March, 05 2004

I’m a software engineering fashion victim, so when somebody comes to ask if some new feature should go in the design or not, I reflexively yell, “YAGNI!” YAGNI requires little thought, and it’s usually a good not a bad a wise-sounding answer.

However, I think Cameron Purdy is riding the crest of a new wave when he writes:

“Use your brain.”

I predict that next week, once the Great YAGNI Flamewar is but a distant memory, the sloganeers will pick up Cameron’s thought, and acronymize it as “UYB”.

So, in future, when somebody asks me about design features, I’ll be yelling, “UYB, UYB!”

This last week has been a really interesting one for SCO:

• After threatening for months, SCO finally sued some Linux end-users. Their case against Autozone is basically this: Autozone converted all their Unix apps to Linux really smoothly, so they must have used SCO intellectual property to do it. Obvious isn’t it? Note the frequency with which the complaint uses the phrase, “on information and belief.”

• ESR got hold of a memo leaked from SCO, and promptly labelled it Halloween X. The memo indicates that Microsoft have been moving heaven and earth to ensure SCO don’t run out of money. I wonder why Microsoft would give money to a competitor?

• C|Net explore the revision history embedded in a SCO Word document, providing some insight into SCO‘s thinking. Unfortunately, C|Net don’t reveal the document’s source or question its authenticity.

Met with Keith, David and Charles for our traditional drink(s) followed by Japanese meal last night.

Keith and Charles spoke highly of the Spring framework, convincing me to give it a go. An interesting aspect of Spring is that Spring components are POJOs, and so can be unit tested independently of their container. This compares well with EJBs, which must have a full EJB container¹ before they can be tested.

¹ Or a reasonable fascimile. The point is, unit testing an EJB takes more effort than unit testing a POJO.