some stuff

As promised, I am blogging whatever I have read in the book till now. No wonder everyone says that this is a must read for a programmer. So, there is no format I will be following regularly to post whatever I have learnt. Today’s format is, I am putting the name of the section I read and the points I noted down from that section. So, here it goes.

1. The cat ate my source code

• The basic point is take responsibility for what you have done and don’t just give that lame excuse. Talk to yourself first to make sure you are not giving a lame excuse.
• Do not be afraid to ask for help. There is a saying, ” The greatest of all weakness is the fear of appearing weak”. Memorise this statement (I did it already!)

2. Software entropy

• Fix the broken windows. If you see something wrong in the design, fix it. If you leave it as it is, another window will be broken and on and on and you will end up with a pile of mess.
• If the code is already messy, do not get into the mindset of “Well, code is anyway crappy, I will follow suit, it is not a big deal”.
• If it can’t be fixed right away, atleast board it up somewhere so that you don’t forget.

* I wonder how strictly this can be followed or how many people really follow this? Any opinions?

3. Stone soup and boiled frogs

• The author gives an example of how two soldiers start making soup with just stones and how the villagers come together and contribute ingredients to it and make it a good soup. The moral of the story is, you be the catalyst of change. You start the process.
• The authors mention another interesting analogy saying a frog put in a boiled water jumps right out of it but when put in cold water and slowly heated up, stays there. The moral of the story is, make constant changes to your code, clean it up, remember the big picture always.

So, I borrowed this book from a colleague yesterday. I am doing full time coding for past 2 years and I still haven’t read this book It is considered as one of those evergreen books. i.e, most of the things the authors talk about hold true to this day itseems. I just started reading it and it definitely looks interesting to me.

I am thinking of blogging about it as I read. Someday, someone will read my blog and might find it helpful. Otherwise, well ….. it will serve as notes to myself.

What do you guys think? Sounds good?

How often do you see 3 posts in a day from me? !!! Well, I am in a good mood today. So, here it is. One more for you. We went to Parambikulam (near palakkad). It was just ammmmmmaazing!!

Here are the pics.

It was a great weekend in wisconsin. John, Rafael and I went to elkhart lake. John’s grandpa has cottages around there. It is a beautiful place. A perfect getaway for the long weekend. They have a sailboat and canoe. His uncles had brought kayaks. So, basically we were all set! It was a big family get together. It was interesting to see an American family get together I must say. They were very cordial. I had a very good time.

The best part of the trip was that we canoed our way to a bar. How often does one canoe to the bar? We anchored the canoe somewhere illegally and went to the bar. Had drinks and canoed our way back (in unsoberly state )

Check out the album!

Kanu, Santosh, Alex and I had a good time that day. We went to kodanad (elephant training center). I have lived 20 years of my life in India and I don’t remember riding on an elephant. That is taken care of now Then we went to Athrimpalli falls. It is just Awesome. We had a good time. Here are the photos