Java Programming

What is MVP in project management? In Project management, MVP is an acronym derived from the term Minimum Viable Product. If you’ve never used or come across such an idea, don’t worry because by the time you’ve finished reading this article, you will have gained a clear insight of what the concept is about. To start with, the concept is usually used to improve planning in agile project management. Similar to agile software development model which emphasizes collaborative development and responsiveness to customer feedback, agile project management offers a way for managing the almost constant changes we experience in today’s organizations. And what is this MVP? As already mentioned, MVP is the Minimum Viable Product. In more clear terms, it’s the simplest prototype which could be put into use. The goal of MVP is to put the simplest version of the product into the hands of the users so as to be convinced that you’re on the right track and then to identify things of highest-priority...

Projects are made up of teams responsible for performing a number of tasks towards its completion. The teams are usually under the lead of a skilled project manager who is responsible for overseeing the successful completion of the whole project. In many work/organizational settings, managers will encounter a number of pitfalls. In project management, pitfalls are factors or a number of things which could negatively affect the successful completion of your project. Some Points Project Managers Have to Keep in Mind Here is a list of four project management pitfalls that a project manager should strive to improve or overcome. Poor Communication  – Communication is the key driver of most events that take place in the world. A constant talk with each other when working on a task is very necessary and the manager needs to make sure that he receives continuous feedback and updates from colleagues. He/she must avoid presenting himself as a boss with a tough management style. Email ...

What does a good day for a software developer looks like? I think you would agree with me that this highly depends with the engineer, the team and their location. However, there are some activities that are carried out during the day and are universal for all software developers. Such activities include things like reading emails, taking breakfast or lunch, attending meetings and coding, testing, fixing minor issues, reviewing code and tests. A Good Day for Me as a Software Developer I would wake up at 6.00 am and take a hot shower while thinking about a solution to a problem I have been mulling about. I would then make my breakfast and invite my wife to have it together while still playing with possible solutions in my head. Then between 7.40 – 8.30 a.m., I would drive or ride a bicycle to work without being distracted by that elegant solution that I have come up with in my mind. At 8.40 a.m., I would head to my work station, check some important emails and then start working ...

These are some coding practices that may not be good for any other developer's blood pressure. A lot of problems that arise in software development are as a result of small bad coding habits. In fact, the  Pareto principle  explains that 80% of outcomes in a given event are attributed to 20% of the possible causes. This is relevant to almost every field of human endeavor. 8 Bad Coding Practices Having Typos Within Your Code Typing errors are common in coding but are usually maddening because misspelling a variable name or a function name can really mess up your code. To avoid this, use a good IDE or programmer-specific text editor, and choose variable or function names that are easy to spell. Not Indenting or Formatting Your Code When codes are indented or formatted, they are easy to understand at a glance and therefore mistakes can be easily identified and this makes it easy to maintain. If your IDE is not able to automatically format your code, you can pass it t...

Code commenting is one of the best coding practices. However, if misused, it is bullshit! Whether bullshit or meaningful, it highly depends on how you’ve used comments in your code. However, good code is self-documenting, meaning that it doesn’t require comments. But this doesn’t mean you should never comment on your code. Commenting can reflect the good, the bad and the ugly in coding practice. The Bad and Ugly Side of Commenting Your Code Documentation comments  can make your code very “noisy” and difficult to read for those responsible in maintaining it. However, many code editors support code folding which allows comments to be collapsed so as to focus on the code. Clarification comments  smell because they tell you that your code is too complex. The code should be made simple instead.  Some developers could vent their frustration in code comments therefore resulting to comments that are depressing, cynical, dark or mean spirited.  Commenting could go aga...

Lean Methodology is a subset of Agile Methodology and it meaningfully applies to both startups and software development. It can therefore be used to develop both businesses and products. By being fans of the Agile methodology, we must be interested in learning more about lean startup and lean software development. The Lean Startup Concept The idea upon which the lean startup concept is anchored revolves around avoiding the creation of a product that doesn’t work or that which is not needed by people. It is therefore advisable to find a problem worth solving first before building a business model around it. Lean startup is a perfect fit for entrepreneurs and startups that are still seeking out a business model or product that generate genuine value. However, larger organizations can still use it if they can be flexible while responding quickly to new information and listening to customer needs. In the lean startup model, entrepreneurs will summarize untested hypotheses (basically...

I know when you think of agile, what probably comes to your mind is the fact that it is the most widely employed and successful software development methodology today because of its iterative and flexible approach. Agile leveraged together with DevOps has revolutionized software development. However, this doesn’t imply that it is the right way to handle every situation or project. In some projects, Agile plus DevOps will not work at all because the incremental approach and flexibilities associated with this technologies are not feasible or compatible with those projects. Situations in Which Agile is Not Helpful Agile cannot be applied in physical projects such as the design and build of a new hospital. Agile welcomes requirement and design changes even in late development but this would be unworthy in the hospital project as changes would have major impacts on the project cost and schedule. In physical projects like the hospital design and build contract, the design remains a maj...