Fundamentally, we need to provide explicit version identification on a schema. This is technically easy, but organizationally nearly impossible.

Technically, we need to use some kind of version control software for our model and the resulting DDL. We need some meta-meta-data to track schema names and version numbers. If we …

I've been asked about the proper location of Stored Procedures more than once. I've come down very strongly in opposition to triggers and stored procedures.

First, PL/SQL is slow . Anecdotally, people claim that introducing PL/SQL made an app faster. I submit that they restructured the application significantly to …

I'm trying to make sense of the "Voice of the Customer" as the 6σ folks term it.

I get email once in a while on my books (Programming , Python and OO Design ). The volume of mail indicates that I have a few hundred readers. I'm honored to have readers who …

Here's how it shakes out from my point of view. You could say that my bias is showing. I think, however, I have solid evidence for my opinions.

C++. Fine if you like memory management. Don't get me wrong, some people love the nitty-gritty details. Some people would prefer to …

I want to thank folks for their thoughtful comments.

I clarified a few design points.

Most importantly, I added four new appendices. For Python programmers, I provided examples of unittest, doctest and epydoc. For Java programmers, I provided examples of JUnit and javadoc.

I use the word denormalization heavily, to make a point to a certain class of developers. Other developers object to the term, since it doesn't have a precise meaning.

The point I often have to make this:

1. 3rd Normal Form is for Updates.
2. Data Warehousing is about Insert and Select …

The comment was eaten by Haloscan, but here's the text...

You need to read Rozhenstein on characteristic functions.

select
sum(case when a < .5 then 1 else 0 end) 'A'
,sum(case when a >= .5 and a < .75 then 1 else 0 end) 'B'
,sum(case when a >= .75 then …

The problem is this: parsing HTML from a variety of sources to create pleasant, easy-to-manipulate spreadsheets. HTML can represent the same data in a variety of ways, even within a single web site. What we have are several layers of parsing; layers which must be linked with increasingly simplified intermediate …

The updates to Building Skills in Object-Oriented Design cover some notes on testing, Agility and rework, two ongoing themes that can't be emphasized enough.

There were two small updates regarding testability.

First, creating Outcome instances — for testing purposes — does involve an ugly hack of repeating the payout odds. Since we're …

Don't ask why. I can't explain it without violating a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

However, check this out. Search for NMEA Checksum VB.

• http://www.experts-exchange.com/Databases/GIS_GPS/Q_21413235.html
• http://www.codepedia.com/1/Calculating+and+Validating+NMEA+Checksums
• http://www.codepedia.com/1/Taking+Out+the+Garbage:+NMEA+Checksums …