Editor's Choice Article

A Quick Tour of Test-Driven Development
By Ray_Paseur

On Monday, October 17, 2011, the A.Word.A.Day "Thought for Today" was "A problem well stated is a problem half solved." -- attributed to Charles F. Kettering, inventor and engineer (1876-1958).

The Greatest Handicap a Programmer Can Have
The author of a question here at EE wrote. "I have no test data besides some stuff I can come up with." http://www.experts-exchange.com/Programming/Languages/Regular_Expressions/Q_27305841.html#a36556359

That statement got me thinking about the difference between professional programmers and amateurs who try to "pick up" programming on their own, perhaps by reading computer programs and copying code written by others. Certainly that is one way to learn some things about programming, but it overlooks the most important part of programming, which is the process by which the code is created. Examining a finished computer program is something like examining a freshly baked apple pie. You can appreciate the finished product, but where would you start if someone gave you a basket of apples? What other ingredients would you need? What tools would you use? What process would you follow? How much time should it take? These things are not apparent as you look at that pie. They are not apparent as you look at computer code, either.

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Nata's Corner

My year-end list of lists:

• Gawker's list of the most annoying memes, along with a list of 22 terrible things that must end in 2013.
• Fast Company's list of 16 compelling infographics.
• MIT's Technology Review top tech stories of 2012.
• ZDNet's list of its top ten security stories and major hacks.
• LinkedIn's list of 15 words that should be forgotten (via Business Insider, which has its own list of the ten best "Call Me Maybe" parodies).
• Instagram's ten most Instagrammed sites (apologies for using their word; we know it's not a verb... yet).
• Twitter's list of popular new accounts. I can't help but wonder why @PaulRyanVP is still active.
• Wired's list of the 15 most dangerous people in the world.
• The Washington Post's list of the five worst CEOs.
• The Verge's list of the best writing on the Internet for 2012.
• Crave's list of the "brilliant, inspiring, stupid, and wacky" side of tech.
• Google's top searches of 2012. Whitney Houston? Really?
• Glassdoor's 50 best places to work.
• Buzzfeed's list of lists.
• The Christian Science Monitor's list of the 14 worst holiday gifts for women.
• The last site for lists of recommended products you will ever need.

I spent a good portion of my life in retail management, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that while the customer isn't always right, it's a lot better to try to work out a problem than it is to deny that a problem exists. We bought gift cards as Christmas presents from Kohl's, and when one disappeared -- probably in wrapping paper -- we asked if they could replace it, and they did after only a couple of minutes of checking. Granted, that's not on the order of what Zappos does, but it's a lot better than what you get from Expedia.

A botnet that used Facebook to infect 11 million computers and steal about $850 million was shut down by the FBI, which arrested ten suspects. The worm is usually disguised as a NVIDIA driver.

A couple of issues ago, I made mention of our first experience with Windows 8, and I included the fact that there's no obvious "Start" button. Almost by magic, the good people at Tech Republic came out with an article on how to build your own. Some of the steps aren't for the faint of heart, though, so if and when I get a Windows 8 machine, I might have to get used to the Windows button on the keyboard.

The Federal Trade Commission has made the rules regarding what information websites collect from children more strict, so if you have kids, expect to spend a little more time going through things like Terms of Use. The FTC fell short of requiring app stores to monitor for the information its partners are collecting though.

Finally, speaking of children, have you performed 26 acts of kindness yet?

In Brief

Googacolypse: Both Gmail and Chrome crashed, as did Tumblr, but Twitter persevered.

First act of kindness: Anonymous has found a new target: the Westboro Baptist Church, a small congregation that took to protesting at the funerals of soldiers killed in battle. The church had announced plans to show up at a vigil for the Sandy Hook shooting victims.

Clueless at 30 Rock: After NBC's fiasco at the 2012 Olympics we're not terribly surprised that they don't get Facebook either. What's truly scary is that the cluelessness extends to local TV stations too.

Want maps on your iPad? There's an app for that. Again.

First world problems: Instagram (bought by Facebook just before its IPO) fired the first shot by blocking its photos on Twitter, so Twitter retaliated by releasing a filtering system that allowed users to bypass Instagram.

The acquisition by Facebook had a predictable influence on Instagram, by the way; the company's change to its terms of use provoked countless tweets, posts and protests, along with the inevitable corporate two-step backwards. Given Facebook's history, expect the changes to be back sooner, rather than later, if only because a picture is worth a thousand words.

Happy birthday: Stan Lee. You had doubts? You shouldn't. Or more doubts? You shouldn't. Or other doubts? You shouldn't. For one thing, Google is smugly proud of its handiwork.

In requiem: N. Joseph Woodland, inventor of the bar code; and Jack Klugman, one of the 12 angry men who also led the way for CSI and an emerging biotech industry.

Kick 'em while they're down: RIM is being sued for patent infringement again. Speaking of kickers, does your team need one? And while we're on the subject of trolls, the EU is both enabling and imposing sanctions on them.

Light reading: At least, for anyone whose travels have taken them through a US airport.

Help wanted at Palpatine LLC: We had an item a few weeks back about the cost-effectiveness of building a Death Star. Now, the Obama administration has to address the issue.

Signs of the Apocalypse: AOL is 2012's strongest tech stock. "Advertising scientist". And there's no reason to think that anything has changed.

Milestones

New Geniuses: ScottPletcher has earned his third Genius certificate, this one coming in MS SQL Server 2008. Earning his first was amitkulshrestha, in Exchange Server. Great job, folks!

First Million: Reaching the 1,000,000 point level in December were akahan, chilternPC and Razmus. Congratulations to all!

Milestones:

• hanccocka is the 34th member of Experts Exchange to earn 10,000,000 points overall.
• DaveBaldwin has earned 7,000,000 points overall.