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Coding

Developing at Speed

One of the main outputs of research development is the proof of concept. An early lesson I picked up when I joined HCL Labs was to deliver working code, not slides. And the key when building a proof of concept is speed. In some cases, it may end up proving why an approach won't work. In many scenarios, it may end up being put on a shelf indefinitely. Even if the concept proves appealing, the implementation choices may not be the preferred option for the final solution. So speed is of the essence: spending a couple of weeks building something that goes nowhere is acceptable; spending a couple of months is not. So the ability to get maximum results in the minimum time is key.

But how do you do that?

Error Management

Over the years I've done a lot of development on a variety of platforms. Error management is something developers either bake in from the start, add in later, or never get round to! It seems a good time to review my experiences and my philosophy.

tl;dr - it varies.

Danger of Mid Code to Pro Code

People discussing Domino application development have been using a new term since early this year - "mid code". This has become necessary because of the evolution of Domino development since Domino V10.

Developing for Performance

One of the themes which crops up from time to time in Domino application development and beyond is the theme of "performance". It's a topic which makes me grit my teeth because of the basic premise. Most articles start from what, for me, is a narrow terms of reference: performance optimisation being about how quick a specific amount of data can be served to a specific environment. My interpretation of the term "performance" is much wider and that is the reason for my scepticism and concern of how people may interpret or use such articles. There are important points raised, but there are also caveats that need to be borne in mind.