Google Code for Educators

Really interesting. I don't know how many people know of this but I thought I should point it out here on the blog. I think there are a few invaluable resources there.

Here: http://code.google.com/edu/

Personally, I am more interested in the Distributed Computing and Web Security stuff. I think those are very important fields to research in the future. Of course there is already quite some research going on in there but as we're moving towards a more integrated and inter-connected world, all of those above will become more important and will be great skills to develop and to have.

Cheers!

Competing on the Basis of Speed (Google Presentation)

This is a Google Engineering presentation I would recommend every software engineer to watch. It talks about lean development. In the past, I've read a book or two on Lean Software Development but this presentation puts it the best way so far. The emphasis is mainly on Complexity. The presenter looks at what she called the 3 faces of complexity, which she labeled as follows:

• Waste: anything that does not add customer value but that keeps creeping into the system's requirements. The solution: Keep it simple.


• Inconsistency: irregular, unbalanced, uneven processes or sub-processes. The solution: Make it flawless.


• Overload: excessive and unreasonable burden, unrealistic expectations. The solution: Let it flow.

She then goes on developing each of the above items further and explaining how their respective solutions can be applied to software development.

During the presentation, she refers a lot to the Toyota Prius ("Computer on Wheels" as she calls it), bringing forward the development process used by Toyota to design the car and push it to market in just about 15 months.


All in all, I personally think it is a great presentation.

Links:

- Competing on the Basis of Speed

- Lean software development

- The presenter: Mary Poppendieck

Cheers!