- Building a Better Build System: An Interview with Peter Smith
- Apr 26, 2011
- The expensive, slow, bug-prone build system is the bane of too many software development teams, but, as the saying goes, "What can you do?" It turns out there is a lot you can do. Matt Heusser interviews Peter Smith, author of Software Build Systems: Principles and Experiences about making build systems cheaper, faster, and maybe, just a little bit more Agile.
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- Cloud Computing Conundrum: An Interview with Chris Moyer
- Apr 18, 2011
- Sure, cloud computing services like Amazon's EC2 can scale to support tens of millions of users. Yet how do these virtual servers actually work? Chris Moyer, author of Building Applications in the Cloud: Concepts, Case Studies, and Design Patterns, demystifies the black art of cloud computing services in this interview.
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- Beyond Process and Tools: People Issues in Agile Software
- Apr 14, 2011
- The Agile Manifesto says that we value "individuals and interactions" over "processes and tools." Yet TDD, Scrum, Extreme Programming, jUnit, and many other elements in the "Agile" space are processes and tools! Ken Howard and Barry Rogers draw a line in the sand with their new book Individuals and Interactions: An Agile Guide; Matthew Heusser interviewed the authors to find out more.
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- Individuals and Interactions: An Agile Guide
- Apr 13, 2011
- Most people’s communication skills could use significant improvement. Adopting just a few of the tips from this chapter may help you significantly enhance the interactions you engage in on your project.
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- Software [In]security: vBSIMM (BSIMM for Vendors)
- Apr 12, 2011
- How do you ensure that your third-party software vendors practice good software security? Software security expert Gary McGraw explains how the Building Security In Maturity Model can play a central role in this effort.
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- The Road to Effective Capacity Management
- Mar 31, 2011
- Capacity management is incredibly helpful in reducing IT costs, but has proven difficult for many organizations to implement. Larry Klosterboer, author of ITIL Capacity Management, shows you how to break this complex discipline into simple, manageable steps that will quickly have you on the road to effectively managing your capacity.
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- Software Build Systems: Make
- Mar 28, 2011
- This chapter explores the syntax of Make-based build systems in more detail and presents a number of practical use cases.
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- Cargo Cult Programming
- Mar 24, 2011
- David Chisnall takes a look at some common programming antipatterns, how they originated, and why they should be avoided.
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- Software [In]security: Modern Malware
- Mar 22, 2011
- Software security expert and author Gary McGraw looks at where malware is heading — and what we should do about it.
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- Getting Started in Microsoft Project 2010 After the Business Initiative Is Approved
- Mar 11, 2011
- This chapter shows you how to plan for a successful project by setting the direction, sharing the vision, and establishing the rules of the project.
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- ITIL Capacity Management: Define and Manage Capacity Plans
- Mar 3, 2011
- This chapter goes beyond the ITIL documentation to describe a working formula for capacity plans. It suggests that you create more customized plans for those areas that really need detailed plans and keep them current through a repeatable process. You will learn the details of what goes into a capacity plan and how and when to create your plans.
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- Software [In]security: Software Patents and Fault Injection
- Feb 28, 2011
- Gary McGraw explains how another party may get a patent on a technique he had a hand in inventing.
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- Managing Software Debt: An Interview with Chris Sterling
- Feb 24, 2011
- Just why is it that we seem so rushed to cut corners in software development, what are the long-term implications, and how can we move past emergency-driven-development? Matt Heusser interviews Chris Sterling, author of Managing Software Debt, to discuss the use of the debt metaphor for software, along with other ways to look at the problem that lead to more healthy outcomes.
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- Firesheep, Fireshepherd, and Facebook: Understanding Session Hijacking
- Feb 22, 2011
- Mike Chapple shows you how web authentication makes session hijacking possible, how Firesheep exploits these vulnerabilities, and the measures that website administrators, web developers, and end users can take to protect against session hijacking attacks.
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- Lean-Agile Acceptance Test-Driven Development: An Introductory Acceptance Test
- Feb 16, 2011
- Ken Pugh presents an example of an acceptance test, along with four ways that you can execute an acceptance test.
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- Building a Competitive Software Capability: Creative Destruction
- Feb 15, 2011
- This chapter describes why even very successful organizations face an urgent need to change, why these changes must be a high priority, and the issues to be addressed in making the changes.
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- Encryption 101: Keys, Algorithms and You
- Feb 15, 2011
- Mike Chapple shows how to protect confidential information via encryption, and teaches the basics when it comes to selecting an encryption technology.
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- The Big Picture of Agile Requirements
- Feb 9, 2011
- We are now at the point in time where a number of organizations have made the transition before us and some common patterns for lean and agile software process success have started to emerge -- a Big Picture. In this chapter, Dean Leffingwell offers a quick gestalt of this new, agile, leaner, and yet fully scalable software requirements model.
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- Leading Agile Developers: The Seven Levels of Authority (Part 2)
- Feb 3, 2011
- For managers to make the best use of self-organization in their business, they need to distribute control and delegate their authority. In this article, Jurgen Appelo, author of Management 3.0: Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders, describes the seven levels of authority and the “authority board” managers can use to delegate control to self-organizing teams.
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- Software [In]security: Comparing Apples, Oranges, and Aardvarks (or, All Static Analysis Tools Are Not Created Equal)
- Jan 31, 2011
- Security expert Gary McGraw discusses the static analysis tools market, the pitfalls of product comparisons, and provides his recommendation for making the best choice.
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