Python Rocks! and other rants 1.4.2004

Jython + dom4j = High octane development

Jython and dom4j make a great combination. This article tells why.

Deliver value to the Customer

Ultimately software development is about delivering value to the customer. If you don't give the customer something that solves a real problem then you have failed. And anything you are doing that doesn't help to deliver value is probably a waste of time and effort.

Lean Software Development talks about several kinds of waste including

• Partially done work. At first this doesn't seem like waste, after all you expect it to be useful. But it is like inventory on the shelf - you have paid for it but you haven't received anything in return. Until you deliver the work to the customer, it has no value. This is one reason to favor short iterations - they keep you from building up inventory.
• Extra features. You pay for these coming and going. You pay for them up front by developing them. You pay for them downstream by testing, documenting and maintaining them. But if the feature isn't valued by the customer you never get paid for it.

Lean Software Development

I've been reading Lean Software Development by Mary and Tom Poppendieck. I like it a lot. Of course part of why I like it is I agree with much they have to say

The book talks about agile development from an interesting perspective. The authors have experience in several areas of product research and development including new car design and product development at 3M. They show how the lessons learned in these areas can be applied to software development.

Code faster with Python

Bruce Eckel weighs in with his estimate that he codes 5-10 times faster in Python than in Java. A few quotes:

"I have regular experience in both languages, and the result is always: if you want to get a lot done, use Python."

While learning Python, "the experience of being dramatically more productive in Python repeats itself over and over."

This matches my experience exactly. You just don't get it until you try it, then you don't want to go back.