Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Software in 2014

    What’s the state of software in 2014? Here’s one set of thoughts from Tim Bray. He works for Google, and understandably has a bit of a slant towards the Google view of the world. Or maybe that’s his view and that’s why he works at Google. I am never quite sure how many people choose jobs or employers that fit them and how many get sucked into thinking a certain way because they fell into the job.

    In any case, I think that the state of software in 2014 hasn’t dramatically changed from the last decade. We’ve seen a push towards the idea of “apps” in mobile/tablet spaces, and now that’s coming into the desktop/laptop space as well. Even Google, with the Chromebooks and apps in their own browser store, has been pushing the idea of a store with a curated distribution of software. However I think it’s still a fad, with most people preferring desktop versions, or browser based versions, of the software they need. As users mature and become more savvy, I do think the distinction between how we get our software matters less and less.

    Are we writing better software? I see lots more experimentation, which is good. Some people love Javascript, I mean really love it. Others hate it, as Mr. Bray does. Flash seems to be fading, along the same way that Cold Fusion, Foxpro, and VB6 have gone away. I rarely hear about Java these days, though it seems that C, C++, Java, and Obj-C are still very popular. They don’t seem to have the media attention or excitement that I hear about with Python and Ruby, but there are lots of people still using them.

    Interestingly enough, T-SQL is one of the most popular languages. That’s good for us, though I suspect if we included PL/SQL and other variants, SQL might be one of the most used languages. It seems like most developers need to use some SQL, though surprisingly most don’t work on those skills. As Mr. Bray mentioned, I do think that relational databases are here to stay. They work well, and they will continue to be used, but we’ll also see other types of databases being incorporated more and more into applications. If for no other reasons than because developers get excited by them and want to try out new ideas.

    I can appreciate the view from a programmer used to having the power of thousands (or tens of thousands) of machines available that mobile hardware sucks. In comparison to what we have in a laptop, yes. However the ability to play a game, or edit a spreadsheet, or work with a visualization while walking down the sidewalk is stunning. We’ve just started to scratch the value of mobile, and while there are constraints (not to mention extra work to get your software onto all platforms), it’s also stunning to see how much computing can happen in the palm of my hand. I predict mobile is still exploding from its Big Bang. It’s up to technologists to work on solutions to the constraints in mobile, not complain about the frustrations of building software for mobile devices.

    I think software is continuing to evolve and change, and while it hasn’t changed dramatically (to me) in the last few years, it’s still one of the more exciting industries to be a part of.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 4.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

  • Uncontrolled Code

    Wow, Excel really sucks. To be fair, that isn’t just Excel, but any spreadsheet that’s used to make decisions in business (or government) and hasn’t had proper auditing or checking. Spreadsheets are amazingly powerful and useful, and so ubiquitous that Microsoft gave up on a separate BI tool and built one into Excel.

    I ran across this story on a serious Excel issue that cost a lot of money in the London Whale case. There are a lot of comments with the post as well as a discussion on Hacker News as well. I also found this piece on the amount of spreadsheet errors that exist in the world, based on a number of studies. It’s dry reading, and also scary.

    As I read through the thoughts and posts, I’m somewhat stunned that we don’t have many, many more business problems because of a spreadsheet being used as an application without any auditing. Perhaps we actually do and just don’t know about it. Perhaps the reason you didn’t get a bonus last year at your company was because of a spreadsheet error. There could have been either an error that caused a poor business decision, or one that incorrectly calculated bonus payouts.

    It’s a mess, and I honestly don’t know what to do. A more rigid structure in building applications that are checked, rechecked, audited that can prevent the miscopying of formulas is a great idea, but in the real world, we know it takes too long. Perhaps more time is a good thing and businesses should slow down, especially financial businesses, but I can’t see that happening either. Perhaps we need more tools that handle precedents and dependents. Personally, I’d like to see some VCS hooks built into Excel as well.

    The entire process of building applications with spreadsheets reminds me of a race to the bottom, where companies take more and more shortcuts and chances, just because they think other companies are doing the same thing. Ultimately I don’t think we can fix this, but we can try to make a difference by producing software quicker, and pointing out the errors in spreadsheets that become too important. We can meet somewhere in the middle between a full application development lifecycle and total ad hoc spreadsheet based tracking and processes.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.6MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

     

  • Better Writing

    Like it or not the majority of the ways we communicate in technology is through the typed word. Email, Twitter, Word, these are the methods by which we argue a point or ask a question. Our communication skills form impressions with our clients and coworkers.

    All too often, however, we also set ourselves apart from others with our writing. Not because we excel at it, but because so often we make mistakes that stand out. Many technical people aren’t good at getting their point across because they either don’t focus on their topic, or they make lots of silly writing mistakes. Grammatical mistakes don’t have much to do with your technical ability, but they seem to give you less credibility.

    I ran across this blog from Brian Kelley that talks about setting himself apart because of his writing skills. As one of our authors here at SQLServerCentral, I concur. I rarely need to edit anything Brian sends in. In this piece, he also links to an article from CopyBlogger on silly mistakes.

    Writing is a skill, and it’s one that you can learn to improve. However it takes practice. It’s one of the main reasons I recommend that technical people blog. You will improve your writing skills (if you work at it), and possibly impress someone else who could offer you a job.

    Learn to write better. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort, and it will pay off for you throughout your career.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.1MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

  • We’re not craftsmen and craftswomen

    We’re just not, we’re not craftspeople, at least not most of us. We do what we need to do at work. We get systems working just enough. We get by. That’s a little sad, and one of my goals is to get as many of you as possible to think of yourselves as craftspeople, not technology workers.

    Jerry Rice was the best at his craft, and yet he continued to put in work on The Hill as though he were trying to catch others rather than the other way around. David Marks and Norm Abram are professionals, and while they need to complete projects to earn money, they also recognize that “just getting it done” is not enough. Doing just enough to complete a job is the sign of a amateur, not a craftsman.

    There are constraints in our business. We never have enough time, money, or all too often, specifications, when we are working with technology. We need to be effective and make things work. However that doesn’t mean doing the bare minimum to be functional.

    We should aim to be professionals, and part of being a professional is continuing to improve our skills over time. Professionals continue to learn; amateurs do not. We should consider new ideas and techniques, dig into new technologies, and avoid shortcuts. Most importantly, we should do the job that we would want someone to do for us.

    We do have lives outside of work, and outside of our careers. However it’s not an either/or, but a balance that we should strive for between work and life. We can include regular education, and consistent improvement over time as we complete work. We balance that by remembering to appreciate and enjoy our lives outside of our chosen profession.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 2.2MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Mevio . feed

    The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.