Category Archives: Deep Thoughts

Testing Has a Point of Diminishing Returns

Posted on August 30, 2011 by David Tobey

Testing of course is vital, if not central, to programming. That said, there is a point of diminishing returns where it takes up more time than its worth. The line is crossed at different points depending on the situation. Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Thoughts, Programming, Web Ops | 9 Comments

Dave’s Lazy Testing Technique

Posted on July 15, 2011 by David Tobey

I often find there’s an underlying assumption that when software breaks it’s because it wasn’t tested enough. Granted, there’s a lot of crappy, buggy software, but finding any one particular bug doesn’t signify that the app needed to be tested … Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Thoughts, How To's, Programming, Web Ops | 6 Comments

Phone Number Formatting Fun

Posted on October 26, 2010 by David Tobey

In my spare time, I enjoy researching how best to format phone numbers. That should give you some indication of the depths of the problems in my social life. Seriously, how many different ways are there to write down a … Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Thoughts, Programming, UI Stuff | Leave a comment

Google Suffers from Home Page-itis

Posted on June 15, 2010 by David Tobey

I had to look it up. It was Henry David Thoreau who said, “Simplify, simplify, simplify.” I always wondered why he said it three times. Would it have been simpler to say it just once? Google broke the rule in … Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Thoughts, Rants, UI Stuff | 2 Comments

In Defense of the Legacy Application

Posted on November 22, 2008 by David Tobey

It was an exciting time. At the small web development firm I worked at, we got the go ahead to rewrite from scratch one of our client’s websites. The task was to replace a Content Management System written in Cold … Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Thoughts, Programming | Leave a comment

I Want to Invent a Term

Posted on October 4, 2008 by David Tobey

The term I want to invent is “Feature Amnesia”. I don’t know if I’m the true inventor, but I don’t see it anywhere after Googling, so I hearby call dibs. I’ve never invented a term before, so this is exciting. … Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Thoughts, Rants | 1 Comment

Software Is Complicated

Posted on October 3, 2008 by David Tobey

It may seem obvious that software is complicated. But whether you’re a programmer or not, it’s probably more complicated than you think it is. I recently reread Fredrick Brooks’ The Mythical Man-Month, now over 30 years old but still remarkably … Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Thoughts, Programming | 2 Comments