As a contractor, I am often thrown into huge code bases with just a list of instructions for environment setup and not much else.

The bummer is that for complex software systems, a list of setup instructions is of hardly any use without understanding the expected end product of the environment you are putting together.

I often wish I also had a list of things I was allowed to do as a new contractor / employee, but this is probably a discussion for another time.

When I buy a Lego set, I bought it based on what the final constructed product looked like on the front of the box.

As you are putting together the Lego set, don’t you sometimes find yourself referring to the cool picture on the front of the box as a general reference and motivator?

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In a previous blog post, I brought up the concept of fighting the urge to rewrite code, and instead shift to refactoring code a step at a time until it takes on the features and characteristics that the business needs. Rewriting the code should only be considered a last ditch option. All that said, you will inevitably hit scenarios where you can delete whole swaths of your hard fought code:

• Refactoring – As you are refactoring code, you will inevitably hit the bottom of the refactoring stack and are now are able to delete whole chunks of code that are no longer needed.
• Dead End – While coding up a feature, you have found out that the track you have taken is a dead end. There is a need to wipe out all that code and start over on a different path.
• Fully Supported Third-Party Replacement – Whole chunks of your past work should be replaced by new frameworks and/or third party components.
• Long Gone Business Requirements – A feature that you poured years into is just no longer needed, and the expense of supporting it is adding up, so it needs to be removed. Nobody learned this lesson more than the Microsoft Internet Explorer team when they started work on the Edge browser (nee Project Spartan)

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The story you are about to read is mostly true. The names have been completely omitted to protect the innocent. It is extracted from the caffeine addled brain of an old-school software engineer. Take from it what lessons you wish.

As software engineers we always seem to want to rewrite something. There is an immense sense of freedom that comes from clicking: File –> New Project…

The next time you have the rewrite urge, think instead on how you can execute an incremental improvement to the code without rewriting. I would submit that if you think that a rewrite would be just ‘one step’ and ‘super easy’, it really isn’t. Factors, actors, capital, and time on a scale you never dreamed of will enter into your rewrite effort eventually.

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I enjoy learning about all of the events in and around World War II, especially the Pacific theater.

I was reading the book Miracle at Midway  by Gordon W. Prange (et. al.) and started to get curious about the pre- and post- histories of all the naval vessels involved in the Battle of Midway.

Historically, so many people, plans, and materials had to merge together at a precise moment in time in order for the Battle of Midway to be fought where it was and realize its radical impact on the outcome of World War II.

I got curious as to the pre- and post-history of all the people and ships that fought at Midway and wanted a way to visualize all of that history in a mobile application.

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It is unfortunate, but I think Dr. McCoy from Star Trek: The Original Series said it best: ‘Windows 10 Mobile is dead, Jim“…. and just to pile on with one more.

Buried underneath the red shirt like death of Windows 10 Mobile lies the amazing Universal Windows Platform (UWP).

The developer capabilities of the Universal Windows Platform have been documented in many a location.

UWP provides:

• Full developer parity at the API and framework level across all flavors of Windows 10, Xbox One, HoloLens, and Windows 10 Mobile devices.
• A simplified install model via APPX bundles.
• A per-app separation of registry and file systems.
• XAML controls ‘just work’ across all Windows 10 / UWP devices.
• Targeting the UWP API set ensures that your app works across Windows 10 / UWP devices.

In my experience, there is nothing weirder than seeing your Windows 10 / UWP app just work on an Xbox One,  in a virtual projected rectangle via a HoloLens, and via mouse and keyboard on a standard Windows 10 PC.

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