Hitting a release or iteration target is very problematic for new agile teams. The issue usually lies in weak agile processes. The root of the issue is understanding what work is left (the backlog) and how much work the team can do (velocity). Project estimation becomes a relatively simple and repeatable exercise once the team understands missing requirements and velocity. …
The amount and type of information plays a critical role in how much information to display. A good practice is to consider the type of user interface you are designing to set the information density or input controls on a screen. Information density driven UX gives designers and developers a guide to understand the user and the how an interface …
Mixing automated and manual testing (Part 2) : Part 1 This is a two part post on mixing automated and manual testing. In short, I cover solutions to two problems: Converting selenium tests to end-to-end unit tests Reporting end-to-end test via test case management software integration Test Case Management Software Integration In my previous post, I gave a few tips on transforming …
This is a two part post on mixing automated and manual testing (Part 2). In short, I cover solutions to two problems: Converting selenium tests to end-to-end unit tests Reporting end-to-end test to a manual test case management system A few months ago, I built a Continuous Integration and Deployment platform for a client. The CI/CD system was nice with …
Estimating Projects with Agile NB: Scroll to the bottom for the short version. I have a 7 year history of managing projects with Agile. Early, I failed because I didn’t practice Agile seriously. The mistakes I made early on in my Agile career are still being made by numerous companies I work with. So, here I’m giving up the “secret” …
Unit Testing in WebStorm 11 I recently wrote a series of post on using Visual Studio to write Node.js. Specifically, I detailed how to write unit tests using Mocha. Here I show the same detail but using WebStorm from Jetbrains. Webstorm was designed for Node.js development. Let’s get started and learn the differences. Install WebStorm Webstorm Download Clone the NodejsTestingSimple …
You should have heard by now that Microsoft has really taken a huge step into Microcontroller programming with their Universal Windows Platform (UWP). This allows developers target multiple deployment platforms such as Windows Desktop, IoT devices (like Raspberry Pi 2), phones, tablets, etc. However you can program using common .NET tools such as Visual Studio, common Microsoft programming libraries such as …
One person can make a difference I’ve spent the last 13 years working in, managing, or building Agile teams. After nearly two decades in the Boston area, I’ve moved to Austin to be closer to my family. This has given me time for introspection regarding what has made certian teams more successful than others. I’ve worked with many Agile teams. …
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is the de-facto Windows desktop technology. WPF allows the rapid creation of desktop applications with amazingly complex functionality. The hard part has always been to make desktop application look good. Functionality may be excellent, but the square controls and gunmetal grey colors don’t have any wow-factor. Syncfusion Essential Studio Community Edition is their offering for individuals …
Syncfusion Essential Studio Community Edition is Syncfusion’s offering for individuals and small businesses. It’s a free and massive array of tools which will really improve your time to market and UI. Among other tools, they provide UI tools for WPF and JavaScript. Luckily for us, Syncfusion provides a NuGet server which allows us to use NuGet for dependency, package management, and easy upgrades. This …
Are you fascinated by the technical and professional jargon people use? Do you wish you had intelligent sounding phrases you could rip off to impress your friends and coworkers? Do you wish you had the power to induce glassy-eyed expressions of amazement when you speak? In short, do you need to sound smart without having a clue? Use the Intellectual Façade Generator! …
Here are the slides for my most recent talk on JavaScript, Bootstrap, and Syncfusion. This was presented at the South Shore .NET Users Group. Javascript, Bootstrap, and Syncfusion from William Simms
I always add the build number to websites automatically in my continuous integration environment. This allows developers and testers to ensure which build they are testing. To review, my continuous integration system always does the following: Build all the code from a clean environment Report on code duplication Recreate the test database from scratch Deploy all services (including services and …
Here’s Visual Studio Wallpaper – Swirly Blue. It’s a pretty common high resolution background. I just added the visual studio logo. Enjoy!
I presented introductory material on Elasticsearch for the South Shore .NET Users Group. Here are the slides: This talk covers an overview of Elasticsearch data mining. Elasticsearch is a Big Data solution to document storage and search. It is a NoSQL-backed search engine using a HDFS-based filesystem. Elasticsearch basics Setting up a development environment Loading data Searching data using REST Searching data using NEST, the …
I’ve worked with several great companies, and even more not-so-great. I see agile managers and agile implementations fail quite a bit. I’ve done some analysis and come up with the top 5 traits of great agile managers. There are others traits to consider as well. However, the great agile shops and managers all have these same characteristics. 1) Be on time …
You know GHI and Gadgeteer if you’re a fan of the Internet of Things and .NET. Show your support by rocking this wallpaper. GHI Electronics Wallpaper
I’ve helped many different small and medium size companies get started or improve their business processes. Many companies are looking for good tools which are easy to use with minimal or no cost. Here are the top 5 free tools for business I use and implement to help with communication, projects, and client management. SugarCRM Community Edition Are you always …
These are the tools that I use every day in my personal and professional life. In a world where everyone is competing for my $0.99 these companies are making amazing free tools for us to use. Some of the programs have a little learning curve (e.g. Keepass) but they all pay off on the minimal time investment. Here are the top 5 …
A reverse proxy is a way to expose an internal webserver to the outside world without actually. I do a lot of web development or run test webservers which use a hostname of “localhost” or “127.0.0.1”. Sites and services using those hostnames are not accessible from other computers on the network. Sometimes, I need to run something locally but share …
Here’s Visual Studio Wallpaper 1 for you. Show your love of the best IDE on the planet. I plan on trying to make one a week for a year. Thanks to my wife for helping me learn Photoshop! Enjoy!
