If you’ve ever tried to copy the source files from a Visual Studio 2005 ASP.NET solution, especially if you’re using TFS and Resharper, you’ll have probably noticed all great steaming heaps of fluff and nonsense these tools leave all over your hard drive. Not to mention all the built assemblies lurking in your bin/Debug folders. …
Author Archives: Matt
Lessons From a Master
One of the several great things about working for my current client is that their high public profile means it’s reasonably easy to get interesting people to come and visit us from time to time. Last week the mighty Martin Fowler dropped by to talk to us.
Awesome Acceptance Testing
My notes on DanNorth and JoeWalnes‘ session at Spa 2008. Five artefacts: Automation – the glue that binds the tests to the code Vocabulary – the language that the tests are expressed in Syntax – the technology that the tests are expressed in (C#, Java) Intent – the actual scenario being tested Harness – the …
Spa 2008 (Day 1.5)
So I got to SPA yesterday afternoon, but this is my first day proper. The sessions are longer than at other conferences I’ve been to, which allows for more depth. I’ve been to three today: – Code Debt (Workshop) – Is Software Practice Advancing? (Panel Discussion) – Real Options (Workshop) The evening is ensuing with …
Scrum Metaphors: Virus, Bulldozer, Stabilisers
Is scrum a virus? Jason Gorman and Brian Marrick have been pondering on whether that might be a good thing. I have a couple of metaphors of my own for Scrum.
Where Scrum Gets Dangerous: Potentially Shippable? Make Sure You Mean It
Scrum tells you to build ‘potentially shippable’ changes to your product (let’s call them ‘User Stores’) in fixed-length iterations. By estimating the relative complexity of delivering each of these changes using arbitrary units (let’s call them ‘Story Points’) you can measure how much estimated complexity was turned into ‘potentially shippable’ software over a fixed duration. …
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Markdown Posts Not Appearing in WordPress Homepage?
Hmph. I just discovered Markdown which makes a great partner to the TextMate Blogging Bundle, but my recent markdown-formatted posts don’t seem to be appearing on the homepage of my blog… Anyone know what’s going on?
Kanban For Software Explained… Some More.
A while back I alerted you to a post Karl Scotland had written on his implementation of a kanban system for producing software. Kenji Hiranabe has posted a very informative and well-researched article on the InfoQ website which also sheds a great deal of light on the practical application of this exciting emerging practice. Well …
Continue reading “Kanban For Software Explained… Some More.”
Retrospective: The Clue is in the Name
I facilitated our regular end-of-iteration retrospective last week, and although the feedback from the team was positive, I was left with a feeling that something wasn’t right. With our second major live release looming large on the horizon, I focussed the session on the theme of ‘Success’. My aim was to give the team a …
Kanban for Software Explained
Karl Scotland has posted a great description of how his team solved some issues they were having within their Scrum team by moving over to using a lean-thinking or Kanban system, based on a short buffer or Queue of Minimum Marketable Features (MMFs). It’s probably the clearest explanation I’ve seen yet of why and how …