Jan 27 2008

Source from TDD: A Practical Guide

dastels @ 1:27 pm

Several people have asked me for the source from my last book “TDD: A Practical Guide”. A lot has happened since that book, and the files from it that were once posted on the Saorsa & Adaption sites were lost. Unfortunately I’ve had to tell people that the source was now longer in existence.

Well, today I was doing some routine housekeeping and… Huzah!!! I found a zip of those very source files. For anyone who has been looking for them… I’m pleased to say that I’m making them available at long last. You can download it here

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Dec 22 2006

The Ruby Way

admin @ 2:00 pm

I’ve started reading the 2nd edition of “The Ruby Way” by Hal Fulton.

So far it’s been good. I’ve been popping it open somewhat randomly so far, but plan to take a more structured look at it shortly. I enjoyed the overview of OO as applied to Ruby as well as the section on Rubyisms and idioms.

This is a big book, and looks very comprehensive. I’m looking forward to working through it.

One thing I have noticed… and I don’t know Hal so I’m not sure… is that there are comments regarding programming language issues that seem to indicate a lack of familiarity/awareness of Rubys grand-daddies: LISP & Smalltalk. Comments like “in more recent languages such as Java, memory is reclaimed…”   Both LISP and Smalltalk had garbage collection. In fact that’s where the majority of GC research was done. This however is a minor quibble. This is a book about Ruby, and a good one at that.
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Dec 21 2006

iWoz

admin @ 9:56 pm

This was an excellent read.

It was a nice, not-quite-so-well-known tale of Apple’s early days. The writing/style seemed genuine and authentic. Granted, Woz did a LOT of the inovative, groundbreaking work in the personal computer industry, but he sounds almost braggy at times in the book. Sure.. he created the first breakout game, wrote the first videogame (breakout on the Apple 1), and almost singlehandedly designed what is arguably THE earthshattering invention of the 20th century (at least as far as computing is concerned)… the Apple ][.

Highly recomended, this is a great read.
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Dec 10 2006

TextMate book

admin @ 10:48 pm
textmate_medium.jpg TextMate

Power Editing for the Mac

James Edward Gray II

I’ve read a couple of the beta versions of this book from the Pragmatic Press. It’s good. If you are using TextMate, you should have this book. The current documentation for TextMate is pretty lame. This book does an admirable job of filling that void.

The writing style is easy to read, and is quite information dense. Content goes from basic cursor movement all the way to custom language support. It’s a good read, and packed with valuable and useful information.

That said, while I’m impressed with the book, I’ve become less and less impressed with TextMate itself. It’s a wonderful text editor and a sweet Mac app, and will long have a place on my dock. But for serious programming, it doesn’t cut it. I’ve gone back to “old faithful”… my constant companion from from way back.. GNU Emacs. If you’re doing serious programming, there’s nothing like Emacs.

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Nov 15 2006

Currently reading

admin @ 11:32 am

Tonight I picked up IWoz, pictured below. Just started in, but pretty good so far. It’s an autobiography rather than a biography (as iCon was), and the writing is more intimate and casual. I’m looking forward to it.

iWoz

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Sep 06 2006

ReadingList is online

admin @ 1:27 pm

Finally.. my ReadingList app is live.

For quite a while people have been asking me for book recommendations. I put together a static reading list on my site with the intention of replacing it with something more dynamic at some time.

As Dr. Suess said “The time has come. The time is now.”

Nancy and I (ok.. mostly Nancy) deployed it to one of the servers (using capistrano & migrations).

I have a few tweaks to make in the maintenance part of the app , and I have a bunch of features to add, but it’s alive.

And it has a Tag Cloud :)

For now it’s here.

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Aug 16 2006

Charles River Media Book Series

admin @ 7:58 pm

Well, I have the contract in hand so it’s official :)

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Jul 24 2006

New Book Series

admin @ 10:49 pm

Well, it’s pretty much official now: I’m a series editor for Charles River Media. We don’t have a final name for the series, but I’m already talking with some people about book ideas.

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Jun 18 2006

Screw it, Let’s Do It.

admin @ 12:48 am

I just read this fabulous little book: Screw It, Let’s Do It: Lessons in Life by Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Music, Virgin Airlines, etc.

The book is low price, short, easy to read, and packing with good advice. More encouraging than enlightening, but that’s never a bad thing.

From the Amazon page: Global entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has built a business empire and made billions, yet is renowned for his approachability, ability to challenge and succeed against the odds. Screw It, Let’s Do It reveals the lessons from life that have helped him through his business and personal life such as, believe it can be done and that, if others disagree with you, try and try again until you achieve your goal; or that you must love what you do. These and other lessons, with examples of how he learned them and how he’s used them, are included in this stirring and candid look at his lessons from an exceptional life, which will inspire you to make a difference in your own life.
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Jul 08 2005

Fit for Developing Software

admin @ 1:53 am

Fit for Developing Software: Framework for Integrated Tests by Rick Mugridge and Ward Cunningham

My copy of the new book by Ward Cunningham and Rick Mugridge arrived today. It looks fabulous. If you are using FIT or planning to.. GET THIS BOOK. I had the pleasure of reviewing an early version of the manuscript.. it was awesome.. but the final version looks even better.

I’m looking forward to reading it.. and i’ll be promoting it to anyone interested in using FIT.
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