John Vigor's Black Box Theory - The Fifth Essential

 There is much good wisdom to be found - and applied - in the world of sailing, in technology, in business, and in everyday life - from reading John Vigor's "Black Box Theory" - aka "The Fifth Essential"

https://goodoldboat.com/vigors-black-box-theory/

https://kith.co/blog/black-box-theory/

2022-05-22 Sunday - Book Review - Deep Learning with Python, 2nd Edition

 

(image source: Amazon.com)

Deep Learning with Python, 2nd Edition, by François Chollet

 

I will use a word that I reserve for only the very best writing: "Crisp".

The author takes the reader on a journey of discovery - and carefully explains concepts, techniques, and strategies.

There are so many good books in the AI, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning space - this is my #1 recommendation for anyone wanting to initially explore Deep Learning.

 

Note:

I suggested this book, for acquisition, to the Bellevue Public Library (King County, Washington State) - which was subsequently acquired - and allowed me to be the first library member to read it.

 

 

2022-05-20 Friday: Book Review - Kafka In Action

 

 

Kafka In Action 

 Authors: Dylan Scott, Viktor Gamov, Dave Klein

272 pages

Publication Date: February 15, 2022

 

 A solid, well-written book

I liked the clarity of the writing, the applicability of the code examples, and the clean/crisp illustrations.

This is a useful book for folks new to Kafka - as well as managers and architects - who may wish to understand Kafka at a deeper technical level. 

Note:

I suggested this book, for acquisition, to the Bellevue Public Library (King County, Washington State) - which was subsequently acquired - and allowed me to be the first library member to read it.

2022-05-19 Thursday: Book Review - Spring in Action, 6th Edition

 

(image source: Amazon.com)

Spring in Action, 6th Edition

"Fully revised for Spring 5.3"

Last night I finished reading Craig Walls Spring in Action, 6th Edition (published by Manning Publications Co. - and enjoyed the excellent writing, level of detail - and the pace of the material presented. An excellent book if you are looking to learn about Spring - or if you just wanted to do a quick refresh of your knowledge.

 

Note:

I suggested this book, for acquisition, to the Bellevue Public Library (King County, Washington State) - which was subsequently acquired - and allowed me to be the first library member to read it.

 

 

Rules of Meeks: #003 - "When in doubt about an estimate, multiply by three"

(image source: 995645 on Pixabay)

From The Rules of Meeks

#003 - "When in doubt about an estimate, multiply by three"

This is hard-won wisdom that has proven itself again, and again.

This rule originated with my own early experiences trying to estimate software development tasks for myself - and over time, I learned that it was pretty damn good heuristic for many of the developers that I managed (at least until they established a higher level of reliability).

9 times out of 10, when you ask someone for an estimate - if they are honest, dilligent, and have confidence in their skill - they will be naturally optimistic. However, in my experience, most managers (and, engineers/developers) do not adequately include sufficient contingency (if at all) in their plans for the following:

• Delays due to legal review, compliance review, contract negotiations, funding approval processes
• Late discovery of requirements
• Effort to do a minimally proper level of design
• Effort to coordinate (and schedule!) the necessary communications and reviews of a proposed design approach - for complex projects that involve building something new - that involve multiple parts of an organization.
• Effort to ensure that the Security parts of the org are involved and have reviewed the proposed solution
• Effort to ensure that Legal has been involved and has reviewed the proposed solution
• Effort to ensure that business stakeholders are adequately engaged, informed - and have buy-in
• Effort to prepare Test Data
• Effort to think through - and document Test Scenarios
• Effort to develop and debug Test Scenarios
• Effort to develop and execute Performance Tests
• Effort to debug/fix issues that usually arise during System Testing
• Effort to prepare (and test!) deployment procedures
• Effort to write and document the solution's design, deployment, operational aspects, and just-enough documentation to communicate with other dependent teams/orgs
• Effort to perform the inevitable rework that arises when designing something new for the first time
• Unplanned meetings/interruptions - team productivity hits when folks have to attend meetings, training, the inevitable sick days - and accounting for slowdowns around holidays

This rule has also proven to be true when dealing with boat yards that have been tasked with maintenance/repair jobs on my sailboat. Usually, the factor is closer to 5x in that case.