst computer users who can now make their entire computer look like their favourite cartoon, but it presents a challenge to User Interface designers. →
4
Sep
2002
The way the media treated the first anniversary of the World Trade Centre attacks makes me sick to the stomach. It's grief as entertainment. the line blurred between sickening reality, and the vicarious hit of constructed drama. →
4
Sep
2002
My stock reply (with bytecodes to prove it) to anyone who tells me I should use the StringBuffer instead of String concatenation in Java. →
