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Writing: Testing Times

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

My latest Becoming a Better Programmer column is published in the September issue of C Vu magazine (26.4). It called Testing Times and surveys the world of developer testing, covering the what, why, and how of programmer-driven testing. We look at feedback loops, TDD, unit testing, integration testing, system testing and more.

C Vu is a magazine produced by the ACCU - an excellent organisation for programmers. It has a great community, great publications, and an awesome conference. Check it out.

Meanwhile, my book: Becoming a Better Programmer, is nearing print. It's gone through tech review, copy edit, and layout is almost complete. You can still access the early release at http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920033929.do.
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Speaking: Words in Code

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

The slides from my ACCU 2014 talk, Words in Code, are available on SlideShare, from http://www.slideshare.net/petegoodliffe/words-in-code.

Here's the synopsis:

As software developers we do not just write code. We write many, many words too.

We write documentation, comments, manuals, specifications, technical articles, wiki documentation, and more. Maybe even magazine articles and books.

This talk discusses some practicalities of writing well, both stylistically and practically. We'll talk about prose, but also about the right "geek" way of writing, the storage formats, toolchains, and the storage of our words.

We'll cover:
- writing style
- what's appropriate: what to write what not to write
- keeping track: "source control" for words
- toolchains: what toolsets to use to write and prepare output
- markup languages vs "wysiwyg" tools
- sharing your words with non-geeks

At the end of this talk, you'll have a good idea how to put together an example "document toolchain" taking source-controlled words in a humane markup style, and creating high-quality HTML, PDF (fully styled, print-ready) ePub and Kindle output, as well as Word-friendly versions.
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Speaking: Words in Code (ACCU 2014)

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

I'll be speaking at this year's excellent ACCU Conference 2014.

This year my talk is: Words in Code, a technical (and not so technical) appraisal of how developers write. It's a practical distillation of my fourteen years as a magazine columnist, multiple book projects, and more.

Come and enjoy it on Thursday 10th April at 10am. The conference's earlybird booking deadline is February the 14th. ACCU is one of the highlights of my developer year - it's a truly excellent conference. If you've not considered going, check it out!

The full synopsis is available on the session page:
As software developers we do not just write code. We write many, many words too.
We write documentation, comments, manuals, specifications, technical articles, wiki documentation, and more. Maybe even magazine articles and books.
This talk discusses some practicalities of writing well, both stylistically and practically. We'll talk about prose, but also about the right "geek" way of writing, the storage formats, toolchains, and the storage of our words.
We'll cover:
  • writing style
  • what's appropriate: what to write what not to write
  • keeping track: "source control" for words
  • toolchains: what toolsets to use to write and prepare output
  • markup languages vs "wysiwyg" tools
  • sharing your words with non-geeks
At the end of this talk, you'll have a good idea how to put together an example "document toolchain" taking source-controlled words in a humane markup style, and creating high-quality HTML, PDF (fully styled, print-ready) ePub and Kindle output, as well as Word-friendly versions.
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Writing: The Ethical Programmer

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

The latest C Vu magazine from ACCU is out now. It contains my latest Becoming a Better Programer column. This month it's called The Ethical Programmer; the first instalment of a two-part series on ethics and the modern programmer. Gripping stuff.

This month, I look at our attitudes, at legal issues, and discuss software licenses.

To make the world a better place, you can enjoy a picture of some old rope, and a chicken. I also throw in some bad puns.
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Writing: Bug Hunting

Pete Goodliffe from Pete Goodliffe

The latest  C Vu magazine from ACCU is out now. It contains my latest Becoming a Better Programer column. This month it's called Bug Hunting and, as you might guess, is about the art of debugging code.

This was inspired by conversations with Greg Law in the lead up to the 2013 ACCU conference.