Worst Practices

Posted by Alan

I know several people (not just context-driven folks) who cringe a bit at the concept of "Best Practices". The point of controversy is that practices depend on context. What's "best" for one context may not be a good idea at all in another context. I suppose it's a bit of a word game, but a team can be led astray if they follow a "best practice" blindly (of course, any time you follow something blindly, you will probably walk off of a cliff). The point is that "best practices" - while they may be "best" in most situations, may not always be "best".

Got it?

But that's not the point of this post.

Unfortunately,I see the inverse of this concept way too much (and I hate to say it, sometimes among the same people who get that best practices aren't always best).

The inverse is, of course, "Worst Practices". Nobody ever calls them this directly, but they are implied. They stem from quotes like these: "That approach didn't work on my team, so it will never work"; or "I have seen that practice fail, therefore it always fails". To me, the concept of "worst practices" has far more negative impact on software engineering than misconstrued "best practices". It frightens me at best, and on some days, almost sickens me.

So here's what I'd like you to do. No matter how idiotic or stupid you think something sounds, the next time you are about to completely dismiss some idea, approach, technique, or anything else, stop and ask yourself "In what context would this idea, approach, concept, etc. be applicable or successful". You may actually learn something.

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Connecting with the community

Posted by Alan

Every once in a while, a strange idea pops into my head. Occasionally, I actually remember the idea for longer than a few moments. Sometimes I am even sitting at a computer - with my blog editor open when this phenomenon occurs. Of course, this isn't one of those times - I'm just letting you know that there is the potential for this to happen someday.

So, I'll share one of my bad ideas instead. I've built up a dozen or so talks over the past few years, some of which I give more often than others. These days, I'm probably more motivated to give talks that are related to the book, but I'm not limited to that subject. Unfortunately, I can't give as many in-person talks as I would like to. While I do have a few folks who are willing to fly me to their sites and buy me dinner to hear me babble for a while, I really can't afford to miss too much more work.

The punch-line, is that I'm thinking of giving some talks over the web. Most likely, the talks will be about an hour long, including Q&A. I'm not even sure what the rest of the logistics would be, but one of the things I'd like to get out of doing something like this is to just learn more about the available technology. Being a company guy, I'd likely start with Live Meeting, but I put on my tester hat and try a few other solutions as well.

What I'd need to know from you (all 8 of my readers), is if you'd be interested in attending one of these "talks" (pending your availability at the time I choose). If you are, just leave a note in the comments (anonymous is fine if you'd prefer). If not, I'll take the message to heart (and ask again in 2 months)!

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Deep Secrets of Software Metrics

Posted by Alan

As some of you know, I'm giving a talk at STAR East on metrics (specifically, I think it's something to do with choosing ship metrics). My presentation is in the highly coveted "last track session time slot of the conference" slot. Luckily, there's a keynote following my session, so those not heading home early, or heading into the "big room" early for the keynote may stroll into my talk and use the time to check their email and flight information.

Of those who do show up, I know that there will be some who come to the talk to look for silver bullets (hint: there aren't any), and others will be coming to tell me all of the evils of metrics (another hint: yes - I'm aware of those). Still others, I suppose, will be coming to tell me how much they hate Vista (yet another hint: I didn't work on that product, so I'm likely to ignore you), and a final few will be there simply to hear what I have to say.

If you're not already registered for STAR, my friends at the conference asked me to pass this deal along to you.

Register using special promo code SKES and save up to $300! Register by April 3rd to add the Early Bird Discount for up to $600 in total savings! Call the client support group at 888.268.8770 or register online at: https://www.sqe.com/STAREAST/Register/SelectConference.aspx

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