Eventyr

'nuff said

Tunnels lead to 2, 9, 11

Thanks to this MeFi post about games I have a working link to a Hunt the Wumpus game.

Not that I realised I was missing it, but it does bring back fond 'fighting-with-programming' memories.

YYyiiiieeee . . . Fell in a pit!

What code doesn't do

I understand that Hollywood needs to dress things up to make them more entertaining, but in the case of programmers, code, and hackers they've done more than dress things up  - they've morphed a little stuffed teddy bear into a cybernetic polar bear covered in christmas lights and phosphorescent hieroglyphics with a fog machine pumping rainbow smoke out of his ass.   In other words, they've layered a ridiculous amount of extravagance on top of something that in reality is very grounded.

What code DOESN'T do in real life (that it does in the movies)

Dojo 5 - Return to basics

Hmm, so this week's coding dojo session was a very small one.  I'm hoping that the reduced numbers has been due to general illness and the desire to stay indoors in the warm and dry, that generally comes upon us all at this time of year, rather than anything else.

It was good to look at the binary chop kata at last.  Four implementations were managed out of five, although more were discussed.  I really wish we had had more time to actively discuss and reflect on the goals of the kata:

1. As you’re coding each algorithm, keep a note of the kinds of error you encounter. A binary search is a ripe breeding ground for "off by one" and fencepost errors. As you progress through the week, see if the frequency of these errors decreases (that is, do you learn from experience in one technique when it comes to coding with a different technique?).
2. What can you say about the relative merits of the various techniques you’ve chosen? Which is the most likely to make it in to production code? Which was the most fun to write? Which was the hardest to get working? And for all these questions, ask yourself "why?".
3. It’s fairly hard to come up with five unique approaches to a binary chop. How did you go about coming up with approaches four and five? What techniques did you use to fire those "off the wall" neurons?

It was interesting that having a pre-written test helped the group greatly to pull in the same direction, but not to produce efficient code.

I must sort out my knowledge of java for the next session - I keep feeling like this is a game I want to play rather than just watch.

Gender Decline

Carrie Hartnell, private sector programme manager at Intellect, comments: “The continuing drop in the number of women in the IT industry, though an international phenomenon, continues to have serious and far reaching implications for the UK economy and can no longer be regarded as just a diversity issue.

“There are good initiatives but these have clearly not been pervasive enough or resulted in the necessary improvements. As an industry we must begin by tackling the cultural barriers, which have prevented the effective recruitment and retention of women. If this is achieved the presence of women in the high-end sectors of the economy will benefit both the industry and the UK.”

UK IT sector losing women

Another article on the decline of women in IT.  I find it odd that it never occurred to me that there may be a meaningful gender divide, i.e. that there was more to the issue than just a lack of diversity.  The decline is intriguing.  It has certainly piqued my interest into gender in the workplace.

XPDay London 2006

Brief, very delayed, review of sessions at XPDay 2006.  My photos are up on flickr.

Day One

Opening.

As invariably happens when I turn up early to any conference that I have not organised I end up trying to help out.  This year I was early due to my ulterior motive for coming to XPDay, that of advertising and promoting the newly viewable (but still being worked upon) Agile Narratives website (funded and supported by the Agile Alliance).   After putting out flyers and laminated poster I decided that what I really wanted was to help out with the registration process, so I took up a post handing out T-Shirts.  It appears to be a hard-to-break habit.

--

Keynote 1.

Joshua Kerievsky's talk surprised me.  He made some very interesting points in relation to selling agile, but I was not expecting anyone to start promoting teaching agile through basic e-learning...  It seemed somewhat contrary.

--

Embracing Change: An Introduction to Agile Software Development, Clarke Ching

A clear introduction based around the 'manufacturing' model of product development based on pre-existing spec.

Agile was defined as: Able to cope with change/Iterative and Incremental.

Advantages:

1. Customer requirements are prioritised
2. Increments mean working software
3. Customer can release
4. Customer can add, delete or reprioritise as needed
5. Protect schedule commitments despite change
6. Reviewable at the end of each increment
7. Reduce wastage from features which are not really needed
8. Forces early failure

Nothing new here, but good to have made sure and to have it written down.

Slides available here.

--

Making XP Crystal Clear, Andy Pols and Romily Cocking

This talk inspired some creative drawing on my part.  It, well, could have made either XP or Crystal clearer, although I did greatly enjoy the roleplay and retrospective elements. Fun, but felt like it could have used more preparation and distinguished more clearly between XP and Crystal in the talk as I didn't feel like would have made either XP or Crystal clear to a person new to the area.

--

Are We Nearly There Yet?, Ivan Moore

This session was interesting, and encouraged discussion around tracking agile projects; estimation, load-factor, velocity and burn-down charts. Sadly, due to unexpected numbers, we did not get to make paper aeroplanes, although I did get to do some nice drawings of the backs of people's heads.

--

Why is Simple So Difficult?, Facilitated by Nat Pryce and Jonathan Clarke

Very interesting talk layout.  "Normal goldfish bowl rules apply: when someone joins the discussion circle someone in the circle must leave." So, six chairs in a circle in the centre, with the rest of the room in circles around them.  If you wish to comment / join in the discussion, you must move onto one of the chairs, but one chair should always be free (so whoever is no longer directly contributing to the current turn should then move out).

I was completely sold on the fishbowl approach as it seemed to encourage discussion around many levels of the same topic in a way strongly reminiscent of the coding dojo.  You can see new people come in and shape the direction and level of discussion, and old faces return to previous themes.  Interesting and certainly worth further thought.

--

Social Monday.

Off to the pub, for a long supply of nibbles, drinks and free toys.    This perked me up, and I had a good time chatting with people.  I only had to deny working for ThoughtWorks three times.

As most things are these days it seems, the social was funded by the power of Google so I left with my obligatory "I'm Feeling Lucky" t-shirt and flashing badge.

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Day Two

Keynote 2. 'Love in the Age of Software'

James Noble and Robert Biddle managed, rather impressively, to make part of the audience walk out of their talk in fear.  Whether it was from the content or the presentation style I could not say, although the occasional bursts into song did remain with me for the day.  They did raise some interesting points to my mind, but postmodernistic presentations are probably problematic for most professional programmers.

Points I happened to note in no particular order:

• It is important when thinking about metaphors what the reality is of the metaphor you are using.  (Waterfall is a large amount of dangerously out-of-control water plummeting.)
• 'Technical Success' is often equivalent to 'Business Failure'
• In the church of agile, agile is love
• Agile loves tools.
• We should focus on tools to help us communicate that are not machine-based tools. 
• XP Tools:
  • User Stories (Promise to have a conversation) - Often automated
  • On-Site Customer - Excused as not always practical
  • System Metaphor - Expunged from new edition
  • Planning Game - Often Resisted
• Train Wreck vs. Death March
• Lord Shannon's view of information transfer had a slight problem with noise
• Developer to Developer talk mostly mastered
• Problem with the customer developer relationship
• That's numberwang.
• Eco "No perfect form of communication exists"
• Love in an unequal power relationship has implications

--

An Introduction to Scrum, Joseph Pelrine

A good clear, professional, introduction to Scrum.

Noted points:

• Three types of uncertainty in a socially complex domain: requirements, technology, people.
• Scrum defined as empirical processes that wrap engineering processes.  Control is through inspection and adaptation.
• Origins from smalltalk engineering tools; new new product development game, timeboxes, interative, incremental development.
• Prioritise (information and value)
• Maximum flexibility
• Scrum Master is a deliberately silly name
• Stand up meeting.  No drinks. Three questions to ask:
  • What did you do?
  • What are you going to do?
  • Are there any problems or impediments to this?
• People work best when they are allowed to take responsibility for what they do.
• You need seven or less for a conversation of equals, otherwise the conversation will split into two.
• Product Owner role is vital
• Do documentation and design upfront as needed.  We do what's necessary at the time it makes sense.

--

The Toyota Way of Managing, Pascal van Cauwenberghe

A very interesting talk based on 'The Toyota Way' by Jeffrey Liker.  The following 14 management principles were discussed and illustrated:

Long Term Philosophy

1. Base your management philosophy on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

The Right Process will Produce the Right Results

1. Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface
2. Use 'Pull' systems to avoid overproduction
3. Level out the load: 'Heijunka'
4. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time: 'Jidoka'
5. Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment
6. Use visiual control so no problems are hidden
7. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes

Add Value to the Organisation by Developing Your People and Partners

1. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy and teach it to others
2. Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company's philosophy
3. Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve

Continuously Solving Root Problems Drives Organizational Learning

1. Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the problem: 'Genchi Genbutsu'
2. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options.  Implement decisions rapidly ('Nema Washi').
3. Become a learning organisation through relentless reflection ('Hansei') and continuous improvement ('Kaizen')

This ended up being one of the best talks of XPDay to my mind.
--

Metaphor and Stories, James Noble and Robert Biddle

An interesting session, which aimed more towards discussion around the problems with implementing systems metaphors and less on narrative.

Topics:

• Agile and Communication - see notes from keynote
• Jacobson's Axes (Paradigmatic (Substitution) Axis and Syntagmatic (Combination) Axis 
• System Metaphor
• Peircean Semiotics
• Semiotic Model of Metaphor
• Choosing a Metaphor
• Evaluating a Metaphor
• Actantial Analysis
• Narrative Trajectory
• Semiotic Squares

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Social Tuesday.

This social was sponsored by Kizoom, so everyone piled off to XtC to drink and be merry.  I sat on the floor and happily chatted until it was time for me to make my way home and collapse. 

I'm certainly already thinking of options for presentations next year.  I also left with the knowledge that there are apparently only two responses to any consultancy question: 'It depends' and 'Why'...

His Knits

Thanks to Bill I now know that Real Men Knit.  I shall bear that in mind.

Dressed Trees

On Sunday we traipsed off* to the Open Air Museum in Singleton to look at animals, make ivy crowns and christmas cards, eat mince pies and drink mulled cider, watch morris dancing** and mummers play, eat roast chestnuts, decorate jam jars and hang them with candle inside. 

I think we all had a lovely time, despite the weather.

I'll be there again next year.

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* After a morning staring at the pouring rain and windswept trees, wishing for a clear sky.

** Nice to see someone I knew dancing.

Research Methods Ends

Last day of term comes on Friday, but thankfully it was my last day of teaching yesterday, so I am looking forward to a nice month of reading, writing and marking.

We marked the end of the Research Methods in CSAI class with a very interesting talk from Alan Montgomery of InferMed on his experiences moving from research into business (via neural nets, data mining, knowledge-based systems and chip production optimisation).

I think that class went well, and hopefully will be of value to the people on the course down the road.

Rabbit Blues

My Nabaztag sits - these days in the blue set-up mode - waiting for someone to tell me how to connect out via the Sussex roaming network.

It should work. But it is not.

My bunny is sad.