Posts by PhilCoder

Drowning in code: The ever-growing problem of ever-growing codebases

Re: “Everybody and their dog is coding”

I absolutely agree. Typing code into your computer should be a minor and final stage in software development. Yes it makes managers nervous, which can be a career problem...

User was told three times 'Do Not Reboot This PC' – then unplugged it anyway

Rotating keyboards

In my experience, if you want users to pay attention to a note turn the keyboard 180 degrees and put the mouse behind the monitor. It makes them stop and think.

You thought you bought software – all you bought was a lie

Free software works?

When I worked in financial services I built front office systems using the Microsoft product suite. Excel/VBA/dotnet did what I needed and they are comprehensive and reliable. Linux and freeware were used for much of the backend infrastructure, but no trader is going to switch to freeware to control $500m stock market trades.

Hell desk to user: 'I know you're wrong. I wrote the software. And the protocol it runs on'

How to stop an IT argument

If I ever get into one of those yes-it-can-no-it-can't style of endless argument, I put an end to it by offering a wager. Saying "I'll bet you $20 it can" usually brings the conversation to a sudden and complete stop.

Doesnt work on your boss, though.

Why the Linux desktop is the best desktop

Let's see the evidence

It is easy to simply assert that Linux is the best, easy to use and so on, but actual evidence from a large number of users is another matter. Where is the evidence for this article?

Buying a USB adapter: Pennies. Knowing where to stick it: Priceless

Rule #23: if it was quick it must have been easy

Sadly, this tale is a good example of one of the most pervasive grumbles in IT: if it was quick it must have been easy. In high profile projects it is often best to over-dramatize the scale and difficulty of the IT work, to reassure management.

Any fool can write a language: It takes compilers to save the world

The most important feature of any language

IMHO the most important feature of any computer language is the quality and scope of its libraries and frameworks. Part of the success of the likes of C and Microsoft VB was the huge hinterland of 3rd party libraries and components which were readily available for purchase.

The nightmare is real: 'Excel formulas are the world's most widely used programming language,' says Microsoft

Yes, writing your own vba functions for use in worksheet formulas has been a mainstay of Excel development for decades. Not sure what extras lambda is offering?