About

This is a blog about software development, with musings related to Agile development, asynchronous programming, and students.  So why is it called Badger Taming?

Badgers are friendly animals if you treat them nice.  But back them in a corner and they can become vicious.

So it is with software development.  When all’s rosy, anything will work.  But when the pressure’s on, what you do can make the difference between delivery and a death spiral.

Well – it’s an analogy which serves…

Why have I started this blog?  I’m a software engineer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. I am continually learning about tools and techniques, and I am often surprised to find out that other people haven’t heard of techniques I rely on.  I’m particularly interested in Agile and Lean development techniques, and processes which help maintain quality (or at least highlight issues early).

I also grew up with asynchronous, multi-threaded, multi-processor, multi-computer programming when I started my career at DIGITAL; since leaving I have been first astounded, then amazed and now just resigned at how poorly asynchronous programming is understood.

And finally, I am involved in recruitment, particularly of students.  If I can just help some people develop their skills in the right way and sell their abilities rather than their buzzwords, I will have served some use.  I have seen a lot of CVs and a fair number of chancers whose claims don’t stand up to interrogation.  I will post thoughts on this here as well.

I don’t know if anyone will find my musings useful, but I hope they help someone somewhere.

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