Introduction
With much of my life spent deeply entrenched in the technology world, I'm often exposed to useful tidbits of information and practices buried beneath an inordinate amount of complexity. While these bits themselves are truly useful if not profound, the amount of experience required to be able to put them to work in their native form is prohibitive.
Which is to say: there's useful stuff out there for those who know how to use it, but others may be excluded because of the learning curve.
Personally I've never been satisfied with that status quo, finding it inadequate and inelegant. Elegance is a major motivator for the advancement of technology: here, it dictates that the value of a thing can be measured by a combined overlap of:
- Applicability (how broadly it can be used)
- Efficacy (the degree to which it accomplishes its stated objective)
- Accessibility (ease-of-use and availability)
Any given product will usually have to satisfy at least 2 of the criteria competently in order to succeed in its market. There are some conditions which skew the metrics, such as an overly-niche target, an artificial saturation of availability, and so forth. My specific complaint above addresses the last item - Accessibility. Tools and tricks out of the reach of those who would be able to put them to good use, kept at bay by virtue of the cost to play the game.
In my tutorials and explanations contained in this section of the site, I'll try my hand at skewing the metrics myself by lowering the barriers to entry: if a thing can be boiled down to its most basic element of an idea, that idea can be conveyed simply. Once grasped it can then be expounded into greater Applicability, and the skill of the artisan hones its Efficacy to new heights.
That said, it's most always worth pragmatically deferring to the best tool for the job, no matter how expert one becomes in something else that could be made to fit.
Tutorials & Write-Ups
| article | audience | summary |
| The Pragmatic Divide | Project or Program Managers, Executives, Development Managers, Sr. Geeks |
Effective Software Development in Business: A break-down of the typical
gotchas to all parts of software development from inception through delivery, beyond
the typical project management and lifecycle or quality issues.
These include hidden architecture and technology selection costs, working with creative
personnel, and the disconnect between competing objectives as well as flexible strategies for
working with all of the above.
In progress |
| Managing Hidden Costs of Offshore Strategies | Executives, Development Managers |
A practical real-world view of Offshoring strategies in software development, when they
make sense, when they don't, and common pitfalls and mistakes to keep in mind.
In progress |
| Invisible Technology | Mid-level Geek and Above |
An exploration under the hood of technologies used in ambient or aesthetic contexts,
where the process itself is typically hidden from view and even the results may be entirely
unnoticeable unless specifically brought to attention. The actions, algorithms, and
originating designs can be frighteningly complex in their implementation; few truly get
it right, but those that do manage to possess a quality of enviable serenity.
Coming soon |
| Torpor ORM for PHP | Systems Architects, Developers | PHP native ORM persistence abstraction layer: characterized by dynamic class factories, related object deep loading, just-in-time fetch, distributed caching, etc. Grab the code, read the user guide, or review the history and selling points on the blog. |
| Full Brain Programming | Broad, but with good exposure to medical terminology | A Geek's Take on Multi-Hemispheric Neurology and Software Development: An exploration of how the physical structure of the brain is influential in the process of specific complex intellectual tasks, with a brief overview on how to intentionally leverage that behavior. |