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Showing posts from August, 2019

Bookshelf Classic: Design Patterns

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This is an odd book.  It is a classic, yet among the least useful books in my library.  The authors Gamma, Helm, Johnson, and Vlissides, affectionately referred to as the "Gang Of Four," wrestled with Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) to produce a catalog of solutions.  Inspired by the pattern languages used in architecture -- notably by architect, design theorist, and professor, Christopher Alexander -- they worked to imbue software development with the same formality, benefits, and gravitas of the age-old discipline. To some degree, the "Gang Of Four" succeeded. They explored and reinforced a working vocabulary regarding software design such as Model View Controller, Singleton, and Factory.  Unfortunately, they also promoted jargony and academic terms such as adapter which is better known as wrapper, observer for publisher/subscriber, and compositor and composition for formatting classes. OOP, while still popular, is waning, yielding to both new styles such

Long Hours, Lost Productivity

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One Sunday morning, I noticed a US Postal truck driving like a DHL delivery van -- in a word, frantically.  Normally, my mail carrier is methodical, efficient, and friendly.  Apparently, he was delivering for Amazon. I've read accounts where the drivers welcomed the extra work and the subsequent pay, but I've also read accounts where additional tools -- straps and dollies -- weren't provided to help with larger and heavier packages, making those drivers uninterested in the overtime. On another Sunday morning, my bank branch was open, mainly because the bank across the street adopted Sunday hours.  Inside, the mood was somber and the air was stale.  The ventilation system was dialed back to account for fewer people.  Normally, the tellers were friendly and engaging, offering lollipops to customers with children.  Looking into the tellers' eyes, I could see they just hoped to make it through the day. I never went back on a Sunday.  Fortunately, the extended hours