June 2007 Blog Posts
Phil left a comment to yesterday's post saying that he'd heard good things about TypeMock, but that it wasn't free, so it's not useful in OSS situations. That got me wondering because I could have sworn that the Community Edition of TypeMock was free. Going over their website, it looks like that edition should be free, but they never come out and actually say so. The trouble is that there's a "30 day evaluation license" on the download page but that's not at all the same as being free.
A little digging reveals that the download of the TypeMock framework...
I like unit tests, at least in theory. Having solid unit tests means being able to determine if small changes to a system produce unexpected results much sooner in the development cycle than we could before. The larger your system, the more people developing it, and the longer you expect you'll have to support it, the more useful unit tests are. Like nightly backups or source code control, unit tests are preventative care that has a continuing cost for no immediate, trackable benefit.
The biggest problem with unit testing, though, is being able to test small units of code in...
When I go over the tools that I use for software development, it's not actually true (as a friend recently accused) that "if it isn't produced by Microsoft, Jacob won't use it." Still, while I don't hesitate to use tools not produced by Microsoft, there's no denying that the majority of what I use day-to-day has its origins in Redmond, Washington. The question Microsoft's detractors need to be asking themselves is why that might be the case.
It's Not the Hot and Cold Running Babes
Because here's the cold, hard truth: there's not a thing in it for me to continue using...
There's a reason that my personal blog is named The Rabid Paladin—I form opinions easily and express them strongly, even as I attempt to maintain an even keel through my sense of integrity. What this means is that on those occasions when I enter an argument with the purpose of informing and/or convincing others, I try to remain open to valid points from other perspectives and the possibility that I might be wrong.
Letting Bias Show
Too often, people arguing their case will paint alternatives in as bad a light as possible—perhaps believing that their misrepresentations make their arguments stronger. The...
I've been considering this post for a while now, but have been afraid to actually write it. So here's the thing: I've noticed that most of those who talk about how evil Microsoft is don't bother supporting that assertion. They tend to assume the rightness of their position and hence the wrongness of whatever it is that Microsoft has done. Microsoft stifles technology! Microsoft is a monopoly! Microsoft engages in unfair business practices!
Do they really?
No Consumers Were Harmed in Making This Software
There's a couple of problems with the whole monopoly thing. For one, at least in the U.S., being...