Recent Articles
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No More Rockstars
October 29, 2013
When I was seventeen I bought a stack of Lou Reed records. I didn't really know that much about Lou Reed but there was this girl. And she really liked him. And I really liked her. So I needed to get into Lou Reed quickly. I started where everyone starts with Lou reed - the 1972 ... (continued)
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The Lean Architect
March 18, 2013
Anyone who's soaked their head in agile techniques for a while can't help but become a little obsessed by the concept of "lean". Behind all the fine words they're essentially the same thing - a quest to discover ways of delivering with the minimum amount of ... (continued)
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The Big Data Deception
February 10, 2013
You can't go to a conference, read a blog (ahem) or open a tech mag without someone talking about Big Data these days. Now I'm as excited the next person whenever new techniques, approaches, tools, frameworks, whatever come along, but equally, given our industry's ... (continued)
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The Inevitability of Evil
February 7, 2013
Google's code of conduct begins with the phrase "Don't be evil". If you work for, or with, Google you're meant to follow the code. Google's management enforce the code to the extent that you're even protected from retaliation if you blow the whistle on ... (continued)
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The Grand High Order of the Easter Bunny
September 1, 2012
I 've talked, rather a lot, about my views on the use of open source software in the big fat corporate enterprise. Because these rambles have been at conferences or in occasional blog posts, the pitch has been aimed at enterprise developers: Use open-source where you can, but ... (continued)
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The New New Tool
November 5, 2011
Bob and Alice sit in a cubicle at the end of the floor. For much of their working day they are pissed off. They are forced to do their job using a tool implemented by The Project some years ago. The Tool was an over-complex inappropriate hulk when it was selected. The Tool is made by ... (continued)
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NoSQL in the Enterprise
July 30, 2011
Welcome to part two. Last time we looked at the experience of getting a NoSQL product accepted in an enterprise environment. Assuming you got through that, the next step is to do something useful with it. Like any tool, you will only get good stuff out if you know how make the best ... (continued)
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Freedom from the Tyranny of Schemas
July 30, 2011
Time flies - it was nearly two years ago that I wrote 'Strained Relationships', an article extolling the potential benefits of NoSQL data stores. My main point then, and now, was that certain features of the new wave of non-relational products looked a promising solution (in ... (continued)
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The Attraction of Laws
June 5, 2011
I noticed last week just how many half-written articles I have queued up for completion. Postwise, the last twelve months has been heavy on ideas but light on completion. Sorry about that. Unless you think my stuff sucks in which case: "you're welcome". It's been a ... (continued)
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The Secret Sauce
May 29, 2011
Last time, I was talking about what I consider to be the general lack of a crisis in software development. And it got me thinking - if there is no crisis in software development, no inherent flaws in our tools or our methods, then there must somehow be a way to convey the appropriate ... (continued)