Category Archives: Software Engineering

Well formed validation of XHTML pages

Posted on January 28, 2006 by Todd Huss

Validating XHTML pages is an interesting subject because no high traffic site I’ve ever tried it on actually successfully validates XHTML against a W3C validator. Most folks I know take it for granted that it’s unrealistic to write large sites … Continue reading →

Posted in Java, Software Engineering, Web | 1 Comment

More powerful database constraints with regular expressions

Posted on January 26, 2006 by Todd Huss

Is it just me or do you agree that we should be able to easily apply regular expression constraints to a column in a table without writing a stored procedure? For example if I want to guarantee that a varchar … Continue reading →

Posted in Database, Software Engineering, Systems Administration | Comments Off on More powerful database constraints with regular expressions

The time has come to upgrade to MySQL 5

Posted on January 13, 2006 by Todd Huss

We’ve finally hit the point at work where we’re ready to upgrade from MySQL 4.0 to 5. Data integrity has been a problem since I started at this job. Part of the reason is that MySQL 4.0 has an odd … Continue reading →

Posted in Database, Software Engineering, Systems Administration | Comments Off on The time has come to upgrade to MySQL 5

SMART objectives in moderation please

Posted on January 12, 2006 by Todd Huss

As a technology manager a big part of what I do is trying to help people do their jobs well. That includes removing obstacles, being an advocate when there is a problem, making sure the team is operating efficiently, ensuring … Continue reading →

Posted in Agile Development, Management, Software Engineering | Comments Off on SMART objectives in moderation please

Validation belongs in the domain model, not the MVC framework

Posted on December 5, 2005 by Todd Huss

In the Java world validation almost always seems to happen in the MVC framework. For example submitting a form causes some validation to occur on the form and then if all checks out the domain objects are populated and saved. … Continue reading →

Posted in Software Engineering | Comments Off on Validation belongs in the domain model, not the MVC framework

Firefox web development extensions

Posted on July 7, 2005 by Todd Huss

My three Firefox plugins of choice that save me a lot of time troubleshooting and working out web development issues are: 1. Web Developer Extension: this one is a must have! 2. User Agent Switcher: I use this one occasionally … Continue reading →

Posted in Software Engineering, Technical, Web | Comments Off on Firefox web development extensions

Use and overuse of interfaces

Posted on June 14, 2005 by Todd Huss

Cedric’s blog entries on Extensibility the interface way, More on interfaces, and Numbered Interfaces got me thinking more about how often to use interfaces, prefixing them with I, adding an Impl to the end, etc… so for my own benefit … Continue reading →

Posted in Software Engineering | Comments Off on Use and overuse of interfaces

Consistency is more important than "correctness" or using the "best" software

Posted on April 9, 2005 by Todd Huss

When I started developing software professionally over a decade ago I would readily diverge from company standards at a whim to use a new language, style of coding, favorite editor/IDE, libraries, different build process, etc… Mainly because I wanted to … Continue reading →

Posted in Software Engineering | Comments Off on Consistency is more important than "correctness" or using the "best" software

Fed up with Java, switching to a new language

Posted on April 1, 2005 by Todd Huss

I’ve had it with Java, too much technology to learn with Unit testing, ORM, IoC, AOP, and SOA, not to mention static typing and waiting to compile. That’s why as of right now I’m a converted .BAT programmer and here’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Java, Software Engineering | 21 Comments

Static typing increases productivity and reduces errors

Posted on March 23, 2005 by Todd Huss

I’m going to come right out and say that I have a strong preference for static typing in a programming language, especially as it applies to medium and large sized applications with multiple developers. Here’s why: 1. Refactoring: IDE’s make … Continue reading →

Posted in Java, Ruby, Software Engineering | Comments Off on Static typing increases productivity and reduces errors