The Pragmatic Craftsman         :: Simplicity from complexity :: | About Me |

Books, books, books…

I just browsed the new and updated list of books available as part of ACM. I have to say one thing. I’m impressed. They have updated the book list (they now have 1100 books!) and their course list (over 500 courses available). But I’m not impressed with just the number. I’m impressed with the quality of the books. They have some of the best books out there. By best, I mean 5-star rated books on Amazon.

I just wish I had enough time to read them all. :-) Speed reading? I wish. :-) I’m already reading 1-2 books every month. There are so many books I would love to read, but I have to concentrate on reading the best and of most value to me.

What are some of the books available? Ajax on Java, Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, CSS: The Missing Manual, Mastering Regular Expressions (3rd), Agile Java, Software Architecture in Practice, Object-Oriented Design Heuristics, Applying UML and Patterns (3rd); many more. (Now, go ahead and read some reviews for these books, you’ll see what I mean.)

By belonging to the ACM, for $99 a year, you get unlimited access to these books. It’s well worth it. If I just had enough time… :-)

Remember, reading is one of the best ways to deepen your knowledge, to improve as a developer, and to stay on top of this ever-changing IT field.

Reference
ACM Safari Books (600)

ACM Books24x7 (500)

Good news for Linux advocates! Dell will be shipping computers/laptops pre-loaded with Linux! To me, this is crucial for wider adoption of Linux, which I'm waiting for.

Reference
Dude, you're getting Linux! | Ed Burnette's Dev Connection | ZDNet.com

I came across this (interesting) post, 2007 Goals by Frank Kelly, and pondered... and came up with my own 2007 goals.

Deepen my Java knowledge
There are still some features of Java that I don't know, some quirks I'm not aware. In 2007, I plan to read Thinking in Java 4th edition in full. Maybe another book as well. I am also planning to purchase a good book focused on the new features in Java 6.

Get up to speed with Java Concurrency
I have already started on this goal. I've read several articles/book chapters already. I'm finishing the chapter in Thinking in Java. I received Java Concurrency in Practice. I will master this beast.

Get more comfortable with J2EE
I'm not a big fan of the heavyweight J2EE, but the new JEE 5 is different and I think it's a good technology to learn. But before I actually delve into it, I would like to get myself more familiar with the old J2EE and run sample applications on an app server.

Get up to speed with Hibernate
I have used Hibernate on several projects. I know how it works. But I don't know it in detail. There is a new book, Java Persistence with Hibernate which covers Hibernate 3.2. I will buy it and get some more detailed knowledge in Hibernate.

Learn Ruby and Ruby on Rails
I already have 2 books on the subject, Learn To Program and Web Development with Rails, 2nd edition. I have another coming my way -- I was selected to review a book as part of a Javalobby book-reviewing team, Rails for Java. I should get my hands wet in this technology and since my host supports RoR, maybe I can develop a project that I'm thinking about.

Read another book on Patterns
Wow, patterns are proving to be a tough beast to handle. I think I have a good grasp on the GoF patterns but I don't use many of them and .... I forget. There is a new book on the subject, Design Patterns in Java, which looks good to me, and which will also refresh my UML skills.

Read 12-15 books
My goal is to read a 300-page book every month. I have been doing that since last year and I shall continue.

Apply the knowledge I learn
I read a lot, but a lot of that knowledge I easily forget. I need to change the way I learn. I need to start applying the knowledge that I learn. That means creating small projects with the new technologies that I learn. That means I need to actually practice my new skills. That's the only way that I know that I'm actually going to gain a deeper knowledge of the subjects and make sure I don't forget it easily (or not as easily as before).

Write at least one blog entry per week
There are weeks where I have more than one entry and weeks where I don't have any. I need to change that. Having a successful blog means updating it regularly. I shall update this blog at least once every week (have at least 3-4 entries per month).

All in All
It looks like a busy year ahead. But I feel comfortable and confident that I will reach most of the goals. What I have started doing in the last several months helps me a lot. I started waking up at 6AM and dedicating the first hour to reading. By doing this, I get an uninterrupted hour where I am not tired (with a cup of coffee). This is working great for me so far.(I never thought I could be an early riser, but I really enjoy it.)

If you're trying to learn CSS, or if you want a good reference, like me, CssBasics.com looks very good. It is a tutorial that is simple, well laid out, and has a very good rating on digg.com. Check it out.

Various CSS design templates
http://www.intensivstation.ch/en/templates/

Nice array of searchable templates
http://tools.i-use.it/

Find more design stuff -- ideas -- at digg.com/design. (I'm really enjoying digg.com so far.)

Related
500+ Colors
http://cloford.com/resources/colours/500col.htm

Are you thinking of creating an application on the web? Maybe create a company out of it? Evhead has a set of excellent web-startup ideas -- rules -- that you should read before you go ahead. Very good stuff for all web programmers.

Reference
Ten Rules For Web Startups by evhead

Lots of them. Check them out at programmingebooks.tk

I did not attend JavaOne this year (I wish). Eric Armstrong, blogger at Aritma.com, did. Not only did he attend the conference, he put together a very good blog entry about the cool stuff that is happening in the Java world, as well as in the software world.

He does a very nice job. I totally agree with what he's saying. He covers AJAX, Hibernate, J2EE, Groovy vs BeanShell (I might have to learn them).

Here is a summary of the entry:

Reference:
JavaOne 2005: Wrap Up by Eric Armstrong

I've been saving a lot of links in my Bloglines account. It's time to share some of the best reads of the last couple of weeks. Enjoy.

Learning

This is an article from the Pragmatic Programmers that is dear to me. It is about learning. A great article.
[Hunt and Thomas] Designing Learning

(There is also a very good article by the authors, Cook Until Done, which explains why software development isn't as easy as it seems.)

Java

Sun changed its naming conventions with the upcoming releases of Java.
[Hamilton] Goodbye "J2SE", Hello "Java SE"

Spring

Spring is in full swing lately. Development swing, that is. Spring framework is gaining popularity. Why? Because it is flexible, because it lets you do J2EE-type services without the J2EE weight.
[Tate] Five Things I Love About Spring

SOA

There is a lot of ambiguity when you hear about Service Oriented Architectures. Some people mean Web Services, some people mean component-based architecture, etc. There is not a uniform definition of SOA. Martin Fowler agrees. He also shares his views on SOA.
[Fowler] Service Oriented Ambiguity

Managing Time

Johanna Rothman writes up a very good article on managing your time. If you're used to creating to-do lists, get used to not-to-do lists, she argues. Very good article.
[Rothman] What痴 on Your Not-to-do List?

Also, if you are involved in creating schedules, the Schedule Games series by Rothman is just great. Jeff Atwood created a list of the author's posts on the subject.
[Rothman] Schedule Games

Tools

Eclipse 3.1 is out. Download it here.

JDeveloper is now FREE! I think that's big news. I hear that it is going to put pressure on other App Servers providers (IBM, BEA), to release their versions for free. That would be great. I downloaded JDeveloper - it looks sleek, and feels quick. I have not tried anything on it yet, but it looks good so far.

There's been a lot of talk about AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). Mainly because of what Google is doing with it. But AJAX, in my opinion, will be a key part of web development in the future. If you're involved in web development, you will have to learn it (this year or next). I actually wasn't sure what the fuss is all about. Until I read this excellent, easy-to-read article, Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) with Java 2 Enterprise Edition.

How does AJAX work? You make an asynchronous (non-waiting) call from JavaScript to the server without submitting a page, the request is processed, and the result is returned to a JavaScript function as XML. Nice, heh? And simple.

AJAX is a breakthrough in web development. Hopefully, it will become a standard soon. (Go to maps.google.com to see it in action.)

I've been reading some really good articles lately. Below, you'll find the best ones.

Readings of the Month

J2EE Project Dangers
by Humphrey Sheil

If you are involved in J2EE development (seems like everybody is, lately), this article is a must read. It's well written and very practical. And the article makes me think about today's IT marketplace. Even though a lot of people call themselves J2EE developers, very few understand the whole architecture. Very few see the whole picture. What comes with it, a great possibility to mess up. It's almost safe to say that if you're using J2EE, you are doing something wrong (unless you have a true J2EE guru). I have to admit, I know several different J2EE technologies, but I'm still not seeing the whole picture (different beans, expertise in app servers, and more). J2EE is a beast. But in a year or two, I'll have it conquered.

J2EE in Practice
Continuing the J2EE theme. This article, actually a chapter from this book, asks some important questions (answered in different chapters in the book) about J2EE development. If you consider yourself a J2EE guru, you should be able to answer most of them. Challenge yourself. If you feel that you need more training, read the rest of the chapters from the book. I will try to. (I would definitely like to see the book published, though, as I I'm having hard time finding a good, practical J2EE book.)

Better Software Magazine -- April 2005 issue

This is a great issue of Better Software magazine. I marked three of the articles -- It Takes Two to Tango, Injecting Testability Into Your Designs, and The Pleasure of Finding Things Out -- as excellent and two other as very good. If you go to BetterSoftware.com and request a subscription, they give you three issues for free (that's what I did). The articles are short and very practical. If the quality of the articles will be that high every issue, I might have to pay to extend my subscription. :-)

Ever since I read Goals by Brian Tracy, I've been writing my 10-15 goals every night as the last thing before I go to sleep. I am going to share the goals that pertain to becoming a software craftsman so you get a sense of where I am going.

First, I'd like to know J2EE by heart by the end of 2005. That means different J2EE technologies, as well as J2EE application servers (we use WebSphere now at work). I'm keeping my eye on EJB 3.0 and J2EE 5.0 as I think they will be important. (J2EE 5.0 will contain JavaServer Faces and EJB 3.0, among other things, of course.) How? Mostly by practicing. And also by reading.

Second, I'd like to have all of the important design patterns grasped by the end of 2005. How am I going to achieve that? Mostly by reading books. I've read Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices (which I recommend), J2EE Core Patterns (also a great book). I'm reading (or referencing) the famous GoF book -- Design Patterns. I recently purchased Refactoring to Patterns. What else? I'm reading different articles. Also, when I'm coding, I'm thinking about different patterns. I think I'm on track here.

Third, I'd like to be a well-rounded software engineer by the end of 2005. I'm thinking about becoming certified by IEEE -- Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP). I'm planning to read books on requirements, design, testing, and architecture. I might pick a book on RUP.

Fourth, I'd like to become a good software architect by the end of 2006. I plan on reading couple architecture books. I might attend a conference or two. I'm not yet too sure what I need to do, and this goal might take me well beyond 2006, but I know I'd like to become an effective software architect.

What else? I'd like to become more visible in the software field in the next couple of years. That means writing magazine articles, maybe teaching a class. Or simply put, getting more involved in the field.

Am I too aggressive? Maybe, but that does not mean I cannot re-adjust the dates. As I keep writing the goals, they also might change, but that's where I stand now. One thing is for sure, I'm totally commited to becoming better every year. I am committed to achieve my goals. I work towards them every day.

Do you get notified of every email you receive? You don't find that distracting? I find it very distracting. I remember receiving emails every couple of minutes at my old job. I finally had to turn off the notification alerts because I could not concentrate on work. At my current job, we use Lotus Notes and though the amount of email is great, I don't get notifications like you do in Outlook. That helps a lot.

I agree with Jeff Atwood completely:

If you want more productivity: turn off automatic email notification. Concentrate on the thing you're doing and finish it. Then, check your email.

Do you program according to specs laid out by designers/architects? If so, you're a programmer. On the other hand, if you design, if you talk to customers, if you elecit requirements and do other areas of software development, you're a developer. I like to call them software engineers: you engineer the software from start to finish.

Eric Snow from SourceGear is looking for a developer. Read his explanation of what a developer is and what a programmer is. I like the way he writes. Plus, it's good stuff.

What's happening in the software engineering world? Here are two articles that are worth reading.

How far have we come?

Gary Pollice looks at changes and progress in software engineering over the past two decades.

Improve the quality of your J2EE-based projects

Jimmy Jarret advises developers on tasks they need to perform to ensure their system's quality. He basically explains different plug-ins that are available for Eclipse that can be used to ensure quality. If you're using Eclipse, read it.

Would you want to see the most interesting software-engineering stuff that I came across each month? What do I mean by "stuff?" Books, articles, events, and anything related to software engineering that was worth my time. I'm going to try to do that in this category.

Interesting Reads - or Readings of the Month!

Reading About Design Patterns
By Allen Holub

Allen discusses two recent book about patterns: Refactoring to Patterns, and his own, Holub on Patterns. He goes on to say that a good programmer knows patterns. I agree. I have both books on my must-read list and I ordered Holub on Patterns.

Out of Site, Out of a Job
By Larry O'Brien

Do you want to make sure that your job is not outsourced? Read this article and follow his advice.

Best Essays of 2004

Joel Spolsky is coming up with a book composed of best essays that are listed on the forum he created. Take a look. Dive into some of them. I enjoyed reading some of the essays by Eric Sink. I commented on the ones I liked.

The Pitfalls of Outsourcing Programmers
by Michael Bean

There's been a lot of talk about outsourcing. Some are against it. Some are for it. In this article, Mike tells you when you should not outsource. This is one of the best articles about outsourcing I've read. I totally agree with this main point: If you outsource your core, you lose competitive advantage. See the discussion as well.

Java 5
by Andy Grant

I've read several introductory articles about the new features of Java 5.0. This one is the best. It is simple. It shows you examples. It is written well. Nice job, Andy.

How do you make your revisions of sentences, paragraphs, ideas easier to understand? Brian Marick has several tips on revision. I think they're very good.

Do you know the differences? If not, read this short post by Johanna Rothman. You will have a clear picture after you read it.

Peer review: An author asks a peer to read, comment, and critique a work artifact.

Walkthrough: An author presents the work artifact to others.

Inspection: An author requests the services of a moderator, scribe, reader/reviewers in a formal meeting.

A creative person does things that have never been done before. Intelligence is the ability to learn and the ability to think. Personality traits is what distinguishes creative from non-creative people. Personality traits associated with creativity: diligent, stubborn, eccentric, reclusive, not religious, enjoys work.

These are just a few points taken from Creativity in Science and Engineering paper by Ronald B. Standler. If you want to find out more about creativity, you should read it. It's definitely worth your time.

Struts, Spring, WebWork, Tapestry, JSF. Are you not lost yet? Do you know what they are and which one is used for what? I wasn't so sure. Until now, that is. This easily digestible pdf document is very good. Matt Raible, author of Spring Live and a contributor to Pro JSP, does a good job explaining all of the frameworks. Plus, if you want to find out which framework has a good showing on a job board, he does a good job explaining that as well. Dive in.

I'm beginning to be a big fan of Spring: it's lightweight, easy to use, easy to test. I see a lot of potential in Spring. Spring is what I'd like to master in the near future. I also like Struts, JSF and JSTL, but not as much as Spring. Why not learn them all? :-)

tales from theserverside

Donald Bell, Philippe Kruchten, Gary Evans? Ring a bell? If not, they are all influential IT minds. And they all write articles that are published in The Rational Edge.

I have to say that The Rational Edge e-zine is probably the best newsletter that I subscribe to. The quality of the articles is great. Even though it mostly concentrates on the Rational Unified Process, it touches several others, like UML, book reviews, and other valuable information for a software engineer. (I do think however, that the Rational Unified Process (RUP) is the best software-engineering process.)

The archive section on the site is substantial, too. It offers articles that were written in the previous versions of The Rational Edge. I check back here often.

All in all, IBM is doing a good job in enticing software engineers. I highly recommend subscribing to the e-zine and looking through the archive, and/or searching for an article (using the search tool).

Yes, you cannot have both. It's just not possible. That's the stand of Johanna Rothman. She has some very interesting points.

"If you choose innovation, you can't outsource," she says. "You can't define all the requirements and hand them off to anyone in a highly innovative product -- requirements definition and product development have to be a joint exploration -- and you can't do that when the definers and the developers (and testers) don't sit near each other. You can't wait for a product to be done -- you need to see the product unfold and adjust the product (or the project) to accommodate the things you forgot."

It's a different angle on outsourcing, but I think a valid one. You don't get innovation from outsourcing. You get what you ask for. And that's not always the case.

Read this short, but informative blog entry.

A professional is a person who can do his best at a time when he doesn't particularly feel like it.

Retiring CIO Paul Ingevaldson offers 10 tips for surviving -- and prospering -- in the IT jungle. I think this is a pretty good list from a management point of view, but it is also somewhat related and applicable to programmers, especially for aspiring managers.

10. Don't be afraid to leave IT.

9. Don't keep IT in the closet.

8. Never think you know it all, because you don't.

7. Understand the corporate strategy and mobilize IT to support it.

6. Develop a "cheap" image.

5. Don't overmanage IT personnel.

4. Expect your people to make dates and budgets on projects.

3. Don't charge out IT. Operate it as an expense center.

2. Learn to delegate.

1. Force IT onto the plate of all senior executives.

See the this list explained fully on Computerworld.com

OK, you might have noticed that I have been changing, rearranging stuff on this blog: first it was called tech.pal, then Stas on IT, and now Stas on Software-Eng. Hey, Stas, can't you settle on something and stop changing it. The problem with that is until now, I hope, I couldn't. This is similar to designing software: your first attempt will almost never be correct. Only after you refine it, rethink it, and rework it, you will have the optimal solution. I think I got it after couple of trials. I'm going to call it Stas on Software-Eng. Why? There are couple of reasons.

First, and this is what inspired me to change it, is that I wanted a variation of the very successful Joel on Software blog. I wanted to call it Stas on Software but I wanted to be a little more original, so I compromised and I chose Stas on Software-Eng. So far so good, I'm happy :-)))

Second, and this is the bottom line, Software Engineering is my specialization, my passion, and my future (I sure hope so) -- I have a B.S in Computer Science and an M.S. in Computer Science with a specialization in Software Engineering. So Software Engineering is of great interest to me. And it will be for as long as I can make a living out of it. And for as long as I'm going to enjoy writing software. Hopefully for as long as I live.

So you know why I chose the name, now I'll tell you what I want to talk about in it. I'm still a fairly inexperienced software developer: I'm 26 -- turned 26 last week :-) -- with around 4 years of software-development experience. My goal is to become a true software craftsman, sort of an all-star developer. I know this is going to be a long journey and it is not going to be easy. But I am going to become one because I'm commited to it, and I've always achieved my goals (and that's my goal). I want to share my experiences in the journey: what I'm doing; what I want to do; what works; what doesn't work; what I like and don't like; my views on software engineering; and more. Basically, I want to talk about any software-engineering issue, with the main theme of becoming a master craftsman.

Pretty good article "IBM tools revamp targets Microsoft," how IBM is preparing to fight Microsoft. I am giving my support to IBM, as we -- developers (and consumers) -- need a choice besides Microsoft. As I said before: More competition is always good.

By the way, I'm already using Eclipse IDE and like it very much.

Plus, if you haven't visited developerWorks, it's time you do so: they have a lot of usuful information for a developer. I am also subscribed to their newsletter, which is pretty good.

If you follow the SCO vs Linux case, as I have, you might find this interesting. I totally agree with Mr. Eben Moglen, general counsel of the Free Software Foundation, who's saying that SCO's legal situation contains an inherent contradiction.

- SCO distributed, and continues to distribute, Linux under the GPL (General Public License), thereby giving permission to copy, modify and redistribute

- No distributor of GPL code can add any terms to the license, yet SCO has demanded that parties buy a license

- Anyone who violates the GPL automatically loses the right to distribute (here, IBM is right, saying that SCO has no right to distribute Linux kernel)

This is interesting, but what SCO is doing is starting to irritate me. I wish, once for all, that if they feel that some work has been copied, show exactly which code, and the case would go from there. Stop spreading the FUD. I don't know who's trusting SCO and buying products from them, I really don't.

This week on eWeek.com they have a Tech Outlook 2004

Outlook on Mobile Computing -- personally I think that's going to be big.

2004 for Linux: grows up (or blows up)

What else, I think Mobile, Wireless & Linux will come out winners, and not only for 2004 but over next several years. Mobile, since you get enough speed that you do not need a desktop, plus more cool gadgets are becoming more powerfull, like PDAs and cell-phones; Wireless, because the technology is just cool; and Linux, because it's free and getting more reliable and user friendly. Also, everything -- all of the gadgets -- will get smaller and be wireless: that will make them better!

Read what Gates has to say about Web services and Java.

Where should companies spend the dollars freed up from lowering costs? And where should they spend new technology funds?

Bill Gates: Web services is the new architecture for new applications. Web services are being used to connect information that is inside the company in different systems. They're connecting people and systems in new ways and companies as well. You think of investments for making your knowledge workers more productive. That is the biggest investment companies in any industry make.

There are things that are essentially new ways of doing business, such as creating workflows to connect buyers and sellers together.

How does Java fit into your computing expectations?

Bill Gates: It is a language that we have supported in Visual Studio for many years. ... Our whole thing is to use your existing code, to use whichever code you are most comfortable with and be able to combine that with code written in other languages. We have been agnostic about languages and supporting all the new things that come along.

[Excerpt from eWeek] Read the whole inverview on eWeek.com here.

Here is a short list of very good articles on Java Server Pages that appeared recently on SitePoint.com (very good developer's resource). For those that do not know it, JSP are used to generate dynamic content on the site -- it's a very good, powerful technology.

Struts (very popular lately):
Complete the MVC Puzzle with Struts

JSTL (gaining momentum also):
Introduction to the Java Standard Tag Library

Use JSP to get RSS:
Use Custom Tags to Aggregate RSS Feeds into JSP-Based Web Apps

Intro to JSP (older article):
JSP Quick-Start Guide for Windows

So a whole lot of resources for JSP! Very good job by SitePoint.com

I found this to be an interesting and simple read about Web Services (from Application Develpment Trends magazine). You've probably heard about Web Services quite a few times and I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about it, hopefully this can give you a general idea about it and clear some things out.

What is a Web service? The simplest and most basic definition that I can give you is that a Web service is an application that provides a Web API. An API supports application-to-application communication. A Web API is an API that lets the applications communicate using XML and the Web.

So here's the basic concept: Web services use the Web to perform application-to-application integration. A lot of the hype around Web services talks about dynamic assembly of Web-based software services. It talks about the software-as-a-service business model. It talks about spontaneous discovery of new business partners. My advice is to ignore this hype. It's possible that at some point in the future some of these glossy images will become reality, but please don't let the science fiction stories distract you from reality or dissuade you from using this technology today to solve real business issues.

Read more here (ADTmag.com).