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• How to visualize timer functionality in sequence diagram?

  - by truthseeker

  I am developing software for communication with external device through serial port. To better understand the new functionality I am trying to display it in sequence diagram. Flow of events is as follows. I send to the device command to reset it. This is asynchronous operation so there is some delay between request and response (typically 100 ms). There can be case when the answer never comes (for example device is not connected to the specified port or is currently turned off). For this purpose I create a timer with period twice the maximum answer time. In my case it is 2 * 125 ms = 250 ms. If the answer comes in predefined time interval, I destroy already running timer. If the answer doesnt come in predefined interval, timer initiates some action. After this action we can destroy it. How to effectively model this situation in sequence diagram? Addendum 1: Based on advices made by scarfridge i drew following UML diagram. Comment by Ozair is also helpful for simplifying the diagram even more.

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• Which is more maintainable -- boolean assignment via if/else or boolean expression?

  - by Bret Walker

  Which would be considered more maintainable? if (a == b) c = true; else c = false; or c = (a == b); I've tried looking in Code Complete, but can't find an answer. I think the first is more readable (you can literally read it out loud), which I also think makes it more maintainable. The second one certainly makes more sense and reduces code, but I'm not sure it's as maintainable for C# developers (I'd expect to see this idiom more in, for example, Python).

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• Effective versus efficient code

  - by Todd Williamson

  TL;DR: Quick and dirty code, or "correct" (insert your definition of this term) code? There is often a tension between "efficient" and "effective" in software development. "Efficient" often means code that is "correct" from the point of view of adhering to standards, using widely-accepted patterns/approaches for structures, regardless of project size, budget, etc. "Effective" is not about being "right", but about getting things done. This often results in code that falls outside the bounds of commonly accepted "correct" standards, usage, etc. Usually the people paying for the development effort have dictated ahead of time what it is that they value more. An organization that lives in a technical space will tend towards the efficient end, others will tend towards the effective. Developers often refuse to compromise their favored approach for the other. In my own experience I have found that people with formal education in software development tend towards the Efficient camp. Those that picked up software development more or less as a tool to get things done tend towards the Effective camp. These camps don't get along very well. When managing a team of developers who are not all in one camp it is challenging. In your own experience, which camp do you land in, and do you find yourself having to justify your approach to others? To management? To other developers?

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• What are your advice, methods, or practices to take out the most from a day on-site at a customer?

  - by Stephane

  We just deployed a large software that affects the way the user work-day looks like in many aspects. It changes a lot of things in the way they interact between eachothers. The developers of the team are taking rounds and spending one day at the customer's site to understand better what is a typical day for our user, and the learning process they go through. In this context, what How would you approach that day, what kind of questions do you ask, how do you observe the user. Are there defined practices that exist? Also what wouldn't you do? Did you have some bad experience out of this?

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• Is Intellisense faster in Visual Studio 2012 compared to Visual Studio 2010 for C++ projects?

  - by syplex

  We switched to VS2010 from VS2003 a few months ago, and there are many many improvements. But the speed of Intellisense is not one of them (although it does generate higher quality results, which is great). I read that Intellisense and the MSDN help system were being improved in VS2012, so I'm curious if its actually faster? The only data I could find were graphs of an early release (VS2011). For the record, I am using a vanilla install of VS2010 with SP1 on Windows 7 SP1 (x64). No plugins or add-ins running. What I'm looking for specifically: Has the speed of intellisense autocomplete improved? Has the speed of F12 (goto definition) improved? The answers to these questions will help in determining if VS2012 is worth the money to upgrade at this time as the intellisense slowness would be the only major reason for upgrading. I'd also be interested in knowing if the help system has improved. I'm currently using MSDN help from VS2008SP1 because it has filtering and is faster.

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• Dealing with the customer / developer culture mismatch on an agile project

  - by Eric Smith

  One of the tenets of agile is ... Customer collaboration over contract negotiation ... another one is ... Individuals and interactions over processes and tools But the way I see it, at least when it comes to interaction with the customer, there is a fundamental problem: How the customer thinks is fundamentally different to how a software engineer thinks That may be a bit of a generalisation, yes. Arguably, there are business domains where this is not necessarily true---these are few and far between though. In many domains though, the typical customer is: Interested in daily operational concerns--short-range tactics ... not strategy; Only concerned with the immediate solution; Generally one-dimensional, non-abstract thinkers; Primarily interested in "getting the job done" as opposed to coming up with a lasting, quality solution. On the other hand, software engineers who practice agile are: Professionals who value quality; Individuals who understand the notion of "more haste less speed" i.e., spending a little more time to do things properly will save lots of time down the road; Generally, very experienced analytical thinkers. So very clearly, there is a natural culture discrepancy that tends to inhibit "customer collaboration". What's the best way to address this?

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• Why use link classes in oql instead of classes that contain links

  - by Isaac

  itop abstracts its very complex database design with an object query language (oql). For this there are classes definded, like 'Ticket' and 'Server'. Now a Ticket usually is linked to a Server. In my naive way I would give the Ticket class an attribute 'affected_server_list', where I could reference the affected servers. itop does it different: neither Servers nor Tickets know of each other. Instead there is a class 'linkTicketToServer', which provides the link between the two. The first thing I noticed is that it makes oql queries more complex. So I wondered why they designed it this way. One thing that occured to me is that it allows for more flexiblity, in that I can add links without modifying the original classes. Is this allready why one would implement it this way, or are there other reasons for this kind of design?

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• Getting rid of getting stuck often [closed]

  - by Pankaj Upadhyay

  I have been working with C# and .NET for around 2-3 years. But, still i get stuck too often. My project includes few simple websites(asp.net) in the early parts and then a desktop application for cotton transaction management(wpf). And right now, I am building a price compare website (asp.net MVC). Along the lines, I have read quite few books on C# and .NET, but still I get stuck very often. What pisses me is that the problems I get stuck in aren't very typical or hard. You can get a better idea by visiting my questions page on SO. After looking at my question lists, do you also feel that my basis or knowledge as a programmer are weak ? If so, How can i find a remedy to this problem ? And How can I stop getting stuck too often for simpler problems.

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• What's the best language combo for code generation?

  - by Peter Turner

  I read through Code Generation in Action but never bothered to make anything of it because Ruby just doesn't fit with my lifestyle at this juncture. The book came out more on the cusp of the C# revolution, and it said that C# "was a language designed to be generated", apparently using Ruby as the generator language. In your experience, what is the ideal combination of languages to generate the most useful code?

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• Have unit test generators helped you when working with legacy code?

  - by Duncan Bayne

  I am looking at a small (~70kLOC including generated) C# (.NET 4.0, some Silverlight) code-base that has very low test coverage. The code itself works in that it has passed user acceptance testing, but it is brittle and in some areas not very well factored. I would like to add solid unit test coverage around the legacy code using the usual suspects (NMock, NUnit, StatLight for the Silverlight bits). My normal approach is to start working through the project, unit testing & refactoring, until I am satisfied with the state of the code. I've done this many times in the past, and it's worked well. However, this time I'm thinking of using a test generator (in particular Pex) to create the test framework, then manually fleshing it out. My question is: have you used unit test generators in the past when commencing work on a legacy codebase, and if so, would you recommend them? My fear is that the generated tests will miss the semantic nuances of the code-base, leading to the dreaded situation of having tests for the sake of the coverage metric, rather than tests which clearly express the intended behaviour in code.

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• Masters or Second Bachelors Degree..or neither

  - by drD

  I have a degree in Business Administration, because at the time I didn't know what I wanted to do. I have been interested in programming for the past 2 years and have taken some action to self-teach. My experience/ knowledge base is limited to the following: -Read Kochan's Programming in C -Read IOS and Objective-C from the Big Nerd Ranch series -Obtained a C++ at NYU - thought it would be a good way to start to get a grasp on OO & design I would like to continue developing my skills, but most of all, re-orient how I am perceived as a professional. I am fully aware of how much a novice to this subject and would greatly appreciate any guidance anyone could give me. I currently have a job so full-time is not an option My goal is to become a software/ applications developer My questions are: -Should i take up a second bachelors in computer science? or a masters? or continue taking professional certificate programs (how are these viewed?) -If masters in computer science, would that make sense, if I dont have the formal foundation? (being a chief without ever being an Indian) -General advice for a novice to develop skill Thank You in advanced for helping me out.

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• What is the diffference between "data hiding" and "encapsulation"?

  - by john smith optional

  I'm reading "Java concurrency in practice" and there is said: "Fortunately, the same object-oriented techniques that help you write well-organized, maintainable classes - such as encapsulation and data hiding -can also help you crate thread-safe classes." The problem #1 - I never heard about data hiding and don't know what it is. The problem #2 - I always thought that encapsulation is using private vs public, and is actually the data hiding. Can you please explain what data hiding is and how it differs from encapsulation?

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• How do "custom software companies" deal with technical debt?

  - by andy

  What are "custom software companies"? By "custom software companies" I mean companies that make their money primarily from building custom, one off, bits of software. Example are agencies or middle-ware companies, or contractors/consultants like Redify. What's the opposite of "custom software companies"? The oposite of the above business model are companies that focus on long term products, whether they be deployable desktop/mobile apps, or SaaS software. A sure fire way to build up technical debt: I work for a company that attempts to focus on a suite of SaaS products. However, due to certain constraints we sometimes end up bending to the will of certain clients and we end building bits of custom software that can only be used for that client. This is a sure fire way to incur technical debt. Now we have a bit of software to maintain that adds nothing to our core product. If custom work is a sure fire way to build technical debt, how do agencies handle it? So that got me thinking. Companies who don't have a core product as the center of their business model, well they're always doing custom software work. How do they cope with the notion of technical debt? How does it not drive them into technical bankruptcy?

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• Is it possible to efficiently store all possible phone numbers in memory?

  - by Spencer K

  Given the standard North American phone number format: (Area Code) Exchange - Subscriber, the set of possible numbers is about 6 billion. However, efficiently breaking down the nodes into the sections listed above would yield less than 12000 distinct nodes that can be arranged in groupings to get all the possible numbers. This seems like a problem already solved. Would it done via a graph or tree?

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• How can I let prospective employers know I'm a great developer?

  - by Zoe Gagnon

  I've recently read through Joel's guide to finding great developers (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FindingGreatDevelopers.html), and I feel really strongly that I am smart and get things done. The problem is, I didn't learn how to get things done until about halfway through college, so my GPA is less than stellar. Additionally, I've got a few other things going against me: late into the job market (~30), no internship, state college instead of university, and when I graduated, I pretty much had to take the first job that offered. With all of these things piled together, my resume (the first step to getting a job), is not terribly impressive. What can I do to let people know that I'm a great developer and would complement the best companies in the world?

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• Understanding the problem when things break in production

  - by bitcycle

  Scenario: You push to production The push broke multiple things That same build did not break qa or dev As a developer, you don't have prod access. There is lots of pressure from above to get things working agian. Specifics: PHP/MVC application that is API-driven in Zend. Deployed to a few servers. My question: While investigating, lets say I have a hunch that something is wrong. But, I don't know for sure. And, of course, I can't test things in production. If I have a suggested fix based on that hunch, would it be wise to try and apply it and see if it works, before understanding what the problem is?

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• How abstract should you get with BDD

  - by Newton

  I was writing some tests in Gherkin (using Cucumber/Specflow). I was wondering how abstract should I get with my tests. In order to not make this open-ended, which of the following statements is better for BDD: Given I am logged in with email [email protected] and password 12345 When I do something Then something happens as opposed to Given I am logged in as the Administrator When I do something Then something happens The reason I am confused is because 1 is more based on the behaviour (filing in email and password) and 2 is easier to process and write the tests.

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• Is there an appropriate coding style for implementing an algorithm during an interview?

  - by GlenPeterson

  I failed an interview question in C years ago about converting hex to decimal by not exploiting the ASCII table if (inputDigitByte > 9) hex = inputDigitByte - 'a'. The rise of Unicode has made this question pretty silly, but the point was that the interviewer valued raw execution speed above readability and error handling. They tell you to review algorithms textbooks to prepare for these interviews, yet these same textbooks tend to favor the implementation with the fewest lines of code, even if it has to rely on magic numbers (like "infinity") and a slower, more memory-intensive implementation (like a linked list instead of an array) to do that. I don't know what is right. Coding an algorithm within the space of an interview has at least 3 constraints: time to code, elegance/readability, and efficiency of execution. What trade-offs are appropriate for interview code? How much do you follow the textbook definition of an algorithm? Is it better to eliminate recursion, unroll loops, and use arrays for efficiency? Or is it better to use recursion and special values like "infinity" or Integer.MAX_VALUE to reduce the number of lines of code needed to write the algorithm? Interface: Make a very self-contained, bullet-proof interface, or sloppy and fast? On the one extreme, the array to be sorted might be a public static variable. On the other extreme, it might need to be passed to each method, allowing methods to be called individually from different threads for different purposes. Is it appropriate to use a linked-list data structure for items that are traversed in one direction vs. using arrays and doubling the size when the array is full? Implementing a singly-linked list during the interview is often much faster to code and easier remember for recursive algorithms like MergeSort. Thread safety - just document that it's unsafe, or say so verbally? How much should the interviewee be looking for opportunities for parallel processing? Is bit shifting appropriate? x / 2 or x >> 1 Polymorphism, type safety, and generics? Comments? Variable and method names: qs(a, p, q, r) vs: quickSort(theArray, minIdx, partIdx, maxIdx) How much should you use existing APIs? Obviously you can't use a java.util.HashMap to implement a hash-table, but what about using a java.util.List to accumulate your sorted results? Are there any guiding principals that would answer these and other questions, or is the guiding principal to ask the interviewer? Or maybe this should be the basis of a discussion while writing the code? If an interviewer can't or won't answer one of these questions, are there any tips for coaxing the information out of them?

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• Where does the term "Front End" come from?

  - by Richard JP Le Guen

  Where does the term "front-end" come from? Is there a particular presentation/talk/job-posting which is regarded as the first use of the term? Is someone credited with coining the term? The Merriam-Webster entry for "front-end" claims the first known use of the term was 1973 but it doesn't seem to provide details about that first known use. Likewise, the Wikipedia page about front and back ends is fairly low quality, and cites very few sources.

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• Worst coding standard you've ever had to follow?

  - by finnw

  Have you ever had to work to coding standards that: Greatly decreased your productivity? Were originally included for good reasons but were kept long after the original concern became irrelevant? Were in a list so long that it was impossible to remember them all? Made you think the author was just trying to leave their mark rather than encouraging good coding practice? You had no idea why they were included? If so, what is your least favourite rule and why? Some examples here

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• Can an agile shop every really score 12 on the Joel Test? [closed]

  - by Simon

  Possible Duplicate: Can an agile shop every really score 12 on the Joel Test? I really like the Joel test, use it myself, and encourage my staff and interviewees to consider it carefully. However I don't think I can ever score more than 9 because a few points seem to contradict the Agile Manifesto, XP and TDD, which are the bedrocks of my world. Specifically the questions about schedule, specs, testers and quiet working conditions run counter to what we are trying to create and the values that we have adopted in being genuinely agile. So my question is whether it is possible for a true Agile shop to score 12? [Note: I had this question closed on meta so I have re-posted here]

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• How to shorten brain context switch delay when need to use new technology\framework?

  - by gasan

  The problem is when I have to deal with a new framework\library\language it completely slows my work process, at first it's kind of shock, you're sitting on your place about a day doing nothing surfing the net, because you simply can't do anything even read docs, then, on the second day I realize that I definitely should do something and starting read about it, then I realize that I don't understand it, then I'm reading until I got feeling that I should show some results immediately and then I'm writing the code quite fast and the job doesn't seem to be difficult. Then job is done and I won't probably return to that technology\framework for a month or a year or never at all. And I will almost certainly forget almost everything about it after a month. To illustrate by checkpoints I experience: shock, long studying times, work with the new tech briefly, never use it afterwards, then I completely forget it. So what would be the solution here?

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• What's special about currying or partial application?

  - by Vigneshwaran

  I've been reading articles on Functional programming everyday and been trying to apply some practices as much as possible. But I don't understand what is unique in currying or partial application. Take this Groovy code as an example: def mul = { a, b -> a * b } def tripler1 = mul.curry(3) def tripler2 = { mul(3, it) } I do not understand what is the difference between tripler1 and tripler2. Aren't they both the same? The 'currying' is supported in pure or partial functional languages like Groovy, Scala, Haskell etc. But I can do the same thing (left-curry, right-curry, n-curry or partial application) by simply creating another named or anonymous function or closure that will forward the parameters to the original function (like tripler2) in most languages (even C.) Am I missing something here? There are places where I can use currying and partial application in my Grails application but I am hesitating to do so because I'm asking myself "How's that different?" Please enlighten me.

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• Project development without experience

  - by Raven13

  I'm a web developer who is part of a three-man team that has been tasked with a rather large and complex development project. Other than some direction and impetus from management, we're pretty much on our own to develop the new website. None of us have any project management experience nor do my two coworkers seem like they would be interested in taking on that role, so I feel like it's up to me to implement some kind of structure to the development process in order to avoid issues down the road. My question is: what can I do as a developer without project managment experience to ensure that our project gets developed successfully and avoid the pitfalls of developing a project without a plan?

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• What should one keep in mind when switching from traditional to RESTful routing in Rails?

  - by Brian Holder-Chow

  What should one keep in mind when switching from traditional to RESTful routing in Rails? From a typical Rails routes.rb file: # This is a legacy wild controller route that's not recommended for RESTful applications. # Note: This route will make all actions in every controller accessible via GET requests. match ':controller(/:action(/:id))(.:format)' As switching away from this means that I will have to create routes for each controller individually, does anyone have any advice on the best way to migrate this safely?

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