DevMavens Feed

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs of Software Development

Scott Hanselman — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:27:59 GMT

I've been experimenting with my diet a little and considering a Paleo diet. What an amazing and selfish thing, though, for me to even consider or be able to change my diet in a fundamental way. Only someone who isn't worried about their next meal

Reviewing Scrumban the Book

Steve Smith — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:25:38 GMT

I’ve been reading a bunch of kanban and lean books recently as I work on my Pluralsight course on Introducing Kanban (not published yet – will link to it when it is). The most recent one I’ve finished is Scrumban, Essays on Kanban Systems for Lean Software Development, by Corey Ladas (I’m doing the reviews in LIFO order). I made a bunch of notes while reading this book, and it has a great deal of useful information. I read David Anderson’s Kanban book first, followed by Benson and Barry’s Personal Kanban. I think reading Scrumban last was definitely the right choice, though if I were recommending these books today I would most likely suggest someone start with Personal Kanban, as it’s the lightest weight of the three.

One thing that sets Scrumban apart from the other books is the narrative style and organization of the book. As it says in the title’s byline, this book is a collection of essays – there isn’t a great deal of cohesion or a consistent narrative guiding you through the book. It also tends to assume a fair bit of of knowledge on the part of the reader, which is one reason why I wouldn’t start off with this book if you’re just starting to learn about kanban and lean software development. I also don’t think the title is particularly fitting, since there is only one essay that deals with scrum and mentions the term scrumban in the whole book. I have a feeling the title was chosen mainly because it was short and would leverage the popularity of scrum to drive up book sales – whether this was the case or was successful I can’t say.

I found a great deal of value in the book, and it is certainly no rehash of the other two kanban titles listed above. There are some very important, basic concepts covered here such as the analogy of kanban tokens to money in one of the first essays. Corey does a great job of examining multiple different approaches to processes and showing their pros and cons. Things like methods for synchronizing different handoffs between related up- and downstream collaborators in a process are explained clearly and are honestly things I’d never given much thought previously. The book also does a great job of reinforcing the notion that time-boxed iterations are a stepping stone to an even more streamlined process. If you’ve ever considered the logical progression of moving from infrequent software builds, to having a daily build, to having continuous integration, you can see the same logic being applied to moving from large project phases and handoffs (e.g. waterfall) to many smaller and iterative iterations (sprints), to continuous software delivery and one piece flow (ideal).

One criticism I do have of the book is that it often didn’t define new terms and acronyms as they were introduced. I noted a bunch of them:

There were probably more that I missed because I was already familiar with the term, and of course it’s possible some of these were covered somewhere in the book and I missed them, but these were my “google these later” notes. The links above are the result of my google-fu after-the-fact.

The latter 2/3 of the book shows a bunch of different ways to model processes using task boards, and the effects of each of these designs. The analysis from these areas of the book are easily worth the price of the whole book, considering how much time they’ll save you if you’re just getting started. The book doesn’t propose one right way to go about implementing such systems, but it does a very good job of showing the pros and cons of a number of approaches.

Overall, I thought the book had some great information, but could have been organized better. I would give it 3 or 4 stars on Amazon and would recommend other books first, but if you’ve read the others and still want to learn more, there’s some great information here.

Bug Hunt: What made this blog slow?

Oren Eini — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:00:00 GMT

A while ago the blog start taking 100% CPU on the client machines. Obviously we were doing something very wrong there, but what exactly was it?

We track down the problem to the following code, can you figure out what the problem?

I’m A Piece of Trash: Recycle Me

Rob Conery — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:05:27 GMT

I stare at the bottom of my drained coffee cup - the stray grounds settle on the bottom in a final stand against the tyranny of filtration. The quiet of the morning is leaving me - the minivans, SUVs, hybrid/crossover/family cars are pulling up in front of our house: it's Go Time. I'm Mr. Trash today - and the children in my daughters' class are about to get thrown away with me...

Updating Blog to Orchard and Switching Domains

Steve Smith — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:22:54 GMT

So, yesterday I posted a review of the new Asus Ultrabook and, as has become rather predictable lately, the virtual web server hosting my Graffiti-powered blog started having 100% CPU for quite a while after the post went live. Now, I don’t get *that* much traffic, but apparently something with my configuration of Graffiti, the server, and the traffic that I do get is enough for it to bring that server to its knees. And Graffiti, great though it was years ago, just had to go.

I opted to go with Orchard for several reasons. I’d been on the fence between Orchard and WordPress, but after using WordPress for some other one-off projects over the last 18 months, I’ve grown disenchanted with it. While I did find that it was very cheap to find hosting for WordPress, I also found that these cheaper hosts were (shockingly) not as responsive as I was used to, and also since WordPress is to blogging as Windows has been to PCs, it also is the target of loads of automated hacks, and it didn’t take long before the WordPress accounts I had set up on these shared hosts were compromised. After cleaning them up multiple times only to have the problems recur, I decided I’d just avoid the whole problem by using Orchard (the blogging equivalent of buying a Mac).

Orchard is incredibly easy to get set up, has loads of extensions, and also happens to use the platform, language, and design approach that I prefer (in this case, .NET, C#, and MVC). There’s a great introductory course on Pluralsight (intro module is free) by my fellow NimblePros employee Kevin Kuebler, too, if you’d like some help getting started. Migrating to Orchard was fairly straightforward. I used John Papa’s blog series on migrating from Graffiti to Orchard as my primary guide, and it was a huge help. The data migration involved pulling the data out of Graffiti into BlogML, and then sucking in the BlogML back into Orchard. I cleaned up the code for doing this a bit, though the comments are still all wrapped in <p>…</p>, so use John’s script to fix that. The latest version of the GraffitiToBlogML code should be here.

I’m hoping to get Disqus set up for my comments soon, as well as to migrate my old blog data from AspAdvice.com, ArmyAdvice.com, and asp.net/blogs, so that all of my blogging for the last decade can all live here. And hopefully this new account will perform better than the old one – I know I was losing visitors who came to my old site and found it unresponsive and left. If you’re reading this, thanks for sticking with me! :)

Northwind Starter Kit Review: Conclusion

Oren Eini — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:00:00 GMT

This is a review of the Northwind Starter Kit project, this review revision 94815 from Dec 18 2011.

A while ago I said:

Seriously?! 22(!) projects to do a sample application using Northwind?

And people took me up to task about it. The criticism was mostly focused on two parts:

I didn’t get that the project wasn’t about Northwind, but about being a sample app for architectural design patterns.
I couldn’t actually decide that a project was bad simply by looking at the project structure and some minor code browsing.

I am sad to say that after taking a detailed look at the code, I am even more firmly back at my original conclusion. I started to do a review of the UI code, but there really is no real need to do so.

The entire project, as I said in the beginning, is supposed to be a sample application for Northwind. Northwind is a CRUD application. Well, not exactly, it is supposed to be an example of an Online Store, which is something much bigger than just Northwind. But it isn’t.

Say what you will, the Northwind Starter Kit is a CRUD application. It does exactly that, and nothing else. It does so in an incredibly complicated fashion, mind, but that is what it does.

Well, it doesn’t do updates, or deletes, or creates. So it is just an R application (I certainly consider the codebase to be R rated, not for impressionable developers).

If you want to have a sample application to show off architectural ideas, make sure that the application can actually, you know, show them. The only thing that NSK does is loading stuff from the database, try as I might, I found no real piece of business logic, no any reason why it is so complicated.

So, to the guys who commented on that, it isn’t a good project. If you like it, I am happy for you, there are also people who loves this guy:

Personally, I would call pest control.

About Steve

Steve Smith — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:13:46 GMT

Hi, I'm Steve Smith. I go by Ardalis online because, well, you'd understand if your name was Steve Smith.

This is now the fifth place I've had a blog, if you don't count my initial home page and articles on ASPAlliance.com, which were somewhat blog-like but preceded the term. Unlike my past blog moves (from the ASP.NET/blogs site to AspAdvice.com/blogs and my ArmySteve.com / ArmyAdvice.com/blogs/ArmySteve blogs, and then from there to SteveSmithBlog.com), this time I'm pulling everything into one place. So far I only have the most recent stuff here, but soon you should see content dating back to 10 years ago, all in one easy to find location.

If you're here, you've found my blog. You may also wish to stalk me via other means:

Here's some more info on me, which is slightly outdated at the moment (Jan 2012).

Steve Smith is currently a Senior Architect with The Code Project and CTO of Lake Quincy Media, which he co-founded in 2005. He also founded and continues to run ASPAlliance.com, a popular resource for Microsoft programmers. He is a Microsoft Regional Director, an ASP.NET MVP (profile), an INETA Speaker, and an ASPInsider. He's written or contributed to several books on ASP.NET and related topics and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences such as DevConnections and TechEd. Steve also founded and organizes the Hudson Software Craftsmanship group in Hudson, Ohio, where he and his wife Michelle also own office space and she manages their agile consulting company, NimblePros.com.

Steve is a US Army veteran who served in Iraq as a combat engineer platoon leader tasked with finding and destroying unexploded ordnance and clearing IEDs. He received his honorable discharge as an army Captain in 2005 and is now happy to be 100% a civilian.

Steve lives in Ohio with his wife and business partner Michelle, their daughter Ilyana, and son Nikita. When he's not trying to keep up with his business or technology, Steve enjoys games, bicycling, and karate.

History

In January 2012 I moved my blog from SteveSmithBlog.com to Ardalis.com, which is shorter, more memorable, and lines up with my twitter alias.

In July 2008 I moved my blog from AspAdvice.com/blogs/ssmith to my own domain, SteveSmithBlog.com. I'm keeping all the old content at the old blog, as well as my previous Army blog that I kept while I was in Iraq in 2004.

The ASUS Zenbook UX31: Initial impressions

Dave Ward — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:00:44 GMT

For over a year now, I’ve been using a 13” MacBook Air as my only laptop. Though it’s a bit underpowered and I prefer Windows to OS X, I was ultimately unable to resist Apple’s build quality compared to the Dell I had used previously. However, I never fully resigned myself to accepting a dichotomy [...] No related posts.

Asus Zen Ultrabook First Impressions

Steve Smith — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:18:11 GMT

Last week a received a new Asus UX31E Zenbook Ultrabook laptop computer, which I’ve been putting through the paces. I’d like to write up my thoughts on the unboxing and my initial impression of the machine, and I’ll write more in a few weeks once I’ve had some more time to use it. Overall, I really like it so far. It’s thin, light, shiny, and feels solidly put together. It’s also extremely fast to start up and has a very reasonable active use battery life and a better sleep/standby battery life than any laptop I’ve ever owned.

Unboxing

I got my Asus Zenbook Ultrabook on Amazon, so of course it came in an Amazon box. Inside the Amazon box was the Asus box:

And inside the Asus shipping box is the actual Zenbook packaging:

After removing a bit of shrink wrap, this box opens to reveal the Zenbook and its accessories:

After a bit of unpacking and cleaning up some of the Russian nesting doll style boxes, the components look like this:

The laptop is incredibly thin. Here it is compared to a thin Bic pen on my desk:

It comes with a magnetic clasp carrying sleeve, which I really like. It’s handy to slide the Zenbook in and out of, and it has a nice texture and feel to it, in addition to feeling pretty durable (though it’s too early to say how well it holds up to real usage). Because it’s so thin, the Zenbook doesn’t have ports for Ethernet and VGA, opting instead to support only thinner ports like USB and micro-HDMI. It comes with a small accessory bag and two adapters:

A USB to Ethernet/RJ-45 adapter
A micro-HDMI to VGA adapter

I do have two small complaints about the accessories. Firstly, I wish it came with an HDMI adapter, since our office projector supports HDMI. That said, I wouldn’t want to give up the VGA adapter, since that’s still the universal standard for projectors everywhere. Secondly, the accessory bag, while compact and stylishly a match for the larger Zenbook sleeve, does not actually fit into the sleeve. Likewise, the power adapter certainly doesn’t fit into the sleeve, so you’ll certainly still need some kind of proper laptop bag or backpack to hold these things. It would have been nice if the sleeve somehow could be just as slick and portable as it is now while still somehow being able to hold the adapters and/or the accessory bag, but I suspect those two desires are simply incompatible with real-world space constraints.

To support standard HDMI output from the Zenbook, I’ll most likely pick up one of these HDMI Female to Micro HDMI Mail Adapters for under $3.

The front and back of the Zenbook are very simple. The smooth finish is great to look at and has a nice, slick feel to it. The sleeve, again, is a nice addition to the package, as I’m sure it will protect the Zenbook from fingerprints and accidentally slipping from my fingers in transit.

The power adapter is light and the connector the the Zenbook itself is tiny. I think it’s smaller than a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, though I haven’t measured it or tried to plug my headphones into the power port of the laptop (yet). I certainly appreciate having a light power supply, since I’ve had laptops in the past with power bricks that weighed (literally) more than the Zenbook itself (I’m looking at you, Alienware).

Once you open up the machine, it has a nice-sized screen, a huge trackpad, built-in speakers on the inside of the screen’s hinge, a webcam, and the same smooth metal finish found on the outside case.

Starting For The First Time

The Zenbook comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. It also has the Bing Bar installed automatically, but this is the only “crapware” that seems to come preinstalled on the device. I left the Bing Bar running for almost a day before it annoyed me enough to remove it (I did try to give it a fair chance).

Once you’ve started, you’ll see some information about Instant On, which theoretically is a unique Asus technology that saves power and speeds boot time for the computer. I turned it on and the default desktop widget that displays expected Standby Time doubled as a result.

Asus also has an automatic update service running, which is set up nearly identically to Windows Update. You’ll want to make sure you get the latest drivers via Asus Update, as I have heard of others having issues that were resolved by these updates. One common issue I’ve seen relates to the trackpad. It’s different from others I’ve used, as it is both more sensitive to touch and by default somewhat slower (in terms of how fast the mouse pointer moves on the screen based on how far you move your finger – adjustable in Windows). The left and right “buttons” are actually just regions on the touchpad, too, and so occasionally I’ve accidentally dragged things as I was trying to click. These are I’m sure just things I need to get used to. I’ve also read others’ complaints about the keyboard. It, too, is different from most laptop keyboards I’ve used, but I haven’t had any problems with it, and I’m a relatively fast touch typist. It requires some getting used to, just like riding a new and unfamiliar bicycle, but once you’re acclimated to it, it’s fine in my so far limited experience.

The one other oddity I noticed so far is that the power button is placed where the Delete button usually goes (and the delete key is just to the left of the power key). I almost, once, hit the power button while going for the delete key. I’m pretty sure it just would have gone to sleep (which it does quite quickly) and I’d have simply had to wake it back up (also very quick), but I caught myself and have had no issue with remembering where the del key is since.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe my readers will enjoy. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Here’s another review of the Zenbook on CNET you may find interesting if you read this far. I agree with their sentiment, “who doesn't want a thin, unibody metal lightweight laptop that starts fast and has a great battery life?”

Ask Ayende: Handling filtering

Oren Eini — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:00:00 GMT

With regards to my quests against repositories, Matt asks:

…if my aggregate root query should exclude entities that have, for example, and IsActive = false flag, I also don't want to repeatedly exclude the IsActive = false entities. Using the repository pattern I can expose my Get method where internally it ALWAYS does this.

The problem with this question is that it make a false assumption, then go ahead and follow on that false assumption. The false assumption here is that the only way to handle the IsActive = false in by directly querying that. But that is wrong.

With NHibernate, you can define that with a where condition, or as a filter. With RavenDB, you can define that inside a query listener. You can absolutely set those things up as part of your infrastructure, and you won’t need to create any abstractions for that.