On this, the solemn occasion of my 50th post on this blog, I thought I'd reflect on some of the things I've learnt/achieved/done over the few months that I've been blogging. In no particular order:

  • Written a couple of CodeProject articles. Neither was particularly extensive, but both seem to have been well received, and between them are nearing the 10,000 mark for total number of reads. I'd been promising myself that I'd write a techincal article for some time, but publishing my intent to convert my "decorator template" code into an article seemed to finally goad me into action
  • Started writing my "generic app framework". Again this was something I'd been thinking about for some time, but had never actually gotten around to, and again blogging about it gave me the kick I needed to create a GDN workspace and start doing something instead of just thinking. Side benefits have included writing some non-trival C# code, and finding out about lots of excellent free tools.
  • Embracing agile techniques. I've now started using a version of the agile process which suits me, and goes something like this: UmlAsSketch for an overview (I find UMLet 2 excellent for this); code skeleton with structured comments so that NDoc or Doxygen can do their bit; unit tests using NUnit or CppUnit as appropriate; then finally code the functional stuff. Recently I've been doing some pair programming at work, as well, but this is more an exercise in maintaining "conceptual integrity" (see Brooks' excellent "Mythical Man Month" for this and more) early on in a small (two man) project, before we go off and do the rest of it in a more traditional manner.
  • The power of blogs. Because the "blogosphere" is such an egaliterian medium (or maybe even close to a true meritocracy), you only need have something good to say to get recognition. This can, in turn, be useful in the big bad world outside, where the same rules do not apply.

Highlights for me have been:

So my thanks must therefore go to:

  • Scott Watermayask for writing the amazing .Text blogging engine which serves my meagre content, and for pointing me in the direction of GeekDojo in the first place.
  • Ryan Rinaldi for allowing me in, and providing swift help when needed.
  • Everyone else at the 'dojo for making it a really pleasant place to indulge in my rambling.

Let's see if I can make my maiden century...