December 2005 - Delphi Launch wrap-up

We had a great turn out for our Delphi 2006 launch event in November 2005.  CompSys supplied pizza and soda for everyone and we met in the large training center at Washington Group International.

Anders Ohlsson from Borland came out to show us the latest version of Delphi 2006.

Click on this panorama thumbnail for a full size panorama of the room during the presentation.

Anders also gave away two copies of Borland Developer Studio 2006, which includes the 2006 editions of Delphi (Win32 & .NET), C# Builder, and C++ Builder.

Wayne Worthen made a lot of noise when he heard there was a contest since he never wins.  Boy was he  surprised when he found out that he won the Professional edition.

Since Wayne had never won anything before in his life, Anders upgraded him to the Enterprise edition.  He claims this is the first time he won anything in the 54 years of his life.  Now I guess it is official that he is no longer a looser.

The next winner was Chris Brandsma.

Chris is the lucky winner of the Architect edition, which comes with all the fancy bells and whistles!

Everyone else went home with a 25% discount coupon.

Cory Isakson, Chris Brandsma and Jason Mauer

Dave Heron, James Evans and Randy Buchner

Mike McLemore, Wayne Worthen and Michael Cline

After the meeting a few of us stuck around to finish the pizza and soda during a rousing game of Robo Rally.

Since Anders Ohlsson and Jason Mauer (Microsoft) were in from out of town they didn't mind staying to play. James Evans just wanted to see us play for a few minutes, but soon he was sucked in to playing as well. Rich Hundhausen and Chris Brandsma are Robo Rally vetrans so knew how much fun it would be.

Rich Hundhausen, Anders Ohlsson, James Evans, Jason Mauer and Chris Brandsma play late night Robo Rally.

Chris plans his move. . .

Adners considers his options. . .

James shuffles the cards. . .

Anders relaxes after a well played move. . .

Jason enjoys a drink between rounds. . .

Everyone had an excellent time playing the game. Hopefully this will be a regular feature at our future meetings.

Subject Tags: [Programming] [Software] [Borland] [Delphi] [Launch] [RoboRally]

Free copy of Essential XML Quick Reference in PDF Format

We all work in XML any more. As Rich put it in the intro to our book "XML is as ubiquitous as Kevin Bacon" and as simple as it is, there is still a lot to remember, which is why I keep a handy reference.

I have the print version of this book, but I just downloaded the free PDF as well: Essential XML Quick Reference: A Programmer's Reference to XML, XPath, XSLT, XML Schema, SOAP, and More.

Get your free copy at www.theserverside.net!

As much as I love a free and electronic version, I still like having the print version around too and know I will continue to use it frequently.

Subject Tags: [XML] [XPath] [XSLT] [XML Schema] [SOAP] [Free] [eBook] [Reference] [Free eBook]

Better Usability = Greater Support Revenue

Ever hear the argument that a company that sells software and sells support are most likely making their software harder to use so they can sell more support? I've heard it applied to Open Source in general, and Linux specifically. Especially when the software is free, the major money is made in support, so their motivation is to generate support revenue by making it harder to use. It has been argued that this motivation is the reason Linux will not take over the desktop.

The thing about the logic is Linux would just need to be almost as easy to use as Windows to become a viable desktop alternative, since it is already cheaper and more secure. (This is assuming things like hardware and software support are covered.)

If you argue that Windows is easier to use then Linux today we only need to look at the fact there is far more money made today off supporting Windows then Linux, so I don't think there is any danger of companies providing support for Linux loosing business by making the program easier to use, thus attracting more users. I don't have any hard numbers, but I imagine more support revenue is generated per copy of windows installed then per copy of Linux installed.

In fact when we look at the real world we would see that these companies supporting Linux would want to make it even easier to use then Windows. Then we would see more large scale deployments of Linux, which is where the real support money is to be made. I seriously doubt Red Hat (or any other Linux supporting company) is looking to make much money off supporting a single end-user in using Linux. But once they convert all the single end-users then the corporations, schools, etc. are not far behind.

Now there may be some out there who are making their software more difficult to generate more support revenue, but they are the exception. Not only are they the exception, but they are in a loosing battle.

Subject Tags: [Programming] [Software] [Linux] [Windows] [Desktop] [Usability] [Support] [Red Hat] [Microsoft]

Merry Christmas 2005 and News

A quick Merry Christmas, Happy Hollidays or Bah Humbug to everyone - take your pick. A few announcements for what we have comming up in the new year. . . .

Our January 5th, 2006 meeting will be our Visual Studio 2005 launch event. We have 5+ copies of the Professional Edition of Visual Studio 2005 (with Sql & Biz Talk) to give away, as well as pizza and soda contributed by ComSys again. Come learn about Smart Clients / One Click, as well as some of then new language and IDE features. You don't want to miss this!

Also comming in 2006 is the Boise Code Camp. Check out the official blog for more information, and if you are interested in contributing let me know. More information is comming.

I sincerly hope you and yours have and had a wonderful holiday celebration. May you design well, compile successfully, write solid code and release on time. Merry Christmas!

NIST's Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a Dictionary of Algorithms and Data Structures for your online reference. Ench entry includes a definition. There is usually some cross referencing, additional information, and on occasion a link to an implementation (usually hosted off the NIST site).

In addition to Algorithms and Data Structures it also contains algorithmic techniques, archetypical problems, and related definitions. Quite a large collection and worth a look.

Please obseve the requirement "Don't use this site to cheat."

Subject Tags: [Programming] [Software] [Reference] [Algorithms] [Data Structures] [Standards] [Technology] [Definitions]

Con Patterns

Con Patters are not anti-patterns, but patterns used by con-artists. Rich detailed some of them discussed in Ocean's Twelve.

This is exactly what Design Patterns provide, an agreed vocabulary of best practices to accomplish specific tasks. I remember when I started learning about design patterns, my response to a number of them were "I've been more or less doing this for years. So that is what it is called." As developers we have developed and been using these patterns for years, but we never knew what to call them.

Subject Tags: [Programming] [Software] [Movie] [Patterns] [Design Patterns] [GOF] [Movie] [Ocean's Twelve] [Con-artist]

O'Reilly Emerging Telephony Conference

January 24-26 in San Francisco when telephony's key figures, like Jim Van Meggelen, Peter Cochrane, Mark Spencer, Norman Lewis, and Clay Shirkey, convene to provide a high-level perspective of the future of telephony.

The O'Reilly Emerging Telephony Conference prepares you to ride the wave of disruption and improve your communications in unconventional ways through these new open technologies. From projects to products to players, ETel provides a map of the evolving telephony horizon and gives you the charts you need to navigate the new communications opportunities ahead.

The web and telephony are merging to offer a network with unprecedented potential, fuelled by open source contributions. From projects and products to players, ETel provides a map of the evolving telephony horizon and gives you the charts you need to navigate the new communications opportunities ahead.

Early Registration Pricing Ends January 9. Contact me for a 40% discount code when registering online.

Subject Tags: [O'Reilly] [Telephony] [Conference] [Emerging] [Emerging Technology] [Communications]

Wikipedia is as accurate as Britannica

Since we have referenced Wikipedia a few times, and it is a great example of Open Source development (being licensed under the GPL) I thought this was interesting. Advocates of Open Source argue that many eyes and many hands catches more bugs. While detractors say that with no barrier to entry you end up with unqualified contributors. This is especially tough for Wikipedia since anyone with a web browser can change articles and have their changes published immediately. Well, Nature decided to settle the argument by doing a peer review comparison between Wikipedia and Britannica articles on various scientific subjects.

CNN is reporting on Nature's report

The results: the free and amateur built Wikipedia is as accurate as the commercial and professionally built Britannica.

Based on 42 articles on science reviewed by experts where the experts didn't know if the article came from Wikipedia or Britannica. The result was that Wikipedia had on average 4 errors or omissions while Britannica had 3. In some articles Wikipedia had less then Britannica. On average though the Wikipedia articles were longer and covered more material. If you take the length into account then they were close to the same.

Subject Tags: [Open Source] [OSS] [Wikipedia] [GPL] [Encyclopedia] [Britannica] [Peer review]

Delphi Feeds

The site Delphi Feeds is a web based aggregator of blogs related to Delphi. All they need now is an RSS feed of their own!

Update: They just added an RSS feed and an OPML directory.

Subject Tags: [Programming] [Borland] [Delphi] [Borland] [Blog] [RSS]

Book Nomination: My Job Went to India

A hot topic in our group, and I am sure most other software developer groups, is how to compete with overseas outsourcing. We discussed the book My Job Went to India by Chad Fowler a while back on our discussion list, but that was before it was released. It is released now, and we are of course discussing overseas outsourcing again. We are considering reading the book as a group. Thoughts?

There are other books on the subject, but Mike recommended this one, and I like the Pragmatic Programmer series. Plus it is a great title!

Subject Tags: [Programming] [Software] [Oursourcing] [Overseas] [Competition] [India] [Competition] [Book] [Reading] [Pragmatic Programmer]

Competing With Overseas Outsourcing

In your user's group discussion list we were discussion how to compete with overseas outsourcing as a software developer. Michael Cline proposed the following question and list of possibilities. I responded to each suggestion with my take on it (Michael's comments are in italics.)

. . . what do Boise Idaho developers do on an individual level?

--Increase our education?

Yes, by all means. Be strategic in what you learn. It isn't all about just picking up another programming language. Many times developers lack in some social skills, so it would be a good idea to learn in that area as well. Learn methodologies and learn the domains in which you create your programs.

--Become solution architects instead of developers?

Maybe. Is that what you want to do? I think it is important to be able to see the big picture, but don't give up what you are good at and what you love. Maybe when you try solution architecting you might like it.

--Be willing to work for lower wages?

Actually I would say no. If we start to compete on price then we will loose. We simply cannot survive on a wage competitive with Indian programmers. Once we start lowering our prices then we become Walmart and we only get hired as long as we are cheapest. As soon as someone else in town lowers their price, or your customer gets the nerve to go over seas then you loose your contract. Be expensive and be worth it.

--Find an economic niche that is not likely to copied by others?

Great idea. Make a really tight niche and your demand goes up. And if your demand is high, then so are your prices. Of course be sure there is a demand for your niche.

--Become an expert in a specific area?

Same as above. Find one thing you do well and do it better then anyone else. Did I mention that you will need to make sure everyone knows you are an expert in that subject? Doesn't do anyone any good if no one knows you are the worlds best multi-threaded game programmer in COBOL. Start a blog and tell the world.

--Make more significant efforts to learn the businesses of our clients so that we know them better than anyone else can?

This is where being local really rocks. If you know their business better then anyone else then price isn't an issue any more. When they take into consideration the cost of training some really talented Indian programmers in all the fine details of their business then you are all of a sudden a lot more affordable. Since you are local, and just keep showing up and taking them out to lunch and such, they never bother looking elsewhere.

--Change occupations?

Always an option, but frankly most left brain professions are in the same boat. The service industry has a high demand I hear. Frankly if you are not following your passion you are not serving anyone. If your passion really is burger flipping then change industries. Chances are if you are not happy in what you are doing then you are not as effective as your could be. Find a occupation you enjoy, then excel at it.

Subject Tags: [Programming] [Software] [Boise] [Idaho] [Oursourcing] [Overseas] [Competition]

Delphi 2006 Road Show

For everyone coming to the Delphi 2006 Road Show tonight you will want to meet at the central entrance we usually meet at, as described.

The meeting will start at 7PM with pizza, soda and ice cream. Afterwards we will be playing Robo Rally for anyone who is interested.

Jason Mauer from Microsoft will also be in attendance to discuss the Boise Code Camp.

Subject Tags: [Programming] [Software] [Boise] [Idaho] [Pizza] [Borland] [Delphi] [Microsoft] [DotNet] [CodeCamp] [RoboRally]