Imagine yourself building a new web application from the ground up. Let's say - an online bookshelf where you want to keep track of all the books you own. Along with the first lines of code you setup your basic database schema (You really need a database, right?) and you even come up with some … Continue reading The trouble with using an empty development database
Month: June 2008
Ownership Takes Commitment
Building on my previous article "The Branch Not Taken", I'd like to convince you of the importance of code ownership. In Garret Hardin's essay "Tragedy of the Commons", he describes the burden that communal freedoms place upon a finite resource. Protecting your release branch If you consider stable, production ready code as a finite resource, … Continue reading Ownership Takes Commitment
The “It runs on my box” syndrome
You've heard it before, right? The standard answer given by so many developers when faced with a broken feature on the test server: “…but it runs on my box…”. Oh yeah, one of my favorites. You're supposed to get this released and they can only come up with this lame excuse. Why does every developer … Continue reading The “It runs on my box” syndrome
The Branch Not Taken
Whether you're running your website from the trunk or a release branch, you've already taken the first important step - you're using a source code repository. Depending upon the size of your team and website, the way you manage this repository will vary tremendously. I'd like to share some of my experiences in managing code … Continue reading The Branch Not Taken
What Sysadmins Want
Most of us have seen, or at least heard of, the Mel Gibson movie "What Women Want". It certainly is a tantalizing idea - being able to read the thoughts of other people. Now being able to read your sysadmin's mind may not be at the top of your wish list, but, I bet there … Continue reading What Sysadmins Want
