I recently reviewed some end user-authored use cases, and they -- of course -- reflect the way people actually work. The computer system was largely incidental to what they did.

Each use case listed half a dozen actors, had a dozen or more steps, and involved many off-line interactions among the actors …

I've had this conversation more than once.

Me: "We can download something like POI to read the Excel™ files. Or I can spend months writing something."

Them: "We have a policy against open source software."

Me: "Do you use Apache ?"

Them: "That's different."

Me: "How so? Be specific in enumerating …

My point -- always -- is that I'm not here to convert anyone. I'm just here to respond to the need for open source consulting skills.

As a parallel example, TH explained (at length) that there was NO earthly reason to retire a perfectly good IBM z-series mainframe. The z-series represents cheap …

This is something that elevates Doctest into the realm of Pattern. Perhaps even above that.

The idea is so elegant: the document is the test, and the test procedure is the document.

There's a DRY clarity to the whole thing that is rather exciting. It is an elegant application of …

Ian Bicking: A Blog http://blog.ianbicking.org/, provided some info on Py3K and Python Introspection http://blog.ianbicking.org/introspecting-expressions-in-py3k.html.

For me, the interesting part was his summary of Object-Relational Mapping. Mr. Bicking identifies two broad approaches: lambda introspection and operator overloading.

The following weirdness often happens when we encounter complex business problems.

1. The users hate something and want new software. They justify a project to spend $100K replacing something that appears broken.
2. The Business Analyst notes a control issue that is really a conflict between software functionality and business rewards.
3. The …

First, let me get this off my chest: Django http://www.djangoproject.com/ rules. There are a number of reasons, but they aren't the point of this posting.

When someone creates a twenty-minute application, they walk a fine line. The minimalist approach to software development can be viewed from two …

In Rat-holes of Lost Time [Rat-Holes of Lost Time ], I thought out loud about software development and how the resulting software product may or may not be of any value. In SEI terminology [view_qm ], this is Need Satisfaction. Sometimes I call it Solving The Problem ™.

I tried to distinguish two …

A comment on Offshoring Shows How Valuable Code Is floored me: "Another answer [to the 'what do you value?' question] could be to show cost reduction for the quarter. Its the old short term thinking to make Wall Street happy."

First, I concluded that "cost reduction" is somehow separate from …