Invasion Of The Dynamic Language Weenies

Invasion Of The Dynamic Language Weenies is an analysis of a recent IEEE Computer article called Developers Shift to Dynamic Programming Languages by Linda Dailey Paulson.

Dynamic languages (DLs) such as Perl, Python and Ruby is all the rage these days. All the kids are using it and if you don't you are just not cool enough. This is off course not a good enough reason to use DLs for your application. Hacknot looks at the claims of productivity by DL proponents. Is there anything special in DLs that makes these claims true or is it just hype?

From experience, it seems like a lot of the productivity gain of a language comes down to the support provided by the standard libraries and the community, and less the language features themselves. It should also be clear that certain languages are more suited for specific problems.

I don't think we will have clear answers on the many issues between dynamic and statically typed languages anytime soon, but in the meantime we should encourage and promote good science and experimentation to better pin-point the advantages of a certain language over another.

Also check out the free Hacknot Book.

Paul Graham: Microsoft is Dead

In Paul Graham's recent article Microsoft is Dead he explains why Microsoft is becoming irrelevant to start-ups. He argues that more and more start-ups are not even considering what Microsoft is doing and don't consider Microsoft as a possible partner/investor/buyer of their company.

I also imagine that many recent, especially Web 2.0, start-ups also don't use Microsoft 's development tools and platforms.

Also see his clarification Microsoft is Dead: The Cliffs Notes.

Joel on Customer Service

Joel Spolsky talks about customer service.

State-based and interaction-based unit tests

A blog entry about State-based vs. interaction-based unit testing at Simply Complex. Also follow the links in the Further Reading section.

Steve Yegge on "The Pinocchio Problem"

Steve Yegge on The Pinocchio Problem. An article about 'living' versus 'dead' software systems. A good read.

CxOne Basic

CxOne is Construx's (Steve McConnell's company) agile framework of templates, checklists, patterns and other tools for software development. A free, for limited use, version called CxOne Basic is available.

It covers configuration management, requirements, design, construction, management, process and testing. It looks interesting enough to evaluate.

Construx also has info regarding professional development for individuals, organisations and industry.

Google Web Toolkit

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) 1.3 Release Candidate is now open source.

GWT is a Java software development kit to develop dynamic web applications using AJAX.

Microsoft SDKs for Robotics and Games.

Microsoft has the following free SDKs available for student and hobby programmers:

• Visual Studio 2005 Express
• XNA Game Studio Express
• Robotics Studio