development lifecycles

Better Software Magazine Articles

Train Wreck Spotting

An oft-overlooked goal of encapsulation is to simplify usage. Without this sensibility, classes can end up with simplistic interfaces and callers can end up with method-call pile-ups.

Kevlin Henney's picture Kevlin Henney
Encapsulation and Vampires

Encapsulation is more than just using the "private" keyword when defining a class. You need a boundary that keeps the vampires out.

Kevlin Henney's picture Kevlin Henney
Is ''Agile'' Distracting You?

If a process tool or service claims to be agile it must be good, right? Not necessarily. The term "agile" has become abused and, since we don't have a standard dictionary definition, it is open to interpretation. So, let's look beyond the label to what really matters—value.

Jonathan Kohl's picture Jonathan Kohl
From Here to Acceptance Test-Driven Development

Acceptance test-driven development (ATDD) means different things to different people based on their experiences—from "It's all about testing" to "It has nothing to do with testing,” and from "TDD, ATDD—it's all the same" to "TDD and ATDD are nothing alike." These nine landmarks will help you navigate ATDD no matter where you are coming from.

Antony Marcano's picture Antony Marcano
Idioms and Idiosyncrasies

As programmers, we are not merely engineering drones; we are also artisans. The act of programming involves as much artistry as it does technicality. When we craft great software, we naturally use language idioms help to show the elegance, beauty, and artistry of a piece of code. But sometimes the desire for beautiful idiomatic code can trip us up.

Pete Goodliffe's picture Pete Goodliffe
Programming with GUTs

Because tests are commonly viewed in terms of offering quantitative feedback on the presence or absence of defects in specific situations, Good Unit Tests need to both illustrate and define the behavioral contract of the unit in question. Do you have GUTs?

Kevlin Henney's picture Kevlin Henney
Software: Use at Your Own Risk

Is it really so hard to produce software that works? When was the last time you read a software license agreement? Most are one-sided statements that limit the product developer's liability. It's time to move away from "Use at your own risk" software and be upfront with customers about the true cost of quality.

Chuck Allison's picture Chuck Allison
A Galaxy of Patterns

The Gang of Four's design patterns have a special place in many programmers' hearts. But it's time to look beyond the GoF twenty-three and realize they aren't the only patterns in the universe.

Neil Harrison
Agile Model-Driven Development

Despite what you might have heard, modeling is an important part of agile software development. Find out how agile model-driven development fits into the overall agile development lifecycle in a lean and streamlined manner and can improve productivity on your team.

Scott W. Ambler's picture Scott W. Ambler
A ''D'' in Programming, Part 2

In his final pitch for the D programming language, Chuck brings to "closure" (pun intended) a running example from previous Code Craft articles while exploring some powerful features of the D language.

Chuck Allison's picture Chuck Allison

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