I recently saw this blog post by Brent Ozar that I thought I might discuss. Brent listed 13 questions to ask about a database before you start working with it. I am going to go through these 13 questions and expand on them based on my experiences. Is this database in production now? I think it should go without...
To explore Strange New Worlds, well today the NASA spacecraft New Horizons has been doing just that. This is the most detailed photograph yet of the furthest planet we have ever explored, Pluto. New Horizons was launched on 19th January 2006. It has been travelling for 3463 days (9.5 years). In 2006 we were still using...
Microsoft are releasing a new operating system on July 29th called Windows 10. If you have questions about Windows 10 watch this video by Scott Hansleman . He explains how to upgrade from Windows 7 and 8 to Windows 10 and what to expect after you upgrade. My advice to everyone is that you backup your devices before...
On my way home from the office I spotted this little chap. In my expert opinion it is a “bug”. This particular “bug” is harmlessly sitting outside, but have you ever wondered why computer problems are often named after this little chap (and his friends)? The first recorded bug report was in 1947 when Grace Hopper found...
I have heard the term Agile Software Development quite a bit, but lets see if we can define it and see if I do any of the processes involved with it. The dictionary defines ‘Agile’ as mentally quick, or nimble, or quick in movement. In 2001 The Manifesto for Agile Software Development first introduced the term agile....
I was sent a link to a developer personality test earlier. The test aims to give you a look at your developer personality similar to the famous Myers-Briggs personality test. A shorter version of this test can be found here . Myers-Briggs tells you if you are Introvert (I) or Extrovert (E), Feeling (F) or Thinking (T),...
Last night I went to a Code Dojo at Leeds Sharp (the coding user group I have started going to). A Code Dojo is a programming challenge that people work on usually in pairs. The challenge that we worked on was to code a solution to the puzzle game Sudoku. The code we worked with can be found on github. I don’t know...
In the UK today is Fathers Day. Happy Fathers Day Dad! I thought I might talk about how he encouraged my interest in technology, especially as in about 8 weeks I will become a parent and will have someone to encourage and inspire. I am going to sound really old but when I was born there was no internet, no mobile...
WOW! I have reached the milestone of 50 blog posts. I have tried to blog at least every week and I have learnt a lot. I have talked about my work, technology, things I have learnt, things I want to do and many more things. It is too soon to tell if my blog is going to be a success, but I think I am starting to find my...
Why is it so hard to find out exactly what is needed when designing changes to a system? When adding functionality to databases I always like to dive in and start adding extra columns and new tables. But at some point you need to find out what is needed. The process of gathering requirements that I have followed goes...