Binary Sludge
Currently viewing the tag: "Source code"
A truly superb list of aspirational qualities for software developers. It includes symptoms of each particular quality and guidelines on how to acquire the desired traits.
Signs that you’re a good programmer
1. The instinct to experiment first
2. Emotional detachment from code and design
3. Eager to fix what isn’t broken
4. Fascinated by the incomprehensible
5. Compelled to teachSigns that you’re a fantastic programmer
1. Incorruptible patience
2. A destructive pursuit of perfection
3. Encyclopedic grasp of the platform
4. Thinks In Code
5. When In Rome, Does As Romans Do
6. Creates their own toolsSigns that you’re destined for more
1. Indifferent to Hierarchy
2. Excited by failure
3. Indifferent to circumstances
4. Unswayed by obligations
5. Substitutes impulse for commitment
6. Driven by experiences
Antipatterns (styles of design or process that may proliferate, but are ineffectual or counter-productive) can confound even the most battle-hardened of developers. Only knowledge can set us free, and to that end Source Making’s list of antipatterns is a welcome reminder.
Good software structure is essential for system extension and maintenance. Software development is a chaotic activity, therefore the implemented structure of systems tends to stray from the planned structure as determined by architecture, analysis, and design.
Eerie similarities:
First, from your editor, as from your butler, there are no secrets. If you have allowed yourself to be lazy, careless, turgid, or sloppy, there is no concealing it.
Second, everyone – everyone – is capable of shoddy work, especially in the first draft. That is why writers need editing, not just self-editing, but editing from an independent set of eyes.
Third, humility should be the outcome. The writer should understand the human propensity toward error, and the editor should not assume some snooty sense of superiority for having ferreted out errors, because the editor is equally prone to them.*
* Anyone who doubts the fallibility of editors should see these confessions at the Subversive Copy Editor Blog.
Book review: The Old Editor Says, by John McIntyre | Sentence first
Deadliest Web Attacks has published an article rallying against the dearth of high quality, secure code. Although most code is never seen by anyone but the core development team, in light of the recent Symantec source code theft the article is particularly pertinent:
How would you alter the risks associated with your web site if its source code were stolen? Hard-coded passphrases? String concatenation of SQL statements? How much security relies on secrecy of functionality versus secrecy of data? Think of it in terms of Kerchoff’s Principle, roughly “The system must not require secrecy and can be stolen by the enemy without causing trouble”. Kerchoff was writing about cryptography, but the concept applies well to software.
This would be a good time to double-check the OWASP Top Ten Vulnerabilities and re-watch the OWASP Appsec Tutorial Series.
