New Directions

Wow how long has it been since I wrote anything?

What a delayed post but better late than never as they say.

Late last year, I started focusing this blog to a topic I am really passionate about: Software Development (yes I am still confused as to how it differs from Software Engineering but the latter sounds cooler). That meant I had to trash some posts I had which weren’t really related to the topic. Also, as I am taking graduate school, I noticed I have begun posting some theoretical bits which are just really rehashes of things you can find in any algorithms book.

All in all, I think the inadvertently general theme has been really messy. Ever seen a Filipino plate at a party? It’s literally a mix plate – a little bit of that and a little bit of this. It’s not uncommon to see spaghetti alongside beef stew and rice or even more bemusing three kinds of noodles and then sushi at the same time. Yes it’s fun to eat but no I don’t think a blog like that is fun to read.

However, blogging has been very helpful to me for organizing my thoughts and though I don’t promise to write more, at least I can promise to write with more focus.

What perfect time to reorganize but at the beginning of new year! So check out the new things I will be focusing on from now on:

1. Programming tips – This will revolve around the application of design patterns and refactorings in particular illustrating how I have used them at work or in school.

2. Software Development tools – Anything that will make software development more efficient like source control, frameworks. This year I am planning to look into continuous integration and Apache Solr or Elastic Search as well as create a catalog of commonly used subversion and git use cases.

3. Programming Philosophies – My reflections on approaches to programming like Test Driven Development or Dependency Injection.

4. Algorithms – Though I will admit I am just rehashing some topics that you could find in commonly used books, the purpose of these rehashes is to make the material less obscure. I have found that, unlike topics which you can find in Khan Academy, there is lack of straightforward and just as easy to digest material on advanced topics available on the web. When I can I will include links or practical exercises I myself have used to aid in understanding.

5. NEW! Code Aesthetics – Who hates spaghetti code? I certainly do. When I started reading open source code (for fun!) I learned that it is literally a mine of beautiful coding style. This will be my attempt to come up with a catalog of different styles.

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