Software Development Top 30 Mistakes

Software Development Top 30 Mistakes

   I have been developing software and web applications for nearly 3 years now.  Software development has come a long way since the days of Binary, Cobol, etc.  What still fascinates me about software development is the same mistakes made before, are still made today.  Below are the top 30 Mistakes that are made within the software development process.  It’s amazing to see that none of these have anything to do with the language itself.

1. Not understanding the user’s needs. Lack of user input, or not even asking.  
2. Underestimating the size of the project. 
3. Rushing through the planning stage, or avoiding the planning all together.  Code first, plan later! BAD!  
4. Not testing early enough, often, or at all!  Make it a habit! 
5. Choosing the “Cool” methodology at the time, vs. one that has worked in the past. Which leads into my next point…  
6. Not using a methodology. 
7. Letting a software developer run the software development project.  
8. Bored, unmotivated team!  You have to motivate your developers!  If you can’t motivate, don’t bother trying to lead.  Your team will fall asleep, literally. 
9. Planning on catching up later.  You won’t… don’t even think it!  
10. Non Source Control!  Ouch.. not good people… and no, just installing a software package is not it… 
11. Deciding to switch your development tools when you’re already into the project.  
12. Allowing feature creep.  Just say NO!  Everyone will be happier in the end. 
13. Omitting necessary tasks to shorten the project plan.  Really, what’s the point of doing this?  
14. Insufficient management controls in the development project. 
15. Lack of high level business sponsorship.  
16. Adding people at the end of the project to “speed things up”.  You will only slow things down…
17. No unit testing.  Heck if you can do it, use Visual Studio Team Foundation Server and set up some automated testing nightly.  
18. Stressed out software developers.  If you have managed to perform even one or two of these software development mistakes, you will have a stressed out bunch of programmers to deal with! 
19. Lack of error handling.  
20. “Off by one” errors.  These happen a lot during the software development process.. *sigh*. 
21. Typos…  Just use option strict and explicit please..  during one software development project, which I was on as a consultant, they were getting ridiculous amounts of errors everywhere… turned out the developer couldn’t spell and would declare variables with incorrect spelling.. no big deal, until you use the correct spelling when you’re assigning a value to it…  and  you had option explicit off.  Ouch to them…  
22. No understand the deployment or hardware the software is to be installed on.  Ohhhh it’s for a Macintosh… lol.  Well hopefully not that bad, but you get the point. 
23. No naming style or code conventions.  Honestly it doesn’t matter what you use… as long as you are consistent with the rest of the team, and hopefully at least yourself.  
24. Using global variables everywhere.  These are NOT your friend and hog memory like nothing you have ever seen before! 
25. Not asking for help at all during the software development process.  If you’re stuck, don’t fight with it for hours on end!  Ask for help!  
26. Not commenting your code. 
27. Hogging all information to yourself.  You think you’re more valuable this way?  You’re actually not and there is a plan brewing to get you kicked off the development project, and possibly out of the company.  You might want to brush up your sign “Will code for pizza!”
28. Performing database operations at the application layer instead of the database layer. Not only is this putting the processing juice on your application instead of your server, but you have put your database at risk of data integrity issues, and getting bad data!  Some of my hipster cool friends are always saying “It’s alllll good”, well, if your database can be caught saying this… and If everything looks good to your database, then you should be worried.  It is NOT all good!  
29. Not validating your data! Yikes…  Yes.. let’s just assume all the data is perfect! NOT! 
30. No load testing.  What.. This is supposed to run on 1,000 user’s machines through Citrix?  Interesting… Shouldn’t be an issue! lol… NOT.

Software development is tricky enough!  Make it easier on yourself by ensuring you do not make any of these mistakes.  Although it seems like a simple list of things not to do, it can make your life so much easier!!!

Asus F202E-CT148H VivoBook Review

PROS

• Very well built
• Excellent keyboard
• Sharp and fairly vivid display
• Touchscreen is an added bonus
• Acceptable battery life
  
  

CONS

• Display is reflective
• Slight compromise, if you expect blazing fast performance

Summary:

It is quite a surprise that Asus positions this machine as a laptop, and not an ultrabook. But, honestly, we do not mind. The focus needs to be on the fact that it offers fairly acceptable performance in a very compact form factor. Almost the ultrabook-ish compactness, if you may. But, do note that the performance is fairly toned down, and will not be anywhere close to the likes of the Core i3 on the HP Pavilion G6-2227tu. And for the price the F202E is retailing for, the build quality is pretty much the proverbial cherry on the proverbial cake. It is a good deal for someone buying their first laptop and for students who want the portability aspect.

Average Rating : 3.5/5

Features: 

Performance:

Value:

Design:

MRP: Rs. 39999/-

ZyXEL launches N300 Gigabit NetUSB wireless

The NBG4615 v2 Wireless N300 Gigabit NetUSB Router helps you share data with USB-equipped wireless devices without any tricky wiring.

ZyXEL Communications has launched the new NBG4615 v2 Wireless N300 Gigabit NetUSB Router, with an MRP of Rs. 10,600. According to the company, the NBG4615 v2 Wireless N300 Gigabit NetUSB Router has some excellent features, such as easily connecting to multiple laptops and PC's through the router, and wirelessly sharing files, etc. The router is already available on retail shelves.

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Madhukar Swayambhu, Sales Head India and SAARC region, ZyXEL said: “ZyXEL N300 Gigabit Net USB Router would strengthen the product portfolio by delivering high speed connection with optimum streaming and gaming facilities. This router expands the ZyXEL reach to the SME and home users.”

Users will be able to share multiple USB-equipped devices with NetUSB support. The NBG4615 v2 Wireless N300 Gigabit NetUSB Router comes with two built-in USB Ports which can be connected easily through a local PC. The user can enjoy enhanced gaming and multimedia through configurable QoS technology that ensures smooth delivery of gaming, video as well as downloading.

ZyXEL says users will be able to keep their private data secure with Internet-only access for guests. This ensures that a user's network data remains protected and confidential. Users can also configure the router through the "Easy mode" which helps you set up quick navigation. It also has an "Expert Mode" for expert navigation that gives a detailed configuration.

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13

Pros :

• Built very well.
• Flexibility in terms of form factor.
• Excellent battery life.
• IPS display is excellent for multimedia consumption

Cons :

• Keyboard has flex when typing.
• The keyboard remains exposed when in tablet or tent mode.

 

Summary

The Yoga 13 has a rather enthralling design, mostly because of the dexterous design. It remains very thin as an ultrabook, and the ability to sustain various Yoga positions makes it useful in various usage scenarios otherwise unimagined till now. Ever thought your ultrabook could sit with you on the counter, displaying the recipe while you cook? Exactly my point. Excellent battery life makes it even more of a value for money proposition. The keyboard is quite disappointing though, not in terms of the key response and consistency, but for the dip when you type. All things considered, the Yoga 13 is a slightly better deal than the Dell XPS 12 convertible.

 In India Price is Rs 84290/-

In USA Price is $1,529/-

Nokia Lumia 920 Pros & Cons

 

Pros :

• 1280x768 pixel PureMotion HD+ display with gloves support.
• Built-in wireless charging.
• Built-in Dolby audio processing .
• Fast lens+OIS yields amazing video even in low light
• Low light performance is quite good.
• OS is extremely fluid without any lag or jitter.

Cons :

• Slightly bulky.
• Wireless charging pad not part of standard retail package.
• Low-light mode's aggressive noise reduction impacts detail.
• Lack of apps for the Windows Phone 8 OS can be a little frustrating.

Summary

  The Lumia 920 is Nokia's latest flagship, and runs the spanking new Windows Phone 8 OS. There is a lot of hype around the PureView camera, but isn't as exceptional as Nokia would have you believe. However, it is still quite amazing, besting the iPhone 5 in most situations, including low-light environments and video quality. The lack of apps for the Windows Phone 8 platform is honestly not a deal breaker. You do get a lot of WP8 and Nokia exclusive features anyway. If you're in the market for a new high end smartphone, the Lumia 920 should be something you definitely consider.

In India Price is Rs.38999 and

In US $735 only.

 

BlackBerry Team Song

BlackBerry Born Again - A rock song for Team BlackBerry

A Small Demonstration for Windows 8

This video proves that Windows  8 is very simple to use.

First Hard Disk Made By IBM

IBM developed a gigantic 5 MB hard drive system for their RAMAC computer. Just imagine trying to cram this thing into an iPod. Or your house, for that matter... IBM invented the disk drive in 1956. The first disk drives were the size of two large refrigerators and held 5 MB. Storage cost $10,000 per MB (so your 20G drive would have cost $200,000,000 back then!). Today it's about 50c per GIGABYTE (or .05c per MB) The platters of disks typically spin about 100 miles per hour. 1 GB