Overview Avdi Grimm has a recent post noting the use of “and” and “or” Ruby keywords as essentially control flow operators, and hinting on their Perl origins. This instantly recalled several mental notes of old Perl programs, so I though I’d put out a few quick notes on the Perl equivalents for Ruby programmers not [...]
Posts Tagged ‘development’
Offering Developers Startup Equity, A Dialog
February 11th, 2009
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I have this conversation about once a month, generally by a well-intentioned dreamer new to the software space who doesn’t understand why I can’t accept projects for equity. I may be exaggerating slightly, but it sure feels this way… :) Preston: Hi Bill, nice to meet you. How can we help you develop your online venture? [...]
What If Ruby Had Final Variables Like Java Or Erlang?
January 1st, 2009
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After a long confusing Ruby debate today at OpenRain on the merits of functional, Erlang-esque write-once-read-many variables, I’m going to step onto the podium and just say it… Ruby should get “final” or “const” variables in a similar semantic style to Java, except at runtime. Rather than ramble on for 12 paragraphs explaining exactly how this might work, [...]
iPhone Developers May Now Speak… Almost
October 1st, 2008
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Apple announced this morning that the NDA preventing developers from holding open development discussions will be lifted. While details of the new agreement are not yet available, we are already beginning to see changes in the iPhone development landscape. Details on the first Phoenix iPhone Developer Group meeting will be announced tomorrow morning on the OpenRain [...]
Identifying Senior Software Engineers: Six Critical Differences
August 20th, 2008
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For HR and legal purposes, most development companies classify Software Engineers into ranks from I to IV (or V). The higher the rank, the higher the responsibilities, expectations, independence and pay grade. To cut it as an interviewer and manager, you’ll need to classify people accurately with a minimum amount of direct personal exposure: a [...]
Parallels Server Pricing: Redux
June 25th, 2008
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After a few grumpy emails between myself and our Account Manager, I’m happy to report that we have purchased the GA release and it’s working well. If you are using Parallels Server for internal development purposes and not for hosting, they will extend a more reasonable price per machine: $200 + $50/year maintenance. I think [...]
Parallels Desktop Coherence Mode Rocks: OS X/Windows XP Screenshot
April 23rd, 2007
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I tried Parallels Desktop‘s Coherence mode today, and was so blown away I had to blog about it immediately. The above image has not been doctored. It’s my normal OS X desktop with Windows XP running in coherence mode. When activated, the window around the XP virtualization session vanishes, the XP taskbar integrates into your [...]
