Thursday, December 18, 2014

KIFS - A New Software Development Paradigm

KIFS Logo
KIFS is a new software development paradigm or philosophy that emphasizes simplicity above all other factors.
KIFS is an acronym for Keep It Freakishly Simple.

Introduction
KIFS is not enumerable or objective.  It is sensitive to the context with which it is to be applied.  It is similar to the KISS philosophy but more specific. The goal of any software project developed using KIFS is simplicity in all aspects without affecting intended functionality.

KIFS is not exclusionary.  It may be used within the user interface where something large, overbearing and wasteful like an MVC design pattern can be used for other aspects of a particular project.  KIFS is there to help when needed.

Some advantages of KIFS are...

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Brain What???

Many years ago as a hobby I collected computer languages.  I would be up all hours of the night downloading source code, reviewing documentation or trying to contact programmers involved with defunct languages.

Well, I saw the name of this language and had to laugh...  BrainFuck

Apparently this is an older language and, well, a very simple one.  The word terse simply does not do it justice.  Take a look at the above link to it's Wikipedia page.  Just WOW :-)

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Thoughts on the TP Link TL-WN725N 150Mbps Wireless N Nano USB Adapter

The time had come for me to relocate my working space.  My lovely wife suggested she make space in her art area of the front room for my desk.  Seemed perfect to me!

So, I move my work computer and settle into this new space.

"Hmmm, I could really use a desktop here.  Maybe get more into digital photography?  Maybe do more with my extracurricular programming projects?"  And, there it started.

The next day I disconnected our DVD/Hulu/Netflix computer that we have used once in the last ten months or so, and relocated it to my work area.  Only one thing...  Networking.  Only a few things are wired in our house, such as the Dish Satellite receivers and a Verbatim NAS server.  The family's computers all use 802.11 wireless.  With two wireless routers/APs a person could walk almost anywhere on our property and still be connected.

At any rate, that meant running a CAT5 cable from a router to my workspace so that this computer could talk to the internet, or purchasing a wireless card for the desktop.    While ordering holiday gifts for the family on Amazon, I happened onto the TP-Link TL-WN725N.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Z80 Blast From The Past

A few weeks ago while putting things away for winter; an 'autumn cleaning' if you will, I found my old project computer notebook from the late 1980's.  In it were notes and plans and photo-copies of more than enough information to build my own Z8000 computer.  Back then, my personal projects were based more on 'coolness' than having a purpose.  Ahhhh the good old days.

This morning I was poking around on the internet and what do I find???  A military paper on 256 Z80 autonomous computers clustered into a single highly parallel computer called ZMOB.

ZMOB had more of a conceptual point of origin rather than a purpose: "The ZMOB idea sprang originally from needs of the Computer Vision Lab at Maryland."  Ahhh...  To build something for the simple sake of building it.

Monday, November 10, 2014

C# Programming Tip - ViewState

A C# page's ViewState is a real cool place to put state information and variables you want to stick around for the lifetime of a web page.  Actually, most ASP page components save their state information in the ViewState.

Saving stuff in the ViewState is easy.  Here is an example:

ViewState["mode"] = "A"

Accessing it is easy as well:

if (ViewState["mode"].ToString() == "A") {...}

You can also do cool things like put more complex items in the ViewState like:

SomeComplexClass ComplexObject = new SomeComplexClass();
...
ViewState["ComplexObjectVS"] = ComplexObject;
...
SomeComplexClass ComplexObjectCopy = (SomeComplexClass)ViewState["ComplexObjectVS"];


So long as the object is seralizable (more on that later), you can save it in the ViewState.  There is a big drawback... space and bandwidth.  A page's ViewState is stored in the page!  So, each time the page loads, is posted or there is a postback, the entire ViewState is sent over the network.  If you want to maximize the efficiency of your page, minimize your ViewState usage.  The size of a ViewState can grow quickly if you have a large and/or complex page.

Also...  ViewStates are NOT secure.  With enough smarts a person can decode them, so don't put anything in the ViewState that you want to keep secure.

For those curious, here is what a simple ViewState looks like in a simple page:
<input id="__VIEWSTATE" name="__VIEWSTATE" type="hidden" value="/wEPDwUJNzkzMjk1ODg4D2QWAmYPZBYCAgEPZBYCAgsPDxYCHgRUZXh0BQgxLjAoZGV2KWRkGAEFHl9fQ29udHJvbHNSZXF1aXJlUG9zdEJhY2tLZXlfXxYBBSZjdGwwMCRNYWluQ29udGVudCRMb2dpblVzZXIkUmVtZW1iZXJNZbVBilGyAMpTuiSmFozdPPwfgNyhxhHXWwhU4O2NRdBd" />

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Argument for High-Tech Sabbaticals

This high-tech professional life is damned dynamic.  Stand in the same place too long and before you know it, high school graduates are able to out-geek you in nearly every aspect.  Staying current with technology is difficult at best.  The high-tech professional must balance life, work and education...  forever!  Yes, for those wanting to get into a high-tech career, take a little note from the CrazyOldProgrammer...  continual education is key to maintain relevancy in this insane world that melds hard technology, creativity and art.

Doctors, lawyers, scientists and college professors all have sabbaticals.  Why not high-tech professionals?  Seriously.  the world of medical science, law, sciences and education is quite dynamic.  So is the world of the high-tech professional.

So why shouldn't we have sabbaticals?  Seriously?  I spent nearly a year developing an internal data management package.  About 25% of that time was spent maintaining existing production code, about 15% was spent performing standard maintenance and performing administrative tasks.  60% was spent in heads-down development, testing and development.  No training, no mucking around with my own extracurricular code, very little surfing software development and data management forums I typically frequent.

Sure, vacations help us chill out and unwind.  But a sabbatical for a year...  six months...  3 months...  hell, a two week sabbatical where I could go nuts.  Mess around with any language or OS or platform.  Maybe take a formal & directed mini-class.  Something that I want to explore within my professional field, not something I must explore in the course of my employment.  Something to help keep that spark alive, at least until retirement.

Sabbaticals for high-tech professionals.  The time has come, oh yes it has.