Monthly Archives: December 2007

Code Size in Software Projects

In a recent post, Steve Yegge talked about a software game he had written and how the code size (500,000 lines of code) had become too big for him to manage. He had previously written the application in Java, and … Continue reading

Posted in software development | Leave a comment

2007 – The Best and Worst Books I Read

I read around 65 non-fiction books in 2007. Here are the lists for the best and worst books I read. Some of them may have been published prior to 2007, but the best books seldom get outdated and the worst … Continue reading

Posted in personal learning | 4 Comments

Delegation and Follow-up

A good manager must learn to delegate. By doing so, he can focus his time on activities which others cannot do as well as he can. Since a manager’s time is costly, he should delegate repetitive activities to less expensive … Continue reading

Posted in business management | 5 Comments

DataModel and ViewModel

Recently in a conversation with a friend, he described a problem with an algorithm he was writing for displaying a calendar with appointment data. His original algorithm worked fine, but when faced with appointment conflicts because of multi-booking, he had … Continue reading

Posted in software development | 2 Comments

Pitfalls of Performance-Based Compensation

Performance-based compensation has a simple premise: Show better results, obtain greater rewards. Commission-based professions (like sales) are performance-based. It seems like a good idea to have the same principle applied to all jobs within a company. Unfortunately, there are many … Continue reading

Posted in business management | Leave a comment

Riddles and Quiz in Interviews

Try solving the puzzle below. The answer and an explanation of how to solve the generic version of the problem can be found in this article by Jack Wert. You have 9 coins, one of which is heavier than the … Continue reading

Posted in business management | 7 Comments

The Joy of Setting Up a Java Framework

Joy? Actually, no. Unfortunately, Java is becoming a victim of too much innovation. Anyone doing web development using a Java-based framework is faced with an abundance of choices and very little guidance and help from the innovators. Here, take a … Continue reading

Posted in software development | Leave a comment

Communicating Software Estimates

In my last post, I had written about the conflict over software estimates between the people running the business and the people writing the software. I mentioned that most projects are likely to be underestimated in the first place and … Continue reading

Posted in software development | 2 Comments