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Chiron Codex: helping software engineers become centaurs. APPropriate Behaviour
The book about all the things software writers do that aren't writing software.
Category Archives: tool-support
Announcing Axminster: visual software design
Axminster, my diagrammatic software design tool with LLM support, is now available for sale! Check out the product website for more info.
Posted in software-engineering, tool-support
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End of Line: Replacing MCP with Standard Filesystem Tools
Over on YouTube I shared a video where I demonstrate a more context-efficient approach for integrating existing systems into agentic tools than MCP, one that comes with built in access control mechanisms and that LLMs are already trained to understand: … Continue reading
Posted in AI, tool-support
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I keep bouncing off the Scheme language
I have a huge appreciation for the Scheme programming language. I just seem to be unable to get it to stick in my head. This seems like a huge revelation for someone who named their blog after the Scheme textbook, … Continue reading
Posted in GNU, tool-support
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Management is the wrong analogy for LLM augmentation
A common meme at the moment in AI-augmented coding circles is “we are all managers now”, with people expressing the idea that alongside actual programming, programmers now manage their team of agents. This is a poor analogy, in both directions. … Continue reading
Posted in AI, tool-support
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Essence and accident in language model-assisted coding
In 1986, Fred Brooks posited that there was “no silver bullet” in software engineering—no tool or process that would yield an order-of-magnitude improvement in productivity. He based this assertion on the division of complexity into that which is essential to … Continue reading
Posted in AI, software-engineering, tool-support
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Programming, language
Programming languages represent two things: programming, and language. Programming languages were previously designed very much with the former in mind. For Algol-style, imperative languages, design followed one of a few, mathematically-led approaches: Other semantics are available: for example if you … Continue reading
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Classism in software engineering
I just heard someone using the phrase “first-class citizen” in a programming podcast, and that led me to ponder the use of that phrase. The podcast was Swift Package Manager SuperPowers from Empower Apps. Empower’s a great podcast, this is … Continue reading
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Second Brain
The idea of a second brain really hit home. Steven and I were doing some refactoring of some code in our Amiga podcast last night, and every time we moved something between files we had to remember which header files … Continue reading
Posted in advancement of the self, tool-support, whatevs
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On UML
A little context: I got introduced to UML in around 2008, at an employer who had a site licence for Enterprise Architect. I was sent on a training course run by a company that no longer exists called Sun Microsystems: … Continue reading
Posted in agile, architecture of sorts, design, software-engineering, sunw, tool-support
Tagged History of Software Engineering
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Anti-lock brakes
Chances are, if you bought a new car or even a new motorcycle within the last few years, you didn’t even get an option on ABS. It came as standard, and in your car was legally mandated. Anti-lock brakes work … Continue reading
Posted in tool-support, user-error
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