The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project

The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient astronomical computer built by the Greeks around 80 B.C. It was found on a shipwreck by sponge divers in 1900, and its exact function still eludes scholars to this day.

Game Innovation Database.

Do you remember "Shadow of the Beast"? Lemmings? probably YES...If you are a fan of computer games.

Well, GIdb goal is to classify and record every innovation in the entire history of computer and videogames.

Five Years of Design

Martin Fowler writes about the articles of the past five years of IEEE Software “Design” section, before passing the editing of the section to Rebecca Wirfs-Brock. This last article explains the basic Design Principles, the derived Best-Practices and their role in the software development process.

Thanks Martin.

Development (Print) magazines are disappearing…

CMP Media has recently “merge” two of the most known software development magazines; Software Development and the C++ Users Journal (one of the last magazines dedicated to C/C+) into Dr. Dobbs magazine. Fortunately, I have an active subscription to Dr. Dobbs and I won’t lose any subscription fees.
Several years ago, CMP has also ceased the publication of the “legendary” BYTE magazine which makes me very angry (back in 1998) because a valuable source of information has been lost.

Obviously big publishing companies began to realize the importance of getting all the information directly from the provider using its blog, from a Usenet forum, or from a web site found be Google Search, and they make major efforts to create software development portals to replace the gap.

The difference is obvious.

A Brief Look at C++0x

Bjarne offers a sneak peek at the next version of standard C++ ("C++0x") which should be complete by 2009.

Do you know Al-Khowarizmi?

According to Knuth (you should know Knuth), the word "Algorithm" is derived from the name Al-khowarizmi, a ninth-century Persian mathematician.

Embrace change.

Are you trying to learn new things constantly?
Do you embrace change in your life?

Computer History Museum

On April 7 of 1969, Steve Crocker sends around a memo entitled ‘Request for Comments.’ This is the first of thousands of RFCs that document the design of the ARPANET and the Internet.

Architecture of the World Wide Web

Computer Pioneer Bob Bemer Passes Away

Who was Bob Bemer:
* the 'father or ASCII' character set.
* the 'grandfather' of COBOL.
* the inventor of ESCAPE and BACKSLASH sequences.
* the man behind the '8-bit' byte standardization.
* a pioneer in 3-D dynamic prespective.

Bob Bemer was awarded by IEEE Computer Society with the Computer Pioneer Award.

Do you remember this machines?

The fundamental parts of software today, remains the same as LISA or NextStep software written 25 years ago, with a complete GUI metaphor, a true pre-emptive multitasking operating system, productivity applications an a true object oriented development environment.

Visual C++ 2005

Microsoft Visual C++ returns as mainstream programming language with the next release of Visual Studio. Microsoft enhances the runtime libraries, the STL and adds language constructs for .NET compatibility.

OO in One Sentence

Keep it DRY, Keep it Shy, and Tell the Other Guy..

Here is the original paper from Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas.

Operational - Reporting Databases

Martin Fowler's - Reporting Database

The separation of reporting database from the operational database provides unique advantages such as: data from business logic (calculated), a de-normalized view of database (fewer joins), maintainability of operational database and runtime performance (fewer locks)

See also:
* Martin Fowler Bliki
* Reporting from Database

Favorite links

Allen Bauer, Borland Delphi and C#Builder IDE Architect(http://homepages.borland.com/abauer/index.html)

Don Box's Spoutlet (http://www.gotdotnet.com/team/dbox/default.aspx)

Charlie Calvert (http://homepages.borland.com/ccalvert/index.htm)

Danny Thorpe, Delphi Compiler Architect (http://homepages.borland.com/dthorpe/blog/delphi/)

Steve Vinoski's Weblog (http://www.iona.com/blogs/vinoski/)

Hallmarks of a Good Design Review

* The reviewers are looking for issues in the design not on the designer.

* The reviewers and the designer should have the right attitude.

* A design engineer should accept criticism of his ideas and proposals by the reviewers.

* Distribute related artifacts to all reviewers before the actual review.

The Principles of Lean Software Development

Eliminate waste by removing anything that does not add value - Create teams of people with specific responsibilities to enhance value.

Amplify learning by increasing feedback – Create weekly to monthly, full cycle iterations.

Keep your options open – Share, Organize direct collaboration, Absorb changes, Refactor, Automate test.

Deliver Fast – Enable a smooth, rapid flow in response to customer needs.

Empower the Team – Train the team to design its own process and make commitments.

Conceptual and Perceived Integrity – Test early, test often, test exhaustively and use an automated test suite.