Technical Support - Fire Fighting Issues
Posted on Support

Technical Support – Fire Fighting Issues

Welcome, today we are going to be talking about one of the most talked-about, but overlooked discussions about software and that is technical support. What do we do when software has a problem? In today’s discussion, we’re going to look at different things like production support. What does it mean to actually support our product? In past discussions, we’ve talked about software development life cycle, software test life cycle, differences in how to write code, how to debug our code and how to test it. However, we really haven’t talked too much about deployment and production support. This is where we’re going to focus our discussion today. How do we support our product and our customers? We’re going to look... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Grow From Failures

Acceptable Risk – A Bike Trick Gone Bad

We look at another childhood error and its somewhat humorous result as an example of how to plan for acceptable risk.  We often think of that as something where you are willing to pay the price.  However, we also need to examine mitigating the consequences to where they are acceptable.  It is sort of like placing a monetary bet.  There is a limit we can lose, but maybe a side bet will help reduce the overall loss.  Precautions And Acceptable Risk Preventive action is an excellent way to adjust acceptable risk.  We see examples of this in beta testing and limited releases in the business world.  Yes, the product may fail. But, on the other hand, we have less invested... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Grow From Failures

A Painful Step – Situational Awareness

A lack of situational awareness is just one of many youthful mistakes we make.  Yet, it is the root of tons of lessons.  We see it as children shining they are immortal in some way.  However, sometimes there is just a misunderstanding of risks involved in actions or environments.  Some of these same mistakes can hit us much later in life and come from incorrect assumptions. Situational Awareness Cures Many Ills Sun Tzu points out in “The Art of War” that the best way to win a battle is to avoid it.  Life is full of similar situations.  We are often faced with a challenge that is best avoided.  That is why we spend so much time and money on... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Grow From Failures

When I Died – Rushing In And Lack Of Caution

This episode covers one of the more dramatic points of my youth where a lack of caution lead to me being declared dead.  However, the declaration was hardly from a medical professional.  Nevertheless, the impact to others was a lesson in itself to consider the source for any messages.  I digress, this focus is on the initial mistake and rushing forward without proper analysis. Lack Of Caution Can Lead You Over A Cliff We often talk about momentum and how that can work in our favor.  However, it can also work against us.  Boxers and similar fighters will tell you how you must maintain balance and not over extend.  History is also full of examples of momentum gone too far.... Read more

creating software patterns
Posted on Become a Better Developer

Creating Software Patterns and Anti-Patterns – Document Your Experience

We have had many discussions about software patterns and anti-patterns over the years.  However, we have not talked about creating software patterns.  That is an important topic because they have to come from somewhere, and the list will grow.  This session from our mentor classes shows how to build on and document your experience. Creating Software Patterns Has Many Steps There is a difference between learning any topic when compared to teaching it.  Likewise, solving a problem once is only a piece of repeating or automating that process.  Patterns and Anti-patterns follow those same progressions.  We do things for a while, observe them, clean them, and communicate our findings.  All of that takes time and is an excellent way to... Read more

develpreneur podcast
Posted on Grow From Failures

Towed Away : Highlight Features

We explore another auto-related mistake in my past in this episode to spend time discussing a need to highlight features.  In fact, an argument can be made that unknown features are not features at all.  For example, I can give you ten dollars, but if I do so by hiding where it cannot be found that is not helpful.  Am I even giving you anything in that case? Highlight Features, Users Want To Know The feature in our story of a handicapped parking space is one we expect all parking lots to have.  However, it is only useful when people know where those spots are.  While the story has a special situation that hides the feature, I have seen plenty... Read more