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  • Non-Blocking I/O Made Possible in Java

    Java SE7 "Dolphin" release is nearing and we're chomping at the bit. So let's dig in and review non-blocking IO, a feature of java.nio (New I/O) package that is a part of Java v1.4, v1.5 and v1.6 and we'll also take a peek at the java.nio.file (NIO.2) package.

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  • Non-Blocking I/O Made Possible in Java

    Java SE7 "Dolphin" release is nearing and we're chomping at the bit. So let's dig in and review non-blocking IO, a feature of java.nio (New I/O) package that is a part of Java v1.4, v1.5 and v1.6 and we'll also take a peek at the java.nio.file (NIO.2) package.

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  • Algorithm for querying linearly through a non-linear list of questions

    - by JoshLeaves
    For a multiplayers trivia game, I need to supply my users with a new quizz in a desired subject (Science, Maths, Litt. and such) at the start of every game. I've generated about 5K quizzes for each subject and filled my database with them. So my 'Quizzes' database looks like this: |ID |Subject |Question +-----+------------+---------------------------------- | 23 |Science | What's water? | 42 |Maths | What's 2+2? | 99 |Litt. | Who wrote "Pride and Prejudice"? | 123 |Litt. | Who wrote "On The Road"? | 146 |Maths | What's 2*2? | 599 |Science | You know what's cool? |1042 |Maths | What's the Fibonacci Sequence? |1056 |Maths | What's 42? And so on... (Much more detailed/complex but I'll keep the exemple simple) As you can see, due to technical constraints (MongoDB), my IDs are not linear but I can use them as an increasing suite. So far, my algorithm to ensure two users get a new quizz when they play together is the following: // Take the last played quizzes by P1 and P2 var q_one = player_one.getLastPlayedQuizz('Maths'); var q_two = player_two.getLastPlayedQuizz('Maths'); // If both of them never played in the subject, return first quizz in the list if ((q_one == NULL) && (q_two == NULL)) return QuizzDB.findOne({subject: 'Maths'}); // If one of them never played, play the next quizz for the other player // This quizz is found by asking for the first quizz in the desired subject where // the ID is greater than the last played quizz's ID (if the last played quizz ID // is 42, this will return 146 following the above example database) if (q_one == NULL) return QuizzDB.findOne({subject: 'Maths', ID > q_two}); if (q_two == NULL) return QuizzDB.findOne({subject: 'Maths', ID > q_one}); // And if both of them have a lastPlayedQuizz, we return the next quizz for the // player whose lastPlayedQuizz got the higher ID if (q_one > q_two) return QuizzDB.findOne({subject: 'Maths', ID > q_one}); else return QuizzDB.findOne({subject: 'Maths', ID > q_two}); Now here comes the real problem: Once I get to the end of my database (let's say, P1's last played quizz in 'Maths' is 1056, P2's is 146 and P3 is 1042), following my algorithm, P1's ID is the highest so I ask for the next question in 'Maths' where ID is superior to 1056. There is nothing, so I roll back to the beginning of my quizz list (with a random skipper to avoid having the first question always show up). P1 and P2's last played will then be 42 and they will start fresh from the beginning of the list. However, if P1 (42) plays against P3 (1042), the resulting ID will be 1056...which P1 already played two games ago. Basically, players who just "rolled back" to the beginning of the list will be brought back to the end of the list by players who still haven't rolled back. The rollback WILL happen in the end, but it'll take time and there'll be a "bottleneck" at the beginning and at the end. Thus my question: What would be the best algorith to avoid this bottleneck and ensure players don't get stuck endlessly on the same quizzes? Also bear in mind that I've got some technical constraints: I can't get a random question in a subject (ie: no "QuizzDB.findOne({subject: 'Maths'}).skip(random());"). It's cool to skip on one to twenty records, but the MongoDB documentation warns against skipping too many documents. I would like to avoid building an array of every quizz played by each player and find the next non-played in the database with a $nin. Thanks for your help

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  • Purely technical reasons for PHP as a first choice?

    - by JoelFan
    I know this may come off as a flame-y / troll-y, but I hope you will take my word for it that it's not my intention. I am just trying to understand the PHP phenomenon. After looking at the many technical issues with the language design of PHP, I am hard pressed to find any redeeming technical advantages where PHP surpasses all other languages. Before coming to the conclusion that there would simply be no reason to choose PHP as a development language on purely technical grounds, I would like to ask, if all non-technical factors were equal (such as what language the developers already know, what languages the hosting provider offers, language of existing code, cost, license, corporate fiat, etc.), would there be any type of new software system that would indicate making PHP a first choice for development? If so, what technical advantage does PHP have over all other languages that would cause you to choose it? EDIT: I am not interested in comparing PHP "out of the box" with other languages "out of the box". If PHP has a certain feature "out of the box" that another language has only after installing some readily available add-on, that is not considered an advantage for PHP for the purposes of this question.

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  • Non-English Character Display in Oracle SQL Developer

    - by thatjeffsmith
    I get a variation on this question at least once a week, if not more frequently. I’m from Israel, and the language on the databases is Hebrew. When I use the old and deprecated SQL*Plus (windows rich client) I can see the hebrew clearly, when I use the latest SQL Developer, I get gibberish. This question appears on the forums about every week or so as well. So what’s the deal? Well, it starts with a basic misunderstanding of NLS Client parameters. These should accurately reflect the language and locality setup on your LOCAL machine. DO NOT COPY what’s set in the database. The these parameters work together with the database so that information can be transferred back and forth correctly. Having the wrong NLS parameters locally can be bad. [ORACLE DOCS]Setting the NLS_LANG parameter properly is essential to proper data conversion. The character set that is specified by the NLS_LANG parameter should reflect the setting for the client operating system. Setting NLS_LANG correctly enables proper conversion from the client operating system character encoding to the database character set. When these settings are the same, Oracle Database assumes that the data being sent or received is encoded in the same character set as the database character set, so character set validation or conversion may not be performed. This can lead to corrupt data if conversions are necessary. OK, so what are you supposed to do? Set the Font! 9 times out of 10, this preference fixes the problem with display issues. Make sure you set a Font that supports the characters you’re trying to display. It’s as simple as that. This preference defines the font used to display characters in the editors and the data grids. If you have it set to a font that doesn’t have Hebrew character support – you’re not going to see Hebrew in SQL Developer. A few years ago…wow, like 15 years ago, I learned that the Tohama Font is pretty Unicode-friendly. Bad Font Selection A Font that’s not non-English friendly Good Font Selection Exact same text, except rendered with the Tahoma font Summary Having problems seeing non-English text in SQL Developer? Check the font! And do not start messing with NLS parameters without talking to your DBA first.

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  • What non-programming tools do programmers use?

    - by user828584
    I'm reading code complete with the intention of learning how to better structure my code, but I'm also learning a lot about how many aspects of programming something there are that aren't just writing the code. The book talks a lot about problem definition, determining the requirements, defining the structure, designing the code, etc. What tools are used for these non-writing steps of programming? Is there software that will help me design and plan out what I'm going to write before I do?

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  • How to explain to a layperson the variance in programmer rates?

    - by Matt McCormick
    I recently talked to a guy that is looking for developers to build a product idea. He mentioned he has received interest from people but the rates have varied from $20-120/hr. This project he estimates should take 3-6 months and since he is non-technical, he is confused why there can be so much variance. I understand how I would choose someone but I am a developer and can gauge other people's work. How can I explain to him (in a non-biased way, if possible, as I will apply as well) about the variance in rates? Is there any good analogy that would help?

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  • How do I mount Samba share as non-root user

    - by Android Eve
    Is there a step-by-step tutorial that instructs in detailed step-by-step how to smbmount a Samba share to be used by a non-root user on a Ubuntu 10.04 desktop? Note: there are numerous threads on Google search dealing with this seemingly new problem. Instructions that used to work on Ubuntu 8.04 (or an older version of smbfs) no longer work. I need something fresh, punctual and especially reproducible. Thanks.

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  • What dangers await if I block non-standard, non-major-usa search engine bots from my USA only website?

    - by Ryan
    I noticed tons of bandwidth being used by non-USA search engine bots, so I began blocking them in an effort to save bandwidth and cpu cycles for actual users and the search engines they come from (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, etc.). Other than potentially losing some international traffic (which isn't really important to us since all of our content is very USA-centric), what additional dangers should I be concerned about? I'm using a modified version of Jeff Starr's User Agent Blocklist

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  • JAX-RS 2.0, JTA 1.1, JMS 2.0 Replay: Java EE 7 Launch Webinar Technical Breakouts on YouTube

    - by John Clingan
    As stated previously (here) (here), the On-Demand Replay of Java EE 7 Launch Webinar is already available. You can watch the entire Strategy and Technical Keynote there, and all other Technical Breakout sessions as well. We are releasing the next set of Technical Breakout sessions on GlassFishVideos YouTube channel as well. In this series, we are releasing JAX-RS 2.0, JTA 1.1, and JMS 2.0. Here's the JAX-RS 2.0 session: Enjoy watching them over the next few days before we release the next set of videos! And don't forget to download Java EE 7 SDK and try numerous bundled samples. "here), we are releasing the next set of Technical Breakout sessions on GlassFishVideos YouTube channel as well. In this series, the next three videos are released. Here's the JAX-RS 2.0 session: Enjoy watching them over the next few days before we release the next set of videos! And don't forget to download Java EE 7 SDK and try numerous bundled samples.

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  • Non-x86 Blade Server Buyer's Guide

    When it comes to blade servers, x86 is the most frequent architecture of choice. Bladed or not, however, x86 servers are not the perfect tool for every task. Non-x86 blade server options, while limited, fill many of the gaps that their x86 siblings leave.

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  • Non-x86 Blade Server Buyer's Guide

    When it comes to blade servers, x86 is the most frequent architecture of choice. Bladed or not, however, x86 servers are not the perfect tool for every task. Non-x86 blade server options, while limited, fill many of the gaps that their x86 siblings leave.

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  • What are good technical questions to ask to determine the analytical skill of a programmer?

    - by ENT
    I am a non-technical recruiter and I want to lay out some initial interview questions, one of which is to determine the analytic skill of a person. We will soon launch our hiring process for programmers and we are mapping out what would be the best questions. I have read quite a few posts here that suggested on how to interview programmers but I haven't come across on what technical question to ask that non-technical recruiters can easily comprehend if the answer is good or bad.

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  • Exim PanicLog has Non-Zero Size...?

    - by willbeeler
    I'm getting the following error from my Ubuntu server: exim paniclog /var/log/exim4/paniclog on (my server FQDN) has non-zero size, mail system might be broken. I found a solution on the web here. Basically, I just need erase the paniclog by entering the following code: sudo rm /var/log/exim4/paniclog So, I know how to get rid of the error, but I don't know how it started, and how to not let it happen again. Any explanation? Thanks in advance.

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  • Does having a higher paid technical job mean you do not get to code any more?

    - by c_maker
    I work at a large company where technical people fall roughly in one of these categories: A developer on a scrum team who develops for a single product and maybe works with other teams that are closely related to the product. An architect who is more of a consultant on multiple teams (5-6) and tries to recognize commonalities between team efforts that could be abstracted into libraries (architects do not write the library code, however). This architect also attends many meetings with management and attempts to set technical direction. In my company the architect role is where most technical people move into as the next step in their career. My questions are: Do most companies work such a way that their highest paid technical people are far removed from writing code? Is this a natural tendency for a developer's career? Can a developer have it all (code AND set direction?)

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  • Online Press Releases Essential For Non-Profits

    An online Press Release has become a powerful tool to convey your message to a large and dispersed target audience. Where advertising serves as a form of direct self-promotion, a Press Release serves the same purpose but in a more subtle and informative manner. A PR for your non-profit should be used judiciously, when there is real newsworthy content to disseminate.

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  • MySQL query works in PHPMyAdmin but not PHP

    - by Su4p
    I do not understand what's happening. I have a query in PHP who crashes -with a strange error-. When I copy/paste the exact same request in PHPMyAdmin it works as expected. What am I doing wrong here ? SELECT oms_patient.id, oms_patient.date, oms_patient.date_modif, date_modif, AES_DECRYPT(nom,"xxxxx") AS "Nom", AES_DECRYPT(prenom,"xxxxx") AS "Prénom usuel", DATE_FORMAT(ddn, "%d/%m/%Y") AS "Date de naissance", villeNaissance AS "Lieu de naissance (ville)", CONCAT(oms_departement.libelle,"(",id_departement,")") AS "Lieu de vie", CONCAT(oms_pays.libelle,"(",id_pays,")") AS "Pays", CONCAT(patientsexe.libelle,"(",id_sexe,")") AS "Sexe", CONCAT(patientprofession.libelle,"(",id_profession,")") AS "Profession", IF(asthme>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Asthme", IF(rhinite>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Rhinite", IF(bcpo>0,"Oui","Non") AS "BPCO", IF(insuffisanceResp>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Insuffisance respiratoire chronique", IF(chirurgieOrl>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Chirurgie ORL du ronflement", IF(autreChirurgie>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Autre chirurgie ORL", IF(allergies>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Allergies", IF(OLD>0,"Oui","Non") AS "OLD", IF(hypertensionArterielle>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Hypertension artérielle", IF(infarctusMyocarde>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Infarctus du myocarde", IF(insuffisanceCoronaire>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Insuffisance coronaire", IF(troubleRythme>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Trouble du rythme", IF(accidentVasculaireCerebral>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Accident vasculaire cérébral", IF(insuffisanceCardiaque>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Insuffisance cardiaque", IF(arteriopathie>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Artériopathie", IF(tabagismeActuel>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Tabagisme actuel", CONCAT(nbPaquetsActuel," ","PA") AS "", IF(tabagismeAncien>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Tabagisme ancien", CONCAT(nbPaquetsAncien," ","PA") AS "", IF(alcool>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Alcool (conso régulière)", IF(refluxGastro>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Reflux gastro-oesophagien", IF(glaucome>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Glaucome", IF(diabete>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Diabète", CONCAT(patienttypeDiabete.libelle,"(",id_typeDiabete,")") AS "", IF(hypercholesterolemie>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Hypercholestérolémie", IF(hypertriglyceridemie>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Hypertriglycéridémie", IF(dysthyroidie>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Dysthyroïdie", IF(depression>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Dépression", IF(sedentarite>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Sédentarité", IF(syndromeDApneesSommeil>0,"Oui","Non") AS "SAS", IF(obesite>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Obésité", IF(dysmorphieFaciale>0,"Oui","Non") AS "Dysmorphie faciale", TextObservations AS "", id_user FROM oms_patient LEFT JOIN oms_departement ON oms_departement.id = id_departement LEFT JOIN oms_pays ON oms_pays.id = id_pays LEFT JOIN patientsexe ON patientsexe.id = id_sexe LEFT JOIN patientprofession ON patientprofession.id = id_profession LEFT JOIN patienttypeDiabete ON patienttypeDiabete.id = id_typeDiabete WHERE oms_patient.id=1 You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'small"(conso régulière)", IF(refluxGastro0,"Oui","Non") as "Reflux ga' at line 1 "near 'small" <-- where is small o_O The PHP code isn't really relevant cause you won't see a lot. $db = mysql_connect(); mysql_select_db();//TODO SWITCH TO PDO mysql_query("SET NAMES UTF8"); $fields = $form->getFields($form); $settingsForm = $form->getSettings(); $sql = 'SELECT oms_patient.id,oms_patient.date,oms_patient.date_modif,'; foreach ($fields as $field) { if (!$field->isMultiSelect()) { $field->select_full(&$sql, 'oms_patient', null); } } if (isset($settingsForm['linkTo'])) { $idLinkTo = 'id_' . str_replace('oms_', '', $settingsForm['linkTo']); $sql .= $idLinkTo; } $sql.=' FROM oms_patient'; foreach ($fields as $field) { if (!$field->isMultiSelect() && $field->getTable('oms_patient')) { $sql .=' LEFT JOIN ' . $field->getTable('oms_patient') . ' ON ' . $field->getTable('oms_patient') . '.id = '.$field->getFieldName().' '; } } $sql.=' where oms_patient.id=' . $this->m_settings['e']; $result = mysql_query($sql) or die('Erreur SQL !<br>' . $sql . '<br>' . mysql_error()); $data = mysql_fetch_assoc($result); var_dump of $sql string(2663) "SELECT oms_patient.id,oms_patient.date,oms_patient.date_modif,date_modif,AES_DECRYPT(nom,"xxxxx") as "Nom",AES_DECRYPT("prenom","xxxxx") as "Prénom usuel",DATE_FORMAT(ddn, "%d/%m/%Y") as "Date de naissance",villeNaissance as "Lieu de naissance (ville)",CONCAT(oms_departement.libelle,"(",id_departement,")") as "Lieu de vie",CONCAT(oms_pays.libelle,"(",id_pays,")") as "Pays",CONCAT(patientsexe.libelle,"(",id_sexe,")") as "Sexe",CONCAT(patientprofession.libelle,"(",id_profession,")") as "Profession", IF"... can't go further to see what is in the output after the "..." <-- if you have an idea

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  • Corporate Wiki Organization - Technical Documentation

    - by Dave Jarvis
    Corporations have documents describing various aspects of their technical systems, including: Custom Applications Custom Development Frameworks Third Party Applications Accounting Bug Tracking Network Management How To Guides User Manuals Software Tools Web Browsers Development IDEs Graphics GIMP xv Text Editing File Transfer ncFTP WinSCP Hardware Servers Web Database Exchange File Network Devices Printers What other items are missing from the list, and how would you organize it? (For example, would Software Tools make more sense under Third Party Applications?) Try to think about where you, a software developer, would expect to find the information by browsing (not searching). A few constraints: The structure should not go beyond three levels deep. Avoid the word "and" in favour of two different categories. Keep the structure general: it should appy as broadly as possible. Target audience is primarily technical.

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  • Creative Technical Interview Questions for Developers

    - by John Shedletsky
    I do a good number of in-person technical interviews for new developers. I like to ask technical questions where I ask people to either code something up or develop an algorithm to solve a task. I feel my current repertoire is uninspired. In my opinion, the ideal interview question has these qualities: Multiple solutions, where some are obviously better than others, and some that involve subtle trade-offs (discussing tradeoffs is a good way to gauge someone's experience, in my opinion). Novelty - asking the "insert this element into a linked list" question is only good for weeding out people who never did their homework. Elegant - I like questions where the core problem isn't hidden in a lot of details. Everyone should be able to understand the problem, even if everyone can't solve it on the whiteboard. Elegant questions are difficult without involving undue amounts of "domain knowledge" or getting too narrow. Have you been on either side of an interview where someone (maybe you!) asked a particularly good programming or algorithms question?

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  • Textured Primitives in XNA with a first person camera

    - by 131nary
    So I have a XNA application set up. The camera is in first person mode, and the user can move around using the keyboard and reposition the camera target with the mouse. I have been able to load 3D models fine, and they appear on screen no problem. Whenever I try to draw any primitive (textured or not), it does not show up anywhere on the screen, no matter how I position the camera. In Initialize(), I have: quad = new Quad(Vector3.Zero, Vector3.UnitZ, Vector3.Up, 2, 2); quadVertexDecl = new VertexDeclaration(this.GraphicsDevice, VertexPositionNormalTexture.VertexElements); In LoadContent(), I have: quadTexture = Content.Load<Texture2D>(@"Textures\brickWall"); quadEffect = new BasicEffect(this.GraphicsDevice, null); quadEffect.AmbientLightColor = new Vector3(0.8f, 0.8f, 0.8f); quadEffect.LightingEnabled = true; quadEffect.World = Matrix.Identity; quadEffect.View = Matrix.CreateLookAt(cameraPosition, cameraTarget, Vector3.Up); quadEffect.Projection = this.Projection; quadEffect.TextureEnabled = true; quadEffect.Texture = quadTexture; And in Draw() I have: this.GraphicsDevice.VertexDeclaration = quadVertexDecl; quadEffect.Begin(); foreach (EffectPass pass in quadEffect.CurrentTechnique.Passes) { pass.Begin(); GraphicsDevice.DrawUserIndexedPrimitives<VertexPositionNormalTexture>( PrimitiveType.TriangleList, quad.Vertices, 0, 4, quad.Indexes, 0, 2); pass.End(); } quadEffect.End(); I think I'm doing something wrong in the quadEffect properties, but I'm not quite sure what.

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  • non static method cannot be referenced from a static context.

    - by David
    First some code: import java.util.*; ... class TicTacToe { ... public static void main (String[]arg) { Random Random = new Random() ; toerunner () ; // this leads to a path of methods that eventualy gets us to the rest of the code } ... public void CompTurn (int type, boolean debug) { ... boolean done = true ; int a = 0 ; while (!done) { a = Random.nextInt(10) ; if (debug) { int i = 0 ; while (i<20) { System.out.print (a+", ") ; i++; }} if (possibles[a]==1) done = true ; } this.board[a] = 2 ; } ... } //to close the class Here is the error message: TicTacToe.java:85: non-static method nextInt(int) cannot be referenced from a static context a = Random.nextInt(10) ; ^ What exactly went wrong? What does that error message "non static method cannot be referenced from a static context" mean?

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  • Non-language-specific interview questions for a senior web developer

    - by Songo
    I came across a job posting for a senior web developer position. The posting said that the development will be done using Ruby on Rails, but no prior knowledge is required. I confirmed with a contact in that company that a PHP web developer can apply for it or even an ASP.Net developer. I also confirmed that the interview won't contain any questions specific to PHP or Ruby on Rails. Can anyone please provide a good list of questions for a senior web developer that isn't specific to a certain language? Note This question isn't a duplicate for similar posts asking for questions relating to PHP, .Net or Ruby. Also, I'm not looking for topics to learn as a web developer, but rather interesting questions for a technical interview given the former conditions.

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  • Who writes the words? A rant with graphs.

    - by Roger Hart
    If you read my rant, you'll know that I'm getting a bit of a bee in my bonnet about user interface text. But rather than just yelling about the way the world should be (short version: no UI text would suck), it seemed prudent to actually gather some data. Rachel Potts has made an excellent first foray, by conducting a series of interviews across organizations about how they write user interface text. You can read Rachel's write up here. She presents the facts as she found them, and doesn't editorialise. The result is insightful, but impartial isn't really my style. So here's a rant with graphs. My method, and how it sucked I sent out a short survey. Survey design is one of my hobby-horses, and since some smartarse in the comments will mention it if I don't, I'll step up and confess: I did not design this one well. It was potentially ambiguous, implicitly excluded people, and since I only really advertised it on Twitter and a couple of mailing lists the sample will be chock full of biases. Regardless, these were the questions: What do you do? Select the option that best describes your role What kind of software does your organization make? (optional) In your organization, who writes the text on your software user interfaces? (for example: button names, static text, tooltips, and so on) Tick all that apply. In your organization who is responsible for user interface text? Who "owns" it? The most glaring issue (apart from question 3 being a bit broken) was that I didn't make it clear that I was asking about applications. Desktop, mobile, or web, I wouldn't have minded. In fact, it might have been interesting to categorize and compare. But a few respondents commented on the seeming lack of relevance, since they didn't really make software. There were some other issues too. It wasn't the best survey. So, you know, pinch of salt time with what follows. Despite this, there were 100 or so respondents. This post covers the overview, and you can look at the raw data in this spreadsheet What did people do? Boring graph number one: I wasn't expecting that. Given I pimped the survey on twitter and a couple of Tech Comms discussion lists, I was more banking on and even Content Strategy/Tech Comms split. What the "Others" specified: Three people chipped in with Technical Writer. Author, apparently, doesn't cut it. There's a "nobody reads the instructions" joke in there somewhere, I'm sure. There were a couple of hybrid roles, including Tech Comms and Testing, which sounds gruelling and thankless. There was also, an Intranet Manager, a Creative Director, a Consultant, a CTO, an Information Architect, and a Translator. That's a pretty healthy slice through the industry. Who wrote UI text? Boring graph number two: Annoyingly, I made this a "tick all that apply" question, so I can't make crude and inflammatory generalizations about percentages. This is more about who gets involved in user interface wording. So don't panic about the number of developers writing UI text. First off, it just means they're involved. Second, they might be good at it. What? It could happen. Ours are involved - they write a placeholder and flag it to me for changes. Sometimes I don't make any. It's also not surprising that there's so much UX in the mix. Some of that will be people taking care, and crafting an understandable interface. Some of it will be whatever text goes on the wireframe making it into production. I'm going to assume that's what happened at eBay, when their iPhone app purportedly shipped with the placeholder text "Some crappy content goes here". Ahem. Listing all 17 "other" responses would make this post lengthy indeed, but you can read them in the raw data spreadsheet. The award for the approach that sounds the most like a good idea yet carries the highest risk of ending badly goes to whoever offered up "External agencies using focus groups". If you're reading this, and that actually works, leave a comment. I'm fascinated. Who owned UI text Stop. Bar chart time: Wow. Let's cut to the chase, and by "chase", I mean those inflammatory generalizations I was talking about: In around 60% of cases the person responsible for user interface text probably lacks the relevant expertise. Even in the categories I count as being likely to have relevant skills (Marketing Copywriters, Content Strategists, Technical Authors, and User Experience Designers) there's a case for each role being unsuited, as you'll see in Rachel's blog post So it's not as simple as my headline. Does that mean that you personally, Mr Developer reading this, write bad button names? Of course not. I know nothing about you. It rather implies that as a category, the majority of people looking after UI text have neither communication nor user experience as their primary skill set, and as such will probably only be good at this by happy accident. I don't have a way of measuring those frequency of those accidents. What the Others specified: I don't know who owns it. I assume the project manager is responsible. "copywriters" when they wish to annoy me. the client's web maintenance person, often PR or MarComm That last one chills me to the bone. Still, at least nobody said "the work experience kid". You can see the rest in the spreadsheet. My overwhelming impression here is of user interface text as an unloved afterthought. There were fewer "nobody" responses than I expected, and a much broader split. But the relative predominance of developers owning and writing UI text suggests to me that organizations don't see it as something worth dedicating attention to. If true, that's bothersome. Because the words on the screen, particularly the names of things, are fundamental to the ability to understand an use software. It's also fascinating that Technical Authors and Content Strategists are neck and neck. For such a nascent discipline, Content Strategy appears to have made a mark on software development. Or my sample is skewed. But it feels like a bit of validation for my rant: Content Strategy is eating Tech Comms' lunch. That's not a bad thing. Well, not if the UI text is getting done well. And that's the caveat to this whole post. I couldn't care less who writes UI text, provided they consider the user and don't suck at it. I care that it may be falling by default to people poorly disposed to doing it right. And I care about that because so much user interface text sucks. The most interesting question Was one I forgot to ask. It's this: Does your organization have technical authors/writers? Like a lot of survey data, that doesn't tell you much on its own. But once we get a bit dimensional, it become more interesting. So taken with the other questions, this would have let me find out what I really want to know: What proportion of organizations have Tech Comms professionals but don't use them for UI text? Who writes UI text in their place? Why this happens? It's possible (feasible is another matter) that hundreds of companies have tech authors who don't work on user interfaces because they've empirically discovered that someone else, say the Marketing Copywriter, is better at it. And once we've all finished laughing, I'll point out that I've met plenty of tech authors who just aren't used to thinking about users at the point of need in the way UI text and embedded user assistance require. If you've got what I regard, perhaps unfairly, as the bad kind of tech author - the old-school kind with the thousand-page pdf and the grammar obsession - if you've got one of those then you probably are better off getting the UX folk or the copywriters to do your UI text. At the very least, they'll derive terminology from user research.

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  • In the Aggregate: How Will We Maintain Legacy Systems? [closed]

    - by Jim G.
    NEW YORK - With a blast that made skyscrapers tremble, an 83-year-old steam pipe sent a powerful message that the miles of tubes, wires and iron beneath New York and other U.S. cities are getting older and could become dangerously unstable. July 2007 Story About a Burst Steam Pipe in Manhattan We've heard about software rot and technical debt. And we've heard from the likes of: "Uncle Bob" Martin - Who warned us about "the consequences of making a mess". Michael C. Feathers - Who gave us guidance for 'Working Effectively With Legacy Code'. So certainly the software engineering community is aware of these issues. But I feel like our aggregate society does not appreciate how these issues can plague working systems and applications. As Steve McConnell notes: ...Unlike financial debt, technical debt is much less visible, and so people have an easier time ignoring it. If this is true, and I believe that it is, then I fear that governments and businesses may defer regular maintenance and fortification against hackers until it is too late. [Much like NYC and the steam pipes.] My Question: Is there a way that we can avoid the software equivalent of NYC and the steam pipes?

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