wiki:DevTools
Last modified 8 weeks ago

    1. Development Process
      1. Testing, documentation, and quality software development
    2. Technical Topics
      1. Databases, Data Warehousing, and Information Security
      2. Web Design, Security
        1. Opening New Browser Windows
      3. Programming Languages: Python, Javascript, PHP, Java
      4. System administration, web server administration
      5. Statistics and Data Analysis with R
    3. Coding chunks and Collaboration Mechanics
      1. Meetings
      2. Improving efficiency with text chat
    4. Recruiting, Interviewing

Development Process

At first the tickets were just a way for me to track my own work, but we're getting pretty good at using trac for an approximation of the  XP planning game: Russ plays business customer and I represent development. Sometimes sketching milestones and breaking them down into tickets is straightforward enough, but sometimes I don't understand what he's asking for, so I ask him to tell me stories about how it works, and we capture those in the wiki.

--  Setting up project tracking with trac, hg, and a little help from my friends on freenode, Dan C., Aug 2010

See also:

  • UsingVersionControl, especially setting up TortoiseHG on Windows
  • HeronProjectTimeline (whose name is a bit ironic, since the trac uses "timeline" to look back; for looking forward, it uses "roadmap")
  • UnderTheHood - details about this project management and issue tracking system

Testing, documentation, and quality software development

See WritingQualityCode.

Technical Topics

Databases, Data Warehousing, and Information Security

Web Design, Security

HERON, REDCap, and CRIS? all use the Web for user interface.

If you're new to HTML, HTTP, CSS, etc., see  How does the Internet Work etc. in the  Web Standards Curriculum.

Opening New Browser Windows

Opening New Browser Windows is one of the  top 10 mistakes in web design, according to Jacob Nielsen. It seems to be a KUMC norm, meanwhile. todo (Dan): find KUMC web styleguide and see if this is a conscious decision, and what it would take to get it changed.

Programming Languages: Python, Javascript, PHP, Java

See WritingQualityCode to get started with our emerging (#1046) preferred toolset that supports all of these (as well as SQL and HTML):

 Stack Overflow is a great community resource for all of the above (and much of the below...).

 Software Carpentry is a good source for somebody who's new to programming.

System administration, web server administration

Statistics and Data Analysis with R

The informatics division is part of the biostatistics department, our work hasn't involved much stats yet, with the exception of HeronStatsPlugins.

WritingQualityCode#r-pkg is starting to take shape.

Coding chunks and Collaboration Mechanics

I maintain that programming cannot be done in less than three-hour windows. It takes three hours to spin up to speed, gather your concentration, shift into "right brain mode", and really focus on a problem. Effective programmers organize their day to have at least one three-hour window, and hopefully two or three. --  The Tyranny of Email, Ole Eichhorn, March 2003

I disagree with Eichhorn about shared text chat. More on that below. -- Dan

Meetings

Meetings are valuable, but costly too. So let's be judicious about doing them, and do them right. (Avoid the  The Seven Sins of Deadly Meetings)

One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they're on a different type of schedule from other people. Meetings cost them more. --  Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule, Paul Graham, July 2009

Improving efficiency with text chat

See also #160 on shared text chat, and ticket:751#comment:2 for a note on Adobe Connect.

We (Biomedical Informatics) are physically co-located, so it's less critical than when collaborating remotely, but it's still useful:

  • technical details are often easier to communicate in text than by voice (e.g. error messages, URLs, commands to type)
  • text chat is near-real-time; you can think out loud and somebody might respond right away or quite a while later or not at all.

The random rewards of gambling are much more seductive than a more predictable reward cycle. --  Your brain on gambling

  • People shouldn't be expected to respond to email instantly. Allowing email to interrupt work is terribly counter-productive; it's best to leave it be until a natural stopping point.
  • Ringing somebody's phone is sure to break their concentration.

The interruption costs more than just the minute or two to deal with the incoming call or message:

It typically takes about 15 minutes of uninterrupted study to get into a state of "flow", and the constant interruptions and distractions of a typical office environment will force you out of "flow" and make productivity impossible to achieve.

In your development process, identify the activities that disrupt flow, and modify them until they don't. ... For example, consider getting rid of the telephone.

--  Mental State Called Flow in the  original wiki on People Projects And Patterns in Software Development.

With shared text chat, people can choose how much attention to give it any time, to participate or not, respond quickly or slowly, etc. This leads to some suggestions:

  • Rather than asking "may I interrupt you?" face to face or by phone, consider text chat first. There's no way to say "no" in the other two media.
  • If it's important but not urgent, use email.
  • Feel free to turn off or tune out text chat; if it's critical, people can escalate to other means.

For real-time collaboration with (and support from) the wider open source community, see FreeNode.

See also  Social standards and coding fugues, Dan C., Feb 2007

Recruiting, Interviewing