Software Development with Linux
Book Review : Version Control by Example
MON, 13 MAY 2013
I have read Version Control by Example from Eric Sink a couple of months ago, but let's talk about DataBallet first.
I am happy to have finally moved to DataBallet's NEWS engine for this blog. The main issue was that I needed to migrate all the previous (around 200) posts from flat HTML files to templates and database content. I guess the reason why it took so long to do so was that it wasn't something particularly interesting to do... But at last, this is now done so I will now be ready to share thoughts and other things here. So let's move to the book review.
Published in 2011, the book discuss version control tools, more particularly distributed version control tools. On interesting point of the book is that it does a great comparison of centralized version control tools and distributed version control ones. The same function is described for both, so you can easily see where the differences are, what benefits you get from each, etc.
The first part of the book talk about the basic usage of a centralized version control tool, using Subversion (aka SVN) for examples. The second part of the book cover the exact same functions (commit, checkout, log, etc.) but using distributed version control tools, using Mercurial, Git, and Veracity. Finally, branching workflows and how a distributed version control tool works under the hood is covered in Part 3.
All in all, this book is easy to read. If you are looking for an introduction to distributed version control, and prefer to read it from dead trees or wants to enjoy the many puns and jokes inside, that is a good choice. But, don't be surprised once you've been through it that you only skimmed the topic. Also, the fact that the all the version control functions are described in details for 4 different tools, well, this can a bit boring to read depending on your knowledge level. As of today, the book is priced at around 31$US on Amazon.com. I don't think it is worth that much. If you can get a copy in the range of 10$-15$, that would be alright. A better deal is probably the PDF version available from the author's web site. Judge by yourself if it is worth the paper copy price.
Book Review : Rapid Development
FRI, 23 NOV 2012
One of the good thing about book, is that there is so much good book available, that there is always more good books left to read the number of books you have already been though. Another good thing about books is that good books stay good even as the time goes on. Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules by Steve McConnell is one of those good books that, while written more than 15 years ago, is still an excellent read today. Actually, reading it now allow us to have a better perspective on the different best practices mentioned by Steve.
Because that is what this book is really about: what are the best practices to achieve rapid software development. But to know which ones are the best practice for your project, you need to know how to select them, what are the hypothesis behind the idea, and where they are best applied. Fortunately, this is also covered in detail in the book. In fact, I do not see what could have been added to this book; it feel really complete.
Even with some best practices that you can see would need to be modified to be applied today, or maybe even not that much useful with all the changes the software development industry have seen, it is still a most excellent read. I recommend it to everyone that have some impact on or is affected by any software development project. From fresh out of school to experienced professionals, this book is a must read for everyone.
Kanban and Scrum: making the most of both
THU, 15 NOV 2012
I recently read Kanban and Scrum: making the most of both. That was actually the first time I read something detailed about Kanban. What I particularly loved from it is that it does not try to make you believe in a silver bullet. I know that all (at least, most) knowledgeable people understand that silver bullets are only mythical and unreal, but that fact is sometime hidden when personal interests are at stakes. One could have expected that a book about Kanban and Scrum would preach that Kanban and Scrum are the solution to every problem. Fortunately, that is not the case.
The book is split in two sections. The first part describe both Scrum and Kanban individually before comparing them so you have a clear picture of the similarities and differences. The second part is a case study, which is probably the best way to show how you can use the two together. Again, there is always an explanation as to why something was chosen, and why you should decide for yourself what you need.
At 122 pages, with plenty of pictures and diagram, this can be read in only a couple of hours. You won't be an expert in Scrum or Kanban after that, but you will know enough to start experimenting on your own. Nothing beats learning by doing. Nothing.
Now served by DataBallet
WED, 24 OCT 2012
It took me more than than I expected, but laurentparenteau.com is now served by DataBallet. It is still not using the templating engine; I will have to refactor all the pages to use it. It is also not using the NEWS engine for the blog; I will have to move all the posts into the database first. Once done, maintaining the site will be a lot more easier. I will first works on using the templating engine, than script the blog migration. I do not have a time estimate for those changes, but it will eventually be done, I promise!
In the mean time, there is a couple of things I wanted to blog about, so next posts should of more general interest. While I enjoy talking about DataBallet, I am probably alone in that situation... for now at least. Anyway, if you experience any weird issues with the site, please send me an e-mail so I can get it fixed as quickly as possible.
DataBallet is alive
FRI, 22 JUN 2012
Yes, that is right, DataBallet is alive! That web site is not yet running the latest version (available from GitHub), but it will shortly... At least, as soon as I have tested the new features (authentication, news feed, etc.) a bit more. Oh, by the way, DataBallet is the new na me for my web server + framework + database project I discussed previously.
I am happy with the current status. That said, I feel that it would be good if I had feedback from people using different browsers. So if you visit DataBallet's web site and you see any issue, please, be kind enough to either e-mail me or create an issue in the project's GitHub page. Otherwise, any kind of comment will also be appre ciated...!
Now, the next step is to move this blog and web site from Apache to DataBallet. Once that will be done, I will be able to say that DataBallet is serving 'many' web sites! ;-)
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