I previously posted about using the page object pattern to improve your acceptance tests. This article by Fowler sheds some more light on the pattern.
Your Path Through Agile Fluency
Too often I find that organizations are too focused on what agile tools to use or adopting a few specific practices. After all, I find agile tool to be a contradiction of terms. “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools” is the first value proposition of the agile manifesto. Focusing on the right tool is the wrong approach. This article outlines the right approach and the right focus; delivering business value.
PurposeOfEstimation
Too often I feel like I’ve been involved with teams where estimation was done solely as a ritual and had no actual use. I understand there are situations for where there is a legitimate use in estimation. I think Fowler is spot-on when in his proposition that, “estimation is valuable when it helps you make a significant decision.”
The Best of God’s Intentions
The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Proverbs 16:4
Have you ever felt like your life was irrelevant? That it lacked any rhyme or reason? Our passage clearly states that you were made with a purpose. Your life is no accident. Your life is no coincidence. You were intentionally made.
You were made by God. He has made all things. There is nothing that was not made by him. Paul told the Colossians that, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” How awesome it is to consider that you were made by “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God”?
An even more daunting thought is to contemplate the fact that we were made for God. You were made to please God. He created you that he might enjoy you. In heaven it is sung, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
You have a purpose. God made you for a reason. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Worshiping in Prosperity
And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Job 1:5
The story of Job is so well known that the phrase “The patience of Job” is a common idiom. While Job’s determination to serve God in the fire is worthy of consideration, I submit to you that his resolve to serve God in his prosperity is what prepared him for the trials he faced. Job wouldn’t have been the man that he was when the trials came if he had not faithfully worshiped God during the time of blessing.
Consider Job’s wife. She partook in the same blessings of Job. However, we do not find mention of her ever worshipping the Lord. When she lost her children and saw her husband covered in boils advised Job to, “Curse, God and die.” She had not built up the relationship with God that could sustain her through the trials.
Job, on the other hand, had developed a relationship with God. The scripture attests that Job worshipped continually. Without fail Job offered burnt offerings. Repeatedly and regularly Job met with the Lord. His faithfulness provided the faith that he needed when the trials came.
Job put God first. Each morning he rose up and worshipped. He didn’t wait until the end of the day to see what the day would bring. Job’s worship was based on his blessings. Job’s worship was based on his belief. It’s that faith that allowed him to say “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
I challenge you to learn from Job’s faithfulness, not just in his tribulations, but also in his affluence. Take time to build a relationship with the Lord today. Build up faith now. You do not know what the fire of tomorrow’s trials may bring.
Peach Cobbler
I had a couple a peaches that I didn’t think would last until tomorrow. I took advantage of the situation and made a mini peach cobbler. This is the recipe that my Grandmother used to make, except I used fresh peaches and used only used a third of the ingredients. It’s a bit more tart and less gooey than using canned peaches in syrup.
Ingredients:
- 3 Peaches
- ¼ cup of butter
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 1/3 cup Flour
- 1/3 cup Milk
- Splash of Vanilla
Directions:
Melt the butter and pour it in the pan.
Spread the peaches out evenly across the bottom of the pan.
Mix the sugar, flour, milk, and vanilla and pour over the peaches.
Bake at 350 degrees until the crust is golden brown
French Onion Soup
Rich, sweet, and delicious. This soup is amazing. It’s simple to prepare and yet provides a lot of eye appeal with the floating crouton with cheese.
I think I’ll go have another bowl right now!
Organizational Skills Beat Algorithmic Wizardry
Hear, hear. I’ve seen interview problems for full-stack web app developers that would take math majors to succeed at. I’ve always left thinking if that’s the kind of engineer you want, it’s not the kind of place I want to work.
Monitoring & Observability
I would have liked to hear this talk. I thought using phantomjs to collect web page stats was clever. The best slide is #40 which reinforces the fact that you should be monitoring key business metrics.
Rails Conventions
I came across this on the parley mailing list and thought it was a wonderful idea. I’ve seen coding style guides on projects before, but documenting conventions as well should go a long way into getting new developers up to speed. This is something I’ll probably try in the future.