Posted by Eric Stewart
Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:57:00 GMT
Dave Thomas (of Pragmatic Programmers fame) has created the annotate_models plugin.
This one solves a pain I have been feeling for quite a while now. Say you are in Textmate, RadRails, vi, or whatever your tool of choice is working on one of your ActiveRecord model classes and you just can’t remember all the field attributes from your schema. This plugin gives you a command line tool to help keep that information close to where you are going to use it most.
Thanks Dave!!!
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Posted in Software Development, Ruby, Ruby On Rails | Tags rails, ruby, tools | no comments
Posted by Eric Stewart
Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:49:00 GMT
Lately I’ve been trying to make time to finish some plugin updates and get a new one out the door.
Label Helpers
A few responses have come in on the label_helpers plugin, including a contributed patch. I need to track down one report of problems with the error inclusion that I received without many details. If you have encountered this issue please send me more information and include your version of Rails.
Acts As Exportable
I have done some work on making ActiveRecord objects easier to use in exporting data, such as producing csv export files. At this point the code works well for my needs but will need a bit of work to be more generally applicable. I hope to have something out very soon.
Plugin Usage
Not surprisingly, the label_helpers plugin has been getting much more attention than assert_accessible. Web accessibility is unfortunately still not a priority to most web developers. At this point the numbers are:
assert_accessible – 12 downloadslabel_helpers – 70+ downloads
See my projects page for more details.
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Posted in Ruby, Ruby On Rails | Tags exporting, helper, label, plugins, rails, ruby | 2 comments
Posted by Eric Stewart
Sat, 18 Feb 2006 16:10:00 GMT
Not quite sure why coding and designing are considered separate activities, particularly with software. Kind of like asking someone to write a song with no instrument present. Sure can be done and many do it but I wouldn’t prescribe it as a precept.
—Bruce Trask from the Pragmatic Programmers mailing list
I like this analogy and would add that the practice should fit the piece/project; use what makes sense. Instruments, metronomes, recordings, mixers, effects processors, etc. are all just tools that a musician can use in performance as well as practice.
A composer might spend great lengths of time with only pencil and paper, recording notes on staffs or chord progressions, harmonies, and other portions of a work as they weave the parts together to make a whole. But occassionally they might go pick up an instrument and try an idea that is in their head, or seek the right sound.
This is like a developer working on a spec, or set of stories stepping aside to work on a spike or other proof of concept. Writing some code not necessarily with the intent of its inclusion in the final product, but to help with overall process. And sometimes those excercises are fruitful enough to use what comes out of them directly, with little rework.
In other cases, a group of musicians might be composing together, or just having a jam session. They bounce ideas off of each other, react to what the others are contributing, maybe perform a solo at times, duet at others, harmony at others, or simply provide the supporting rythm that keeps the piece together and gives it form.
Sounds like group planning, pairing, and other team development activities. Someone has to kick of the group and keep them in type and in the right key, but on top of that the group or sub-group can do some very interesting things.
Since I have now battered this analogy to death I will end witht a parting thought. All those great recordings you listen to on CDs, MP3s, vinyl, eight-track, or just on the radio were developed somehow whether it’s a single song, a concept album, or an entire symphony. All the great musical works you love were composed in many, many different ways.
Try telling all those musicians that they were supposed to compose their works without picking up their instruments and playing a note!
Posted in Software Development | Tags development, quotes, software | no comments
Posted by Eric Stewart
Fri, 17 Feb 2006 20:30:00 GMT
Bring out your links! Bring out your links!
- Ted Dziuba is taking a mathematical approach to understanding the popularity and success of social bookmarking. In particular, he looks at sites that use voting such as Reddit and Digg. His Epsilon-Delta blog covers topics related to mathematics and programming. Isn’t that what most of us CS grads were supposed to do instead of getting mixed up in a MIS run world?
- Like to prepare food? Have an analytical mind? You might enjoy visiting Cooking for Engineers. It’s not too geeky, so I think even non-engineers will find it useful.
- Like I needed another excuse to enjoy wine! Scientific American reports that red wine might make fish live longer. Who cares if it is true, just break out the bottles and corkscrew! And give credit to the author for touting Pinot Noir. Just another reference, along with the movie Sideways, to give the Pinot makers something to smile about.
Posted in Links | Tags food, links, mathematics, networking, social, wine | no comments
Posted by Eric Stewart
Fri, 17 Feb 2006 04:06:00 GMT
Is Alexander Muse right? In Brain Drain for Austin he muses that Austin is losing ground to our neighbor up the road, Dallas.
Another hi-tech company has given up the ghost and decided to leave Austin for the Dallas suburb of Plano. General Bandwidth, …
This loss follows several high profile losses for the city including Tyco’s departure last year. And one of several big wins for Dallas including Wednesdays announcement of QI System’s move to the city from Canada. I think we are witnessing a gravitational shift from Austin to Dallas – Austin will still be important, but the resources (human and otherwise) available in Dallas will irresistable for companies seeking a place to live.
Certainly Dallas is a much bigger city, but Austin has always had a strong tech presence including big players like IBM, Motorola (now Freescale), AMD, and National Instruments just to name a few. Not to mention the multitude of smaller players and startups. In fact, Austin just recently won out in a battle over the new future headquarters of Freescale. There is a ton of talent here.
Or is there?
By far, most of the jobs I see listed in the Austin market are for generic J2EE web/enterprise shops. I know there are companies with other software/hardware products out there. Has Austin’s talent pool become too heavy in one area? Are there just not enough tech workers? Or is it just the usual tax incentives game?
Maybe Alexander is jumping the gun. I hope not. If so, what can be done to attract more companies?
I’m not really sure either, but can someone check the plug just to be safe?
Posted in Austin, Software Development, Java, Misc., Technology | Tags industry, jobs, software, tech, technology | no comments
