Johnathon

Wright

About a year ago, I was tasked with creating a help system. I sat down, ready to pour out my astounding wit into a document that would enable users to achieve the path to enlightenment. Unfortunately, I came to as realization. I realized that I didn't know what the end users would want to know. After talking to some other developers and...

At the "Alt.NET":http://www.altnetconf.com/ conference in Austin, I was fortunate enough to hear about the idea of generating user stories . Although this was entirely new to me, it was immediately clearthat this was a very effective way to create a spec. It also provides a very convenient and organized way to create functional requirements and...

It is always tempting to start to create help by opening word and typing, “The employee information screen is used for creating, reading, updating and deleting Employee information. Here is a screen shot, which hopefully looks like the site you're visiting. Otherwise, something has gone wrong.” Since the entire functionally of this screen is...

What's in a name? Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Can we move on to discussing coding, please? At the alt.net conference in Austin, there was quite a bit of discussion about the name alt.net. Most of this was a semantic discussion of the definition and connotation / denotation of the words alternative and alternate . Does the...

The project is large. Its scope seems monumental. Decisions are made with the best of intentions. This will make things easier / better / more efficient. Time is the great unit test. Implications are felt. Things snowball. The path becomes wearisome. Investments have been made. Goldberg-style fixes are implemented. Let's just get through...

OUR PREDICAMENT There is a controller I loath. I am reticent to touch it. It makes me think of the word quagmire. Every action is mired in a maze of tangled other actions, blocks, loops, cryptic hacks, and more. The views are a nightmare of fragmented, over ajaxified junk. It is the Time Entry controller. When we started this project, none...

I'm reading a book called "Built to Last":http://www.amazon.com/Built-Last-Successful-Visionary-Companies/dp/0887307396 . The book details a several-year-long research process into why some of the best companies in the country are what they are. It's a fascinating read. One of the primary factors they point to is that the best companies often...