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an amazing real time performance, social, engagement, site visit dashboard
Software Programming as Craft
Software Programming as Craft
Posted by Dave West on Aug 02, 2010
The Cutter Consortium recently published an issue of the Cutter IT Journal focused on Software Programming as Craft: The Impact of Agile Development. The issue is available as a free download. (You must register and enter the promotion code in the small orange box on the page.)
Jens Coldewey is the Guest Editor for this edition. In his Opening Statement, Coldewey traces the origin of the craftsmanship movement to an OOPSLA workshop.
Twelve years ago, four remarkable guys - Bruce Anderson, Norm Kerth, Dave West, and Ken Auer - conducted a remarkable workshop at the OOPSLA conference in Vancouver: "Software as a Studio Discipline." ... The 1998 workshop was officially focused on teaching, but reading the call for participation today makes it look like the starting point of [the software craftsmanship movement].Pete McBreen, a participant in the workshop, published Software Craftsmanship three years later and Bob Martin, in 2008, proposed adding a fifth line to the Agile Manifesto, "[We value] Craftsmanship over crap."
According to Coldewey, software craftsmanship became a 'movement' in response to "a growing uneasiness among many agilists: that with the tremendous success of Scrum, more and more people reduced the the agile movement to the Scrum practices ... [ignoring] the ability to deliver high-quality code in a frequent and fast rythm without spoiling the code base."
Still according to Coldewey, the craftsman advocates claim:
... a good code base is the foundation for frequent delivery of valuable software, and a stable team of caring professionals in close alignment with the stakeholder's business goals is the foundation of a good code base. [and] programming is a skill that requires lifelong learning ... collaborating with skilled peers ... [and] tacit knowledge and experience. And this is where craft enters the scene: craftsmanship is the traditional means of teaching and transferring tacit knowledge and experience.
The issue consists of six articles plus the guest editor's opening statement.
- "The Seven Dimensions of a True Craftsman" by Mathew A. Stuempfle and J. David Gibson. The article attempts to answer the question of what it takes to be a true craftsman? For them it comes down to seven key dimensions: Understanding the Necessity of the Craft; Play Multiple Roles, Realize the Importance of Mentors, Active Team Player, Understand the Audience, Know It's Occasionally OK to Fail, and Anticipate and Navigate Continual Change.
- "Engineering: YES; Craft: NO" by Ken Orr and Paul G. Basset who argue that craftsmanship is a misguided "infatuation" and the real need is for the software industry to "mature into an engineering discipline."
- "How Craftsmanship Survives Explosive Growth" by Lawrence Fitzpatrick, a case study of "hlow a growing software development group was able to maintain a semblance of craftsmanship in the face of serious countervailing pressures."
- "Sustainable Agile Software Development" by Stefan Roock, a description of "the basic principles of incremental design" and how they can enable long term, cost effective, maintenance of software systems.
- "Today's Business World Needs Contextual Craftsmanship" by Gil Broza. Broza argues that "pure software craftsmanship is impractical in today's world" and a different sort of craftsmanship, "contextual craftsmanship" is needed and possible.
- "Who Crafts the User Experience: UI Developers or UX Designers?" by Michael Hughes. Hughes focuses on the human-computer system, usability, and why the emerging specialization of user experience (UX) design should be part of craftsmanship.
This article provides interesting and useful information about the origin of the craftsmanship movement and some of the important issues being discussed. It might be useful preparation for anyone attending the 2010 SCNA Conference.
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A long but very good read n the balance between craft, engineering, and agile development ... worth a free signup
Cell Phone Network That Doesn’t Need Towers
via psfk.com
The Serval Project has demoed a mobile phone system that creates a mesh network with Wi-Fi enabled phones. A great simple idea to help in case of significant disaster.
Is Google App Inventor A Gateway Drug Or A Doomsday Device For Android?
Google Android app inventor. Taking the Java out of Android app development. Will this be the beginning of a wave of low quality apps or the thing that finally pushes "creating an app" into the hands of non-software developers?
What the Heck is a Creative Technologist? « Mark Avnet
What the Heck is a Creative Technologist?
Mark Avnet, Creative Technologist, VCU Brandcenter
msavnet@vcu.edu, @mavnetBack in the 90s, the first time “convergence” was brought up as an important idea, I was asked as a “new media expert” to write an article on its importance – and found just about as many definitions for the term as places I looked. When I was part of a panel of psychologists defining “media psychology,” again, we found that just about everyone using the term defined it differently. Same with “engagement.” These still remain relatively loosely described constructs, words or phrases that, to quote Carroll’s Humpty Dumpty, “mean exactly what [we] choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”
We’re at a similar point with the term “creative technology.” What exactly IS a creative technologist? What makes her different from a programmer or a flash animator? What makes him different from a copywriter, brand manager, or strategist who can use Dreamweaver? What’s the role of a creative technologist at an agency or in our industry?
I think about this a lot, and not just because I head up the Creative Technology track at VCU Brandcenter’s graduate program and continually refine and redefine our curriculum, but also because I consider myself a creative technologist. And, believe me, I’m different from my students and graduates, and we’re all different from other people who also consider themselves to be creative technologists. The confusion is exacerbated by the fact that the position called “creative technologist” is defined differently at places that use the name, and the role is filled at other agencies by other titles.
My Take
Here’s my take on it. CTs understand the business of advertising, marketing, and branding, take a creative, strategic and people-centric view of how to connect people and brands, and understand the kinds of mediating technologies that can best be used to make those engaging experiences where the connection happens.They sketch with technology, just like a visual creative can sketch with a pencil. They’re steeped in strategy, so the things they come up with make sense – it’s not about technology just for the sake of technology. The experiences they design address real needs of people and brands.
Creative technologists share a creative and inquisitive view of the world. They’re on top of technology trends, aren’t afraid of coding (just as a modern visual designer isn’t afraid of Photoshop or Illustrator), and take both strategic and tactical approaches to creativity. They also understand that we’re in a business, and we’re solving business goals by addressing people’s needs as a priority.
Learn, Do, Teach
In addition, there’s a shared creative technology mind-set that I describe as “learn, do, teach.” Stay up-to-date on the latest in technology, in research, in business, in design, in advertising, in human behavior. Then do something with it – build something, try out a new API, prototype an idea, make something talk to something else, come up with a new business model. Then show others how this stuff works – evangelize, be a resource, help people move beyond what they already know (and learn from them while you’re doing that). Rinse, repeat.These “T-shaped” thinkers come from many different disciplines, and they’re likely to consider all media and experiences as their venue – every medium is enabled by a technology (even print and speech), and the fewer artificial barriers we put up, the better. Choose the right medium or media, and remember that something doesn’t need electricity to be interactive.
We’ve had students enter the VCU Brandcenter Creative Technology track with strong design or copywriting skills, backgrounds in communications, business, consulting… some have come right out of undergrad programs, the music business, lighting design, even one who was an established art director at a big-name agency who wanted to deepen his toolkit. As creative technologists, they add their own individual superpowers to the computational media, UXd, IA, mobility, user participation, futurology, data cultivation, branding, concepting, business, and group expertise they develop in the program.
But Where do I Put Them?
At Brandcenter’s recent industry recruiting event, many of the conversations I had were along the lines of “we know we need creative technologists – but where do they fit in MY agency?”In agencies that have moved to a flexible team model, CTs just belong to the team, adding their varied expertise to the group.
In agencies with a more siloed approach, first, please rethink that – technology can’t live down the hall anymore; it’s part of everything that everyone in the agency does. Second – CTs fit nicely in the strategic and creative functions, and as floating resources mostly affiliated with one function and that move where needed.
Gareth Kay (GSP) and Aki Spicer (Fallon), for example, are creative technologists in their secret identity of strategists. Richard Schatzberger (BBH) is a creative technologist without a mask. Paul Seward (The Martin Agency) is a creative technologist working from a deeper technology side. Dave Knox (P&G) approaches things from a brand standpoint. They, and all the other creative technologists with job titles including AD, CD, IA, UXd, CT, AE, CW, and all the other abbreviations share a deep general understanding of tech and how it can be used in the context of brand communication and experience design.
The job title itself is less important than being open to a hands-on and holistic view of technology as part of communication, as part of business, as part of the human experience, and therefore as part of culture.
Getting back to Lewis Carroll, “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” ”The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – - that’s all.”
A fantastic article by one of the few people actually trying to teach creative technology.
Foursquare Launches Location Layers - This is Big
via readwriteweb.com
This will be big, while there are many reasons to check in, seeing another city through the lens of something you love will certainly help accelerate the platform. For example, I appreciate architecture but know little about it. Being able to walk around Chicago and get info/tips/links from that perspective would be fabulous.
Apple Studies User Downloads to Hone Mobile Ads, Take on Google - BusinessWeek
Apple Studies User Downloads to Hone Mobile Ads, Take on Google
July 06, 2010, 12:07 AM EDTMore From Businessweek
By Adam Satariano
July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., with a storehouse of billions of music, movie and software downloads, is studying the buying habits of many of its 150 million iTunes users to show more appealing mobile ads and fuel competition with Google Inc.
Through the iAd program that began last week, Apple started placing ads in iPhone applications for the first time. Early iAd clients include Nissan Motor Co., Unilever NV, JC Penney Co., Best Buy Co. and AT&T Inc.
At stake is leadership in mobile ads, forecast by EMarketer Inc. to almost triple to $1.56 billion in 2013. Google, which gained the biggest share of online advertising by placing ads based on PC-Web surfing habits, may use that tack to widen a lead on handheld devices. Examining consumers’ entertainment and software purchases may give Apple an advantage, says Rachel Pasqua, director of mobile at marketing firm ICrossing.
“Apple knows what you’ve downloaded, how much time you spend interacting with applications and knows even what you’ve downloaded, don’t like and deleted,” said Pasqua, whose clients include Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. She isn’t currently working with Apple on iAd campaigns.
Relying on the music, videos and apps that customers are downloading from its iTunes, App Store and iBooks helps Apple sketch a behavioral profile that can be paired with appropriate promotional messages. On its website, Apple says its “standard targeting options” include demographics, application preferences, music passions, movie genre interests, television genre interests and location.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, slipped $1.54 to $246.94 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading on July 2. It has gained 17 percent this year.
‘Surgical’ Targeting
Unilever, which began working with Apple in May on a campaign for its Dove Men+Care soap, is using iAd to zero in on married men who are in their late 30s and have children.
“Apple then overlays that with the iTunes information and targets quite well and quite surgically,” said Rob Candelino, marketing director at Unilever, based in London and Rotterdam.
Apple doesn’t share information on individuals, Candelino said. Instead, Unilever can choose to advertise in certain “buckets” of applications, such as those on news or entertainment, based on characteristics of its users.
“The leading global brands we’re working with are developing iAds timed with their seasonal marketing campaigns, such as back to school and the holiday shopping season,” said Apple spokeswoman Trudy Miller. “We’re just taking our first few steps. We’ll work our way up to walking and running as this year progresses.” IAd was announced in April.
5 Billion Downloads
U.S. mobile advertising spending will grow 43 percent this year to $593 million, according to EMarketer. The business will grow almost threefold more by 2013, reaching $1.56 billion, the New York-based research firm said.
The ads are being integrated into some of the 225,000 applications created for Apple’s online App Store. Users have downloaded more than 5 billion of them, according to Apple. The iAd system will be rolled out later this year to the iPad, which sold more than 3 million units in its first 80 days.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said at a conference last month that the company had sold more than $60 million in advertising since the iAd platform was introduced in April. That’s about half the mobile display-ad market, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Google, which this year bought mobile-ad network AdMob, doesn’t report what portion of sales comes from mobile. Google and AdMob may generate more than $100 million in U.S. mobile-ad sales in 2010, says IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Google’s Strengths
From early on, Google has honed an ability to make ads relevant to users. As it rolls out mobile-ad strategies, the company could tap a wealth of information on how people use Web search, e-mail and software available via the Android mobile operating system, said Michael Collins, chief executive officer of mobile-ad agency Joule Inc.
“The question that many of us in the industry are very curious about is how much of that data will Google be making available to target,” said Collins, whose agency is a part of WPP Plc. “The more available data, the better the targeting.”
Apple appeals to a “premium” audience because of the cost of its products, while Google can reach a broader market because its Android operating system is on more devices, said Noah Elkin, an analyst at EMarketer.
“It boils down to the exclusivity of Apple and the customer you can target that way, versus the breadth that you have with Google,” he said.
‘Hype and Buzz’
Some marketers are skeptical that Apple’s success in selling gadgets will translate to advertising. Apple hasn’t proven that its platform will result in more effective ads that are worth the investment, said Thom Kennon, vice president of strategy at Wunderman, whose clients include Campbell Soup Co.
“Right now it’s hype and buzz more than reality,” he said. “There are just not that many people with iPhones in their pockets or iPads in their hands to consume this advertising.”
Companies that opt for iAd, though, say they’re drawn to the marketing prowess that has helped Apple sell about 100 million iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads in three years. Working with Apple was “unequivocally” a reason for choosing iAd, said Chad Jacoby, senior manager of Nissan’s marketing team.
To keep companies paying, Apple will need people to click on the ads and respond with their wallets, said ICrossing’s Pasqua. The better Apple can target ads, the more effective iAd will be, she said.
Privacy, Antitrust
Apple will also need to keep from running afoul of government officials concerned about anticompetitive practices and the way tech companies handle information gathered on users.
Federal Trade Commission officials are preparing to review allegations that Apple is trying to trammel rivalry in mobile advertising, people familiar with the matter said in June. They’re examining app-developer instructions, issued in June, that AdMob says might bar programmers from using Google and AdMob advertising software on the iPhone.
Regulators in the U.S. and Europe are also paying heed to privacy practices. The German Justice Minister last month raised questions about Apple’s practice of compiling data on users of its iPhone. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation also began an inquiry into a security breach that exposed the e-mail addresses of as many as 114,000 users of the iPad.
Apple lets customers opt out of receiving ads based on iTunes download history or location. “With iOS 4, Apple has gone further to protect users’ privacy, particularly with respect to location, than anyone else has to date,” Apple said in a statement, referring to its mobile operating system.
--With assistance from Peter Burrows in San Francisco. Editors: Nick Turner, Lisa Wolfson.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
via businessweek.com
Your questions answered on whether iAd would include intelligence from the iTunes store in the ad network
Assisted Serendipity - Your Foursquare powered wingman
About Assisted Serendipity
Assisted Serendipity is a free service that notifies you a soon as the male/female ratio turns in your favor at your favorite local hangouts. Using Foursquare's check-in data, we monitor the venues you are interested in, and notify you as soon as the ratio "tips". Meet new people through the power of location-based social networking. Click here to sign up!
This is a great example of something going BEYOND just the core idea. Monitor your sharing, tell you something you wanna know. Sure, 4sq could have done this themselves, but creating an open API to allow people to create this kind of service is a great way to enhance your brand.
