September 2008 Archives

September 26, 2008September 26, 2008

Episode 19: Pajama Driven Development (working remote)

This week Scott K leads a discussion on remote work, remote access technologies, and synchronization software:

What software and services help with remote development
The joy of being your own network admin
Source control implications (TFS, Subversion, GIT)
The social tradeoff – fewer incidental conversations, more intentional conversations
Remote access software
Synchronization software

Links

GE moving from Google Docs to Zoho
Wired: Home Sweet Office: Telecommute Good for Business, Employees, and Planet
VisualSVN
Terminals (multi tab terminal services/remote desktop client)
Foldershare
Windows Live Mesh
Microsoft SharedView
Dropbox

Download / Listen

Herding Code 19: Pajama Driven Development (working remote)
[audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0019-Pajama-Driven-Development–Working-Remote.mp3]

September 18, 2008September 25, 2008

Episode 18: Matt Podwysocki on F# and Functional Programming

This week Matt Podwysocki puts the fun in functional programming with a deep dive into F#. We’ve heard plenty of high level discussions of F# and functional programming lately, so we tried to dig into the gory details as much as possible:

What is functional programming, and why should we care?
Types of applications that would and wouldn’t benefit from F#
How F# differs from C# 3.x and Javascript
How F# is being used (games, scripting, data analysis and scrubbing, etc.)
F# pattern matching
Using F# in your C# or VB based applications today
Getting started: F# Interactive, reading the F# source, books and resources
Interaction with DLR
Functional features we’d like to see in C# and VB
Spec# and Sing#

Links:

Matt Podwysocki’s blog
hubFS
Download the Microsoft F#, September 2008 Community Technology Preview
F# Developer Center
Dryad
Spec#
Singularity (Sing#)

Download / Listen

Herding Code 18: Matthew Podwysocki on F# and Functional Programming
[audio: //herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0018-Matthew-Podwysocki-on-F-Sharp-and-Functional-Programming.mp3]

Additional F# References:

Books:

Expert F# – Don Syme – http://www.amazon.com/Expert-F-Experts-Voice-Net/dp/1590598504/
Foundations of F# – Robert Pickering – http://www.amazon.com/Foundations-F-Experts-Voice-Net/dp/1590597575/
F# for Scientists – Dr. Jon Harrop – http://www.amazon.com/F-Scientists-Jon-Harrop/dp/0470242116/

Blogs:

Don Syme – http://blogs.msdn.com/dsyme/default.aspx
Chris Smith (F# Tester) – http://blogs.msdn.com/chrsmith/default.aspx
Brian McNamara (F# Dev) – http://lorgonblog.spaces.live.com/
Jomo Fisher (F# Dev) – http://blogs.msdn.com/jomo_fisher/default.aspx
Andrew Kennedy (MSR) – http://blogs.msdn.com/andrewkennedy/default.aspx
Luca Bolognese (Managed Languages Principal PM) – http://blogs.msdn.com/lucabol/default.aspx

Podcasts/Videos

Dryad on .NET Rocks – http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=378
Simon Peyton-Jones on Functional Programming and Haskell – http://se-radio.net/podcast/2008-08/episode-108-simon-peyton-jones-functional-programming-and-haskell

F# Examples

Any Colony Simulation – http://www.strangelights.com/blog/archive/2008/05/04/1613.aspx
FsTest – http://www.codeplex.com/FsTest

September 11, 2008

Episode 17: Browser Roundup

This week Jon leads a discussion on the new crop of browsers:

What’s new in Google Chrome
Comparison of Javascript engines
What does crazy-fast Javascript mean?
Is Webkit taking over? Why’s Firefox sticking with Gecko?
IE8 Compatibility Mode – Will it save us from IE6?
Is it time for the IE team to try “File/New/Browser”?
Do web standards mean anything when IE doesn’t support them?
Where does Silverlight fit in?
Objective-J

Links:

Download / Listen

Herding Code 17: Browser Roundup
[audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0017-Browser-Roundup.mp3]

September 4, 2008

Episode 16: Interviewing Software Developers

This week Kevin leads a discussion on interviewing software developers:

What interview styles we find effective
What sort of questions actually help us evaluate a candidate
Why API trivia and puzzle questions don’t work
Hiring mistakes we’ve made based on errors in our interview style
Why we don’t do very well when the tables are turned and it’s our turn to be interviewed

Download / Listen

Herding Code 16: Interviewing Software Developers
[audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0016-Interviewing-Software-Developers.mp3]