Node is effectively a new programming runtime (platform) for just about anything. The language in play is Javascript. It has various modules like 'http' which makes it highly useful for development of web services / apps. The runtime is very fast as it's the V8 engine of Chrome browser. Thanks to Open source community and Google for this. Node started with Rayn Dahl at Joyent, but now it is in the hands of a foundation. The foundation consists of members from various areas of the web. They are in charge of steering the development of node. This is good as opposed to a normal open source developer model, as everyone recognises a potential in this. Javascript is best suited for the web, as all the client side code is javascript anyway. This makes it easy for the development of web apps as both the client and server codebase becomes javascript. Smaller technology stack. Or is it?
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Generating code is a truly fascinating and a very satisfying experience for me. There is something very meta about it... Effectively you write programs that write programs for you. I live by the advice (which also comes naturally to me) 3 strikes you automate. This shows an example of doing basic code generation using the T4 (Text Template Transformation Toolkit) template engine.
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Here is my list of useful tools which have helped me in various activities involved in developing software. Most of which are indespensible :)
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Conway's law is a reality, its omnipresent and is part of work. Ignore it at your own peril. Organizations which design systems are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations — M. Conway It's been there since ages, even there in the Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks. It sounds a little funny perhaps but, if we look deeper it is very natural and is a valid sociological observation.
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A burndown chart is a common tool for reporting the progress in scrum or umbrella term agile world. It is a very pragmatic and simplest way to check progress of the work, if its on time, it will end at zero. It also gamifies the work if teams frequently look at it, with an aim to finish it to zero. That makes it easy to understand by anyone in the team or management. If you are using the application lifecycle management (ALM) tools like Microsoft Team Foundation Server, Jira, Mingle etc, this comes in as a featured report. A typical burndown chart would span across a time period. I would start off with a certain quantity of stuff and progressively reducing that quantity. Examples of burndown charts in software development can be like below ...
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