Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m going out to Xi’an, China, for a few months (pending visa application). It’s a very exciting role, full of challenge and responsibility. I’m looking forward to the cultural differences, the language barrier, and having to grow up a bit. … Continue reading →

You know work is good when: Your smile is infectious, even on the tube. Every day you find out something new… …and pass on something to someone else. You wonder how you’re going to have fun, not when. No tunnel … Continue reading →

They say that if you put a frog into cold water and gradually bring it to the boil, the frog won’t notice. The same is true, I think, of Java devs (possibly others too, but for some reason it seems … Continue reading →

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too… Thank you, Rudyard Kipling, for … Continue reading →

When you do the same thing again and again, and expect a different result, that’s insanity. When you do the same thing again and again, and get a different result, that’s stateful programming. Stateful programming will teach you to expect … Continue reading →

That’s the skyline from our Holborn office this morning – the London Eye, the south bank of the Thames, and Big Ben and the houses of parliament on the right. My little phone can’t capture the full magnificence of watching … Continue reading →

For anyone who’s following the whole kafuffle over Microsoft and their recent misdescription of TDD, you may be glad to know that it’s been removed, and will hopefully be rewritten following feedback from the Agile and TDD community. I remember … Continue reading →

Yesterday, during some excellent conversations with the XtC, I found myself thinking about the “one assertion per test” rule which Dave Astels proposed, and which many people advocate for Test-Driven Design. I think it’s important that each method in a … Continue reading →

One of my friends asked me for some advice about how he could change his life. “I’ve come to the conclusion,” he remarked, “that I will never be happy unless I’m making a living as a musician.” “Well,” I said, … Continue reading →

There was an owl lived in an oak. The more he heard, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard. Why aren’t men like that wise old bird? – Punch magazine, 1776 Sometimes it’s very hard … Continue reading →