Rule of Thumb for Computer Programmers

Prashant N Mhatre — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:24:30 +0000

Debugging Software


If a glitch occurs twice, it's a reproducible bug. If a glitch occurs only once, it's transient and much harder to find.

Designing Software


If an expert pauses while testing a new program, that's where a beginner will fail.

Learning How To Use Software


If you can't figure out how to do it after ten minutes of reading the manual and trying, ask someone for help.

Pricing Computers


Computers and books sell for six times their manufacturing costs.

Protecting Your Eyes


To protect your eyes from strain, make sure the screen is just beyond arm's length when you work on a computer.

Estimating The Cost Of Electronics


The price of electronics declines by 30 percent a year.

Avoiding Mistakes


When writing a software program, your chances of making a mistake double with each telephone interruption.

Predicting A Layoff


When the lights are on after six in the personnel department of a Silicon Valley company, look for layoffs within two weeks.

Writing A Computer Program


In most computer programs, 10 percent of the program accounts for 90 percent of the processing time. Finding and rewriting this part of the program so that it runs fast is always cost effective.

Picking A Programmer


Never hire a computer programmer who knows only one programming language.

Getting Used To Computing


It will take you about a year to feel comfortable using a home computer if you've never used one before.

Budgeting Your Time


When you budget your time for a software job, figure one-third planning, one-sixth coding, one-fourth component and early system tests, and one-fourth final system tests.

On-Line Users Rule


If you get a group of 100 people online then one will create content, 10 will "interact" with it (commenting or offering improvements) and the other 89 will just view it. Quoting Charles Arthur in The Guardian, July 20, 2006.

Software Training


When training people to use new software, be consistent with mouse or keyboard methods. If a mouse is the preferred method for the majority of tasks, don't confuse trainees with keyboard shortcuts.

Choosing A Programmer


One excellent programmer will typically contribute as much to a project as nine mediocre programmers.

Software Development


If you write the user documentation *before* you write the code, the code will be shorter and better-designed.

Identify Junk Email


No matter what the content, if the email says to forward it to your entire address book, it's probably a hoax and should not be perpetuated.

Adjusting The Height Of Your Monitor


The top of your monitor should be at or below your eye level.

Useless Funny and Stupid Statistics

Prashant N Mhatre — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:10:15 +0000

The population of the Earth can be a source of many interesting statistics. In the year 8,000 B.C., there were only 5 million people on Earth. Four thousand years later, the population had only risen by 2 million people, to 7 million people. Nowadays, Earth’s population rises by 2 million roughly every nine days.

There are 400 ways of playing the first move on each side in a game of chess , 197,281 ways of playing the first two moves on each side, an estimated 318,979,564,000 ways of playing the first four moves on each side, and an estimated 169,518,829,100,544,000,000,000,000,000 ways of playing the first ten moves on each side.

The average telephone contains more bacteria than your face.

About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn’t even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean’s location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent

Prashant Mhatre

Rule of Thumb for Computer Programmers

Useless Funny and Stupid Statistics