Disqus - Latest Comments for Chad Myers

Re: This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, People

Chad Myers — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:06:50 -0000

Nate,

I see most of your points, but I think you (and many others) might be being a little naive about the Microsoft/Expert thing.

The simple truth is, for the vast majority of .NET developers, when a person with [MS] after their name says something, it is the gospel and is THE way to do it. Great care MUST be taken by MS bloggers (even on their personal blogs -- it sucks, I know, but I've seen this happen and have had arguments with people over stuff MS employees have said on their personal blogs) to elevate the level of knowledge and principles.

I'm not singling out Rob Conery, he's a good guy trying to do the right thing and he's trying to help while learn like everyone else.

Though the delivery was sour, Bellware's point that it's irresponsible for MS people to not take this stuff seriously is a valid one. We need to call it out (with more tact and diplomacy though, please!) and encourage them to do their screencasts, etc in such a way as to promote good practices and principles.

I would REALLY like to see these types of screencasts (from Conery, Hanselman, Haack, etc) to use TDD. It's irresponsible not to, IMHO. Here's why I think that: I believe that if just those three guys, not to mention the rest of MS, started using TDD in their screencasts, TDD would spread rapidly and software development, on level, will be raised to a much higher level of quality and we'd all reap massive benefits from it professionally.

Likewise, if they DON'T do that, it enforces previous poor practices pervasive in the .NET developer community and makes the job of someone like me more difficult when trying to promote good practices and principles.

I have actually heard things like, "If TDD is so great, how come the Microsoft guys don't use it [in their screencasts and such]".

So, while they may not be 'experts', as you pointed out, their influence is quite powerful and deserves some special consideration.

Re: Joining the Telligenti

Chad Myers — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:49:17 -0000

Wow, this is great. I'm very happy for you. *Lots* of good folks over there (Telligent).

Can't wait to see the next Telligent product featuring good loosely coupled design featuring Ninject DI/IoC! :)

Re: Automagic Time Localization

Chad Myers — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:50:36 -0000

Amen to storing only UTC. Nice trick with the client side discovery. Definitely going to use that one.

Side note, this is known as the "Money pattern". Any time you have relative values depending on geographic or environmental factors or other variable unit sizes, always normalize to a common denominator. Physical measurements (metric vs English units), Money (currency exchange rates, etc), and time/timezones are good examples.

Re: Does Old Code Make You Sick? : Simpable

Chad Myers — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:05:19 -0000

Look at it this way: Joel and, to a lesser extent, Jeff used to be considered gods among men within the software dev community (especially the MS space). Now we have a mini rebellion going on as many have discredited them due to these silly comments they have made and keep making.

Also interesting is that Uncle Bob, who was talking about disciplined, principled software engineering and professionalism and ethics long before Joel and Jeff were on the scene, is now seeing a resurgence of popularity and respect among the same rebels.

What was old is now new again. What seemed so lost among the MS developer community is now seeing a surge in popularity. I hope this trend continues because it could usher in what Joel and Jeff were complaining about: Real, serious, professional software development and an end to the mindless hacking and low quality we've come to regrettably expect from our own community.