Posted by Matt on Apr 10, 2009

iMac & Mac Gaming Mini-Rant

A few weeks ago, I finally broke down and got an iMac. I had been using a 2.5 yr old MacBook as my primary computer since September of 2007.

I used to be a big PC gamer but I grew tired of constantly tweaking my system and upgrading my videocard. After my switch to Macintosh in 2004, I gave up on PC gaming and stuck to consoles.

Well, I eventually missed playing FPS. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of good FPS for consoles. However, nothing is quite as satisfying as the keyboard and mouse combo. About 4 months ago, I got the gaming bug.

I eventually broke down and got out my old copy of Halo for Mac. It was fun but eventually my Intel GMA 950 graphics weren’t cutting it anymore. Playing Halo in 640×480 was sad. I needed more horsepower. The new iMac allows me to run Halo at 1920×1200. That’s hot. And thanks for CrossOver Games, I can play Half Life 2 and its variants like Portal.

Now that I have Red Alert 3 for the Mac, I think I can consider myself a Mac gamer.

Posted by Matt on Mar 21, 2009

Objective C

I try to learn a new language every 1 to 2 years. It helps keep my brain plastic and opens up new technology domains. So my language for 2009 is Objective C 2.0.

I’m brand new at this language, but I do have some words of advice for others learning it.

Screencasts

I’m using two series of screencasts to learn Objective C.

• Objective C for Rubyists
• Coding in Objective C

Coming from a Ruby background, I started with the “Objective C for Rubyists”. However I prefer the “Coding in Objective C” series.

Books

I sadly don’t have any good books on Objective C.

I’ve pre-ordered Cocoa Programming and Core Data from Pragmatic Programmers.

There is a book listed on Amazon from Pragmatic Programmers called Programming Objective C 2.0 that I hope will lead me from just Objective C CLI tools to Cocoa Programming.

Goals

My hope out of all is this is that I will learn Objective C.0 and eventually iPhone programming. This will hopefully lead to an iPhone app that will pay for an iMac. :)

Posted by Matt on Feb 18, 2009

HAML & SASS

I’ve recently been working with HAML & SASS. I originally questioned the usefulness of an intermediate language that generates HTML & CSS. In practice, it’s saves me a significant amount of time in my workday to accomplish my tasks. Check it out at: http://haml.hamptoncatlin.com/

Posted by Matt on Jan 31, 2009

Programmers need to "Plus It"

One of the things that has driven me crazy over the years is when developers I’m working with phone it in.

The Problem

When I say phoning it in, I don’t mean show up late, surfing Facebook, and leave early. (Let’s face it, we all know people like that in all professions.)

So what do I mean then? Requirements are barely met. The code is sloppily written. There are no tests beyond “assert true”. The code is unmaintainable. The code smell would make hardened, jaded programmers faint.

How do we combat the problem?

Plus It

Recently I’ve been reading a book on Disney’s Imagineers. One of the mantras they use is to Plus It. Plus It means to go beyond your personal best. Raise the bar for yourself and others.

How do we Plus It?

In the world of developers, Plus It means you make your code, user experiences, support, etc. better than your previous best.

• Don’t settle for mediocre.
• Work hard.
• Don’t just create code, create great code.

Test everything. And I don’t mean just unit testing or feature testing. I mean, end user testing. To steal another concept from Disney, your only real critics are your audience. End user testing will tell you if the interface and features created meet their expectations or not. If you don’t meet your end user’s expectations, meet them. Once you meet them, exceed them.

How do we encourage others to Plus It?

Peer review. It’s one of the most powerful tools I’ve encountered to influence other’s to Plus It. I’m competitive in nature. Some of best coworkers have been as competitive. Without being volatile about the situation, refactoring or critiquing other’s code challenges them to produce a higher level of code.