Ben Scott's Blog - All Comments

re: When is software done?

Ben Scott — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:01:08 GMT

Even if you were to meet the IEEE's requirements and had a software engineering degree that was ABET/EAC accredited, my (poorly made) point is that if your approach to writing code is based upon engineering priniples, then you'd have a number of attempts at writing a particular application, throwing away each attempt as you progressed (models e.t.c).

In software, you don't really know how best to represent the solution to the problem until you're "functionality complete". Once you've reached functional completeness, you should be throwing away the model and starting again now you understand the problem in its entirety, focusing on the optimal design. Since we deal with non-concrete objects we have the advantage of refactoring rather than throwing away - but that hardly ever happens in my experience because "functional completeness" is perceived as being "done".

It's like a prototype car. A first attempt based on previous experience. It works - but it's not released into production because it hasn't been "refined" and is not "production ready". The "software engineer" metaphor is selectively interpreted by "hackers" as - I'm done when it works; without any attention to the multiple attempts performed previously to achieve true completeness.

Am I ranting? Probably. Maybe the link between the "engineer" job title and crap code isn't there. I just wish that people didn't stop once their tests worked.

re: When is software done?

Gordon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:48:00 GMT

The IEEE's formal position on this is as follows:

"The title, Engineer, and its derivatives should be reserved for those individuals whose education and experience qualify them to practice in a manner that protects public safety. Strict use of the title serves the interest of both the IEEE-USA and the public by providing a recognized designation by which those qualified to practice engineering may be identified. The education and experience needed for the title, Engineer, is evidenced by

> Graduation with an Engineering degree from an ABET/EAC accredited program of engineering (or equivalent*), coupled with sufficient experience in the field in which the term, Engineer, is used; and/or

> Licensure by any jurisdiction as a Professional Engineer.

> A degree from a foreign institution (or the total education when a person holds a graduate degree in engineering but no accredited B.S. in engineering) can be evaluated through a service offered by ABET."

Pages tagged "agile"

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MSDTC, .Net 2.0, DB2 and Heuristic Processing continued...

Ben Scott's Blog — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 12:40:52 GMT

In my previous post , I mentioned how to change to the OLEDB connection pooling defaults after receiving

CAB installation error

Eldar — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:50:02 GMT

"An unexpected error occurred generating the Visual Studio Solution files. You may have to manually...

re: WCF Proxy Generation without Types

Rory Primrose — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:42:30 GMT

This mapping can be achieved by using schema extensions for web references (http://neovolve.com/archive/2006/10/24/Neovolve.Schema.Extensions-1.0-released.aspx). I haven't tested this with a WCF service reference though, but if you share the contracts then it won't be a problem for a WCF service.

re: Installing Vista RTM on ASUS F3JV

Ben Scott — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:11:57 GMT

Mark - You need to get the driver AND the modified .inf file from the site. It won't work without the .inf. Also, open it up in Notepad and check that your card is in the list. Before you run the driver installation, copy the modified .inf over the existing one supplied with the driver, then install.

re: Installing Vista RTM on ASUS F3JV

Mark — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:29:18 GMT

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the post, I've just installed Vista RTM on my A6JC. I've followed the link for the NVidia drivers, but the installer keeps saying it doesn't recognise the video card and exiting. Any ideas?

re: Mounting ISO images e.t.c in Vista

alistair — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:27:06 GMT

ta, installing now!

re: Experimentation with InfoPath 2003

Alex Weinstein — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 04:41:07 GMT

Ben, I'm glad your first tryout of InfoPath was successful! I'd love to know how your implementation progresses - keep blogging!

re: Experimentation with InfoPath 2003

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 06:08:30 GMT

It's all great in theory till you use it for awhile. See my top hates with the product: http://www.soulsolutions.com.au/Blog/tabid/73/EntryID/11/Default.aspx

re: DB2 Connection Issues when using COM+ Services and Windows XP Service Pack 2

Alistair — Thu, 18 May 2006 06:36:59 GMT

Thanks for this - I'm backing up my machine now in prep for the SP2 install!

re: Deploying the Enterprise Library (June 2005 1.1) with a strong name key

Ben Scott — Wed, 03 May 2006 13:25:06 GMT

XaJa ( Ajax?? ) I've posted a solution to disabling the Instrumentation in Enterprise Library ( which is what you were asking..I hope) at http://schmurgon.net/blogs/ben/archive/2006/05/03/43.aspx

re: Deploying the Enterprise Library (June 2005 1.1) with a strong name key

XaJa — Tue, 02 May 2006 12:16:26 GMT

Thanks Ben. I've been getting the Interop.MSDASC does not have a strong name error for ages. I tried generating a proxy but it didn't work. Have you also gotten round the instrumentation exceptions? I have deployed my site to a third party which won't let me install MSI's (fair enough). I'm using Log4net to write out my exceptions, but keep getting this exception:

Exception Details: System.Security.SecurityException: Requested registry access is not allowed.

[SecurityException: Requested registry access is not allowed.]
Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey.OpenSubKey(String name, Boolean writable) +473
System.Diagnostics.EventLog.CreateEventSource(String source, String logName, String machineName, Boolean useMutex) +445
System.Diagnostics.EventLog.CreateEventSource(String source, String logName, String machineName) +11
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common.Instrumentation.PerformanceCounterInstances.ReportCounterFailure(String message)
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common.Instrumentation.PerformanceCounterInstances..ctor(String categoryName, String counterName, Boolean createNewInstance)
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common.Instrumentation.InstrumentedEvent.AddPerformanceCounter(String category, String[] counterNames, Boolean createNewInstance)
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common.Instrumentation.InstrumentedEvent.Initialize(String counterCategory, String[] counterNames, Boolean createNewInstance, String eventLogSource, EventLogIdentifier[] eventIds)
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Common.Instrumentation.InstrumentedEvent..ctor(String counterCategory, String[] counterNames, Boolean createNewInstance)
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.Instrumentation.DataServiceEvent..ctor(String[] counterNames)
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.Instrumentation.DataCommandFailedEvent..ctor(String[] counterNames)
Microsoft.Practices.EnterpriseLibrary.Data.Instrumentation.DataCommandFailedEvent..cctor()