Jamie Oglethorpe

What rubbish!, May 17 2000

I like to consider myself a master craftsman. My craft is that of programming. I live for programming. Programming is rarely from my thoughts. I am constantly thinking of ways to improve my craft. Learn a new skill. Develop a new tool. What went wrong? How can I do better next time?

Programming is a rapidly changing craft. A machinist can learn to work a lathe or a milling machine, and expect that his knowledge will stand him in good stead for the rest of his working life. Not so for the craftsman programmer. Ours is a new craft. We are still learning how to do it. Having survived in the game for a decade or two, and having learned dozens of languages, operating… Read more

Making tired old code better, May 17 2000

The basic thesis of this book is that, for various reasons, real programs are poorly designed. They get that way for a variety of reasons. Initially well designed, extending the program may lead to software decay. Huge methods may result from unanticipated complexity. Refactoring, according to Fowler, is a function preserving transformation of a program. The transformations are reversible, so the intention is to improve the program in some way.

Fowler suggests refactoring a program to simplify the addition of new functionality. The program should also be refactored to make it easier for human readers to understand at the same time.

He also insists that each step is small and… Read more

Practical OO programming with UML, April 4 2000

I must say immediately that OOD is a great weak point in my armoury. I do my designs largely by refactoring as I build from my business level objects. I also re-use the architectural level objects I developed in this way in earlier projects. I still tend to do the UML after I have done the programming, if then.

The book that has helped me a great deal to get things right despite my pragmatic approach is Meilir Page-Jones's recent book "Fundamentals of Object-Oriented Design in UML" (Addison Wesley ISBN 0-201-69946-X).

This book brings up to date Page-Jones earlier book "What Every Programmer Should Know About Object-Oriented Design" (Dorset House ISBN… Read more