Emad's Blog

MSN Live Messenger API for Addins :

http://blogs.msdn.com/katieblanch/archive/2006/05/11/595765.aspx

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Remember that there is no code faster than no code.– Taligent’s Guide to Designing Programs

it is simplicity that is difficult to make.– Bertholdt Brecht

Perfection (in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away.– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

the cost of adding a feature isn’t just the time it takes to code it. The cost also includes the addition of an obstacle to future expansion. … The trick is to pick the features that don’t fight each other.– John Carmack

Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment.– Frederick Brooks

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.– Albert Einstein

Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming.– Brian Kernighan

Walking on water and developing software from a specification are easy if both are frozen.– Edward V. Berard

Technical skill is mastery of complexity, while creativity is mastery of simplicity.– E. Christopher Zeeman

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.– Daniel Boorstin

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. — Bertrand Russell

The most important single aspect of software development is to be clear about what you are trying to build. — Bjarne Stroustrup

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W.Dijkstra

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is. — Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut

The problem with Wikipedia is that it only works in practice. In theory, it’s a total disaster. — Gareth Owen

“No methodology will ever replace bright, dedicated people.” –Brad Parkinson (“the father of GPS”)

Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence.–Bernard Heuvelmans

Testing can show the presence of bugs,but never their absence.–Edsger Dijkstra

The most dangerous component in a car is the nut behind the wheel.–Urban Wisdom

You can have it good, fast, or cheap:pick any two.–Urban Wisdom

The bearing of a child takes nine months,no matter how many women are assigned.–Fred Brooks

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Who cares how it works, just as long as it gives the right answer? –Jeff Scholnik

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. –Bill Gates

The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from. — Andrew Tannenbaum

Standards are always out of date. That’s what makes them standards. –Alan Bennett

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something
completely foolproof was to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. — Douglas Adams

Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.–Martin Fowler

Why do we never have time to do it right, but always have time to do it over?.—Anonymous

Better train people and risk they leave – than do nothing and risk they stay. –Anonymous

Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight. –Bill Gates

It’s not at all important to get it right the first time. It’s vitally important to get it right the last time. –Andrew Hunt and David Thomas

If you think good architecture is expensive, try bad architecture. — Brian Foote and Joseph Yoder

Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.

In a room full of top software designers, if two agree on the same thing, that’s a majority. — Bill Curtis

There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.

I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.–Dwight Eisenhower

The perfect project plan is possible if one first documents a list of all the unknowns.–Bill Langley

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. – Einstein

It is not enough to do your best: you must know what to do, and THEN do your best. — W. Edwards Deming

One test is worth a thousand opinions.

These quotes are mainly from:
http://www.jbox.dk/quotations.htm
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~iany/consultancy/proverbs.htm
http://www.sysprog.net/quotes.html
http://www.multicians.org/thvv/proverbs.html
http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~damithch/pages/SE-quotes.htm?type=funnyQuotes

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Making the Business Case for User Interface Design: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=726420&f1=rss&rl=1

Bill Gates: The skills you need to succeed: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7142073.stm

Top 15 things to love about VS2008 Express from its product manager: http://blogs.msdn.com/danielfe/archive/2007/11/19/top-15-things-to-love-about-visual-studio-2008-express.aspx

Visual studio 2008 Samples, Starter Kits and Hands on labs: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vcsharp/bb330936.aspx

Update to Visual source safe 2005: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=8a1a68d8-db11-417c-91ad-02aab484776b&displaylang=en

Difference between: Compile/Build/Rebuild: http://petesbloggerama.blogspot.com/2007/12/visual-studio-difference-between-build.html

Excepts from the book “IT Disaster recovery for dummies”: http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0470039736.html?cid=RSS_DUMMIES_ALLNEW

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SilverLight 1.1 to be renamed Silverlight 2.0 and its beta will be release March 2008 http://www.itworld.com/AppDev/530/071129silverlight/

 .NET Web Product Roadmap (ASP.NET, Silverlight, IIS7) http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/11/29/net-web-product-roadmap-asp-net-silverlight-iis7.aspx

New Features in Visual studio 2008 http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/11/19/visual-studio-2008-and-net-3-5-released.aspx

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Today I went to silverlight code camp DC. It was a wonderful overview to this technology that is totally new to me.

On my way back, I started thinking about all the new technologies coming out. Just think of all the releases/betas/previews/etc. available: silverlight 1.1, SQL server 2008, WPF, LINQ, powershell, F#, etc.

I started to think that things are moving very fast in different directions that it is become increasingly hard to stay on top of all the new technologies.

I think that in a few years, Software development will have specializations. We already have now: Database administrators vs. Graphics designers vs. software developers. I think that in a few years: saying “I am a software developer” will be just like saying “I am a physician”. Just like in medicine, since the sheer magnitude knowledge have exploded, We have physician specializing in very detailed cases. Just a quick look at the different branches of medicine today will give you an idea ( here)

Reading about scientists up to may the 18th century, it was normal to read that someone was a poet/chemist/physician/mathematician/inventor/etc. Today, It is hard enough to keep up to date with all the advances in just one specific branch of each of the sciences mentioned.

I think software development is going in this direction. It may be just a few years away that we start seeing jobs with titles like ( Software Unit test engineer – Mock specialist) , (.NET Business components developer ), (Data Access developer/MS-SQL), (UI developer – Animation specialist) or (software developer specializing in File system access). Just like we find lawyers specializing in labor laws, civil rights, or even just in first amendment cases.

I know this may sound odd now, but I really think that with the speed things are moving, this will be case. I don’t see why Software development as a profession, as it evolves will be any different than medicine, Pharmaceuticals, engineering, journalism, etc.

I also think this will considerably affect development methodologies.  For people working in “behind the scenes stuff” like data access or  business rules, estimation could be easier as work is more predicatble. Whereas for people working in UI or animation or graphics, they have to adapt a wayt to respond to constant feedback  from customer.

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