Flotsam and Jetsam #58

By Nick at March 24, 2012 20:59
Filed Under: Delphi, Flotsam and Jetsam

The annual RAD Studio survey is out. (UPDATE: Apparently the link I gave was unique to me, so I've removed it.) I strongly recommend you take it if you are a Delphi/C++Builder/Prism kind of guy. I can assure you from first hand experience that the results of this survey are very valuable and are used by Embarcadero to make decisions. So please fill it out and let Embarcadero know what you think.
Awesome Quote by Nick of the Week: “The real cool part of it is that proper unit testing is a "virtuous circle". The more you write unit tests, the more you see how to write testable code. The more you write testable code, the more you tend to remove dependencies. The more you remove dependencies, the more decoupled your code is. The more decoupled your code is, the easier it is to test, and thus you write more unit tests, and start it all over again.” I wrote that in a conversation about unit testing in the Delphi newsgroups.
Awesome Follow-up Quote by Dalija Prasnikar of the Week: After someone claims that unit testing can become “wheel-spinning”: "Exactly opposite. It is quite hard to start the process rolling at the beginning. But once you get going it gets easier and easier, and you write new code faster and with less bugs and when you do write bugs, you find them in matter of seconds instead hours. And you end up with code that is easy to maintain and change. What more could you want?"
Sure enough, the denizens of Wikipedia have determined that this blog is “not notable”. “Notability” is the magic word for Wikipedians, though often I think the definition that they use for it “Stuff I’m not interested in” or “a word I can use to control my little fifedom of the web’. I will note, though, that my entry has appeared to prompt a complete reworking of the disambiguation page for “Flotsam and Jetsam”, so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice. I can understand the need for Wikipedia to maintain a level of neutrality and objectivity, but I do think that it can get out of hand, with small-minded people enjoying their power a bit too much. In any event, I do love Wikipedia, and use it probably more than any other site on the web. One could even make the argument that it is mankind’s greatest achievement. Perhaps I will in a future blog post.

Comments (18)

3/25/2012 12:48:25 AM #

Do you have a link to the aantal RAD Studio survey that points to the beginning? The current link thanks me for computing the survey.
BTW this is the first time I`ve heard about such a survey.

Mark Stals |

3/25/2012 1:16:45 AM #

Mark --

The link I have in there is the link they sent me. Weird.

Nick

nick |

3/25/2012 4:54:43 AM #

On the survey page i only see:

"Thanks for completing this survey.
Now create your own—it's free, quick & easy!"

So i guess this was "your" survey link. I thought that the surveys in the past were anonymous?

Wouter |

3/25/2012 10:19:49 AM #

Yep, I didn't read carefully - the email included this:

"This link is uniquely tied to this survey and your email address. Please do not forward this message."

I'll change the article.

Nick

3/25/2012 1:35:38 PM #

Nick, you should update your wikipedia profile. It seems a bit outdated ;)

Anyway I am with them about removing your entry. If everyone was allowed to put their own kind of stuff into wikipedia it would lose it's use faster than you can say "Flotsam and Jetsam". Some entries on less popular stuff is already questionable even with ton's of people "controlling" it.

Stefan Glienke |

3/25/2012 10:06:38 PM #

Stefan -

Hehe, yeah, that is a bit old.

I'm not 100% that my blog isn't "notable". It certainly is well read in the community. But I did figure they'd take the entry out. I'm not sure that accurate entries about "less popular stuff" is a bad thing. Facts are facts, and I myself don't see harm in accurate accounting of less popular things. But of course, that strikes to the very heart of the differences that cause the discussions.

Nick Hodges |

3/26/2012 1:44:50 AM #

Err... Are those headsing correct?.... "Awesome xxxx by yyyy of the week"

Shouldn't they be, "Awesome xxxx of the week by yyyy" ?

Kevin Powick |

3/26/2012 3:01:55 AM #

I haven't heard of this survey either.
No e-mail, and cant find nothing on the Embarcadero website about it.

andrew barton |

3/26/2012 7:32:46 AM #

Yes one of my team members received the survey but I have not received it, I spent a good deal of time searching for a public link. I guess it's by invite only this time.

Robert Love |

3/29/2012 9:40:30 AM #

The invitation mails seem to drop in slowly - got during the last two days: Delphi, C++ Builder and Rad Studio. These three surveys seem to be different although they have some questions in common.

Uwe Raabe |

3/26/2012 11:05:13 AM #

I'd have to agree with the Wikipedian's here. Your blog may be notable within the Delphi community, but that doesn't exactly make it a notable usage of "Flotsam and Jetsam". I'd have done the same thing and I'm very much on the inclusionist side on both Wikipedia and StackOverflow.

As for the invite only survey, I guess that's one way to avoid the blowback from releasing an incomplete product last year.

Craig Peterson |

3/26/2012 12:07:09 PM #

Craig --

Don't worry, I'm fine with being removed. I'll have to work harder to get Wikipedia immortality.

3/26/2012 11:26:25 AM #

+1 with Wikipedia.

I understand your point, but your blog is only relevant for a small portion of an already niche community. It will be up to you to keep trying to expand your online fame in other ways.

Erick V |

3/26/2012 4:36:05 PM #

Just a small correction. You have misspelled my name. It is Prasnikar

Dalija Prasnikar |

3/26/2012 8:13:31 PM #

Dalija --

Oh my, how embarrassing. I have fixed it immediately. I'm very sorry.

3/27/2012 3:59:29 AM #

No biggie

3/29/2012 3:58:29 AM #

Just finished the survey as well.

Very often there is a last question "Any comments on the survey itself?" but not this time.
And I do have comments
==> For anyone still doing the survey: you do not need to answer those "radio button look alike" questions, they are not required.

Any suggestions who I would adress these to?

Jan Doggen |

3/29/2012 8:03:42 AM #

Jan --

I'd send them to JT Thomas, the Product Manager.

Nick Hodges

A man's got to know his limitations

Flotsam and Jetsam #58

Comments (18) -

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Flotsam and Jetsam #58

Comments (18) -

Stuff You Can Find Here

A Pithy Quote for You

Good Code

Fun Places to Go

Amazon Gift Cards

General Disclaimer

Month List

Nick on the Intertubes

Little Buttons and Stuff

Category list