pyxis
Articles de pyxis :
- Installing Urban Turtle
- Launching Urban Turtle
- Explaining Scrum in less than 120 seconds
- Grooming the backlog with Urban Turtle
- Planning the Sprint with Urban Turtle
- Tracking day to day work with Urban Turtle
Agile Lessons Learned 15 : Step Into The Light
This week I fell upon some old code I wrote back in 2006 when I was first learning Python. What a mess. I could not believe I was so proud of this code back then.
I remember being very proud of the fact that each and every single method, no matter how small or how high on McCabe’s cyclomatic complexity was thoroughly commented.
Back then, I was told this would greatly help other developers maintain the code. Well let me tell you what, I wrote the whole darn thing myself and the comments did not help me out one bit understand this code today. Talk about wasted time.
Time I could have spent writing automated tests. I spent the better part of two years building a system from the ground up WITHOUT a single automated system test. The system as a whole had a single class written using TDD and about two dozen unit tests ever executed on it.
Did it work ? Yes. Can I prove it to you ? Probably, but with great difficulty.
Would I like to maintain a system like that ? Not in a lifetime. The cold hard truth is that by the standards I have today, this code is terrible.
Was I a slacker ? Not at all. Quite the other way around actually. Back then, this code was a clean as any other code I had ever seen at that point in my life. I really did work hard on making this system the best I could. I even got praised on the results.
So is this blog a twisted way to tell the world I’m a better developer than I was 5 years ago ? Nope. Actually, it’s a praise to the developers I’ve met in the past 5 years. You see, 5 years ago I was not doing any pair-programming. I spent most of my days listening to indie rock* in my cubicle while writing Python all by myself.
Of course I was good. I was never challenged by anybody except when I went out of my way to get some help. Then it was back to more rock’n Python.
Then I met developers who were way better than me. First they put me through code reviews. Then I was pointed towards the right books. Then those crazy guys at Pyxis showed me how to do continuous pair programming.
It might seem intimidating to be constantly under the spotlight. I, for one, would never trade back the spotlight for my old cubicle.
So what are you waiting for ? Step out of your cubicle and step into the light. Grab the best developer your team has to offer and ask him to work with him. You’ll be surprised at how much you can learn in a single session.
Who knows, you just might show him a dew things too.
In the meantime, thanks to Xavier, Frank, J-F, J-S, Ben, Ernst, Patrice, J-C, the Marcouz, Vince, Bob, M-A, Carl, Nico, Phil, Monica, Cheng and all the others I have forgotten with whom I had the chance to pair with in the past few years. What I know now, I owe to you.
Nick
*I do admit it was a heck of a period for me music-wise, discovering the likes of Arcade Fire, the Black Keys, the Flaming Lips, Wolf Parade, DeVotchka, Interpol, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party, etc. Music I still listen to today.
15% discount for the first birthday of Visual Studio 2010
Tuesday April 12th marked Visual Studio 2010′s first birthday. “It seems not long ago that we had the world-wide launch celebrating the largest developer tool release from Microsoft in many years” said Somasegar about the first year of Visual Studio 2010 in his weblog.
For the Urban Turtle team, the launch of Visual Studio 2010 was an important milestone. Finally, Microsoft was adding the ability to break down work items into hierarchies to Team Foundation Server (TFS). This was a banner feature that made possible the addition of the Scrum process template to the Visual Studio Gallery.
TFS combined with the Scrum process template was the beginning of a solution to turn TFS Agile… but that was not enough. To be truly effective, one must add the right skin through an intuitive web interface that simplifies Agile project management. To meet this need, as a third-party partner, we created Urban Turtle. Today, jointly with Visual Studio 2010, Urban Turtle is the premier Scrum tool for TFS.
As Somasegar states in his weblog:
More than 1,600 Visual Studio 2010 extensions have been submitted to the Visual Studio Gallery, with over 4 million extension downloads by users. Our partners continue to be able to build businesses around Visual Studio, and over the past year, partners have generated over $400 million in revenue from Visual Studio-based extensions.
Urban Turtle is proud to join this exceptional group of partners. We want to go one step further and offer a promotion to all Visual Studio users. During the entire month of April, Urban Turtle is offering a 15% discount to all Visual Studio users who purchase an Urban Turtle license.
You can join in the party and benefit from this discount by entering the ‘Happy B-day VS2010’ promo code at the time of purchase. (http://urbanturtle.com/pricing/)
New screencasts to easily get started with Urban Turtle
Early in the design of Urban Turtle, we envision a product so simple to use that one would use it without having to consult documentation. We have partially achieved this goal but we believe we can do better (and, we plan to do better but without violating our motto which is “less is more”). In this connection, stay tuned for the upcoming major upgrade of Urban Turtle (version 4.0).
However, in the meantime, there are training needs that remain to be met. For example, simple questions such as how to install Urban Turtle or how to launch Urban Turtle using Team Web Access are recurring themes. In addition, over time, we discovered that explaining how Urban Turtle support Scrum needs to be more explicit. That’s why we have created a “Quick Start” section on our website.
This getting started section provided short screencasts (2-3 minutes videos) to answer these recurring questions. Because it allows getting “inside” the product to show how small parts work, screencasts work particularly well to a highly-technical product such as Urban Turtle.
On the “Quick Start” page you will find the following screencasts:
Furthermore, this is where you can download documentation about how to configure Urban Turtle. Learn about the hidden gems that you can access only through the global settings file.
Here is the link to visit the “Quick Start” page: http://urbanturtle.com/quickstart
Congratulations! You have received the Microsoft MVP Award
Hi! My name is Mario Cardinal and I am a team member of Urban Turtle. People here not only helps software development organizations to become places where results, quality of life and pleasure coexist in a sustainable manner but they are also an example of that we propose to our customers. Each of us fulfills this mission in different ways. In my case, I am deeply involved in the Microsoft .Net community. Thus, I was proud last week when I received an email from Microsoft that my MVP-title has been “renewed” for the seventh year in a row. Here is an excerpt from the notification email:
Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2011 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in Visual Studio ALM technical communities during the past year.
With fewer than 5,000 awardees worldwide, Microsoft MVPs represent a highly select group of experts. MVPs share a deep commitment to community and a willingness to help others. They represent the diversity of today’s technical communities. MVPs are present in over 90 countries, spanning more than 30 languages, and over 90 Microsoft technologies. MVPs share a passion for technology, a willingness to help others, and a commitment to community. These are the qualities that make MVPs exceptional community leaders. MVPs’ efforts enhance people’s lives and contribute to our industry’s success in many ways.
To recognize the contributions they make, MVPs from around the world have the opportunity to meet Microsoft executives, network with peers, and position themselves as technical community leaders. This is accomplished through speaking engagements, one on one customer event participation and technical content development. MVPs also receive early access to technology through a variety of programs offered by Microsoft, which keeps them on the cutting edge of the software and hardware industry.
As a recipient of this year’s Microsoft MVP award, I am proud to join an exceptional group of individuals from around the world who have demonstrated a willingness to reach out, share their technical expertise with others and help individuals maximize their use of technology. Being an MVP has opened many doors for me as a software architect and (sometimes rather pushy) Microsoft customer and the relationships I’ve been able to develop have added a great richness to my life. Thanks Microsoft 
DiscountASP.Net introduces a hosted version of Urban Turtle
Here is another proof that a hosted TFS is an option becoming increasingly affordable and feasible. We recently partnered up with DiscountASP.NET, the leader in Microsoft ASP.NET web hosting and Team Foundation Server (TFS) hosting. Under this partnership, DiscountASP.NET introduces a hosted version of our Urban Turtle solution which is available to their TFS hosting customers as an add-on. In addition, DiscountASP.NET customers get a 10% discount for on-premise Urban Turtle licenses. Customers can get more information on how to redeem this offer through the marketplace section in their control panel.
We launched our hosted TFS service last year and Urban Turtle was a popular request from our customers. We are excited to partner with Urban Turtle for a hosted implementation of their agile management tool.” said Takeshi Eto, VP Marketing and Business Development at DiscountASP.NET.
At Urban Turtle, we think this is a great solution for teams of all sizes as well as first-time TFS users. Since there is no difference between an on-premise or hosted Urban Turtle solution, the learning curve is significantly reduced.
You can read the Press Release announcing the partnership here
To learn more about this hosted version, visit http://www.discountasp.net/tfs/.
François Beauregard en nomination au Gala du Mérite Coopératif
Quelle bonne nouvelle! François Beauregard a été nominé pour le titre de COOPÉRATEUR COUP DE COEUR de l’année. Ce prix sera remis au Gala du Mérite Coopératif qui se déroulera jeudi prochain, le 31 mars.
Depuis la création de Pyxis, François fait la promotion de façons plus humaines de travailler en informatique. Pour nous, ça s’est traduit en une exploration, puis une connaissance et une expertise des méthodes agiles. Ensuite, comme je le disais déjà dans ce billet sur le gala de 2008, “avoir une Coopérative de travailleurs actionnaire était tout simplement une étape logique dans notre évolution : la responsabilisation de chacun, la gestion décentralisée et le partage des richesses correspondent au modèle coopératif.”
C’est François qui a rendu tout ça possible par sa passion et ses convictions, alors c’est tout à fait légitime qu’il soit honoré de cette façon. Quant à nous et notre CTA, nous aurons une table à cet événement, nous serons une dizaine de pyxissiens sur place. Venez nous rencontrer pour discuter!
Présentation de Scrum au chapitre PMI France Sud à Lyon le 24 mars 2011
Le 24 mars prochain, j’ai l’honneur d’animer une présentation en compagnie de Jean-François Jagodzinskidevant tout plein de monde, venu d’horizon très varié, majoritairement intéressé par la gestion de projet, mais pas forcément dans le domaine logiciel.
Cette conférence proposée par le PMI France Sud (branche Rhône Alpes) est organisée en partenariat avec le Club Agile Rhône Alpes ainsi que l’INSA Lyon.
Ouvrir des portes entre des mondes aussi “différents” que PMI et Agile, c’est quelque chose que j’ai à cœur même si l’exercice peut être parfois risqué. L’objectif de cette conférence est de sensibiliser l’auditoire à l’existence d’approches nouvelles, vraiment différentes, donnant à la fois plus de sens et plus de pragmatisme au sein des projets, pour faire gagner avant tout les personnes.
JF et moi avons tout fait pour que la conférence soit la plus attractive, accessible et interactive possible. Venez nous rejoindre 
Attention : inscription en ligne obligatoire.
A très bientôt j’espère
“a working proposal” : Semaine 1/3
C’est avec grand plaisir que j’ai accepté l’invitation d’Éric à participer à leur première rétrospective. Un projet dont l’objectif est de déposer une offre de développement ET un incrément de logiciel pour le client, c’est quand même pas tous les jours qu’on voit ça!
Je prends donc ici quelques lignes pour vous faire part d’un échange avec Xavier lors de cette rétro.
André: Et puis Xavier, c’est particulier une offre de service qui inclut du logiciel fonctionnel, qu’est-ce que tu retiens de cette première itération?
Xavier: Expérience intéressante. Ça a été un challenge de partir de ce point de départ sans avoir un accès continu au client. D’un autre coté, le fait qu’il s’agisse d’une évolution d’une application existante grand public, ça nous aide car on peut aller voir quel est le contexte de départ, sans avoir besoin d’organiser une rencontre ou de se déplacer.
Une autre chose qui était intéressante étant donné ce contexte de working proposal, c’est que ça nous a amené à retravailler la condition du done, surtout en ce qui concerne les données déployées avec les versions de l’application. Nous avons décidé de déployer des données réelles pour permettre au client d’avoir un meilleur feeling de ce que serait (sera)(est 
) son application.
André: Intéressant. Est-ce qu’il y a d’autres aspects techniques que ce working proposal vous a appris ?
Xavier: Absolument. Dans un contexte ou nous devons démontrer rapidement de la business value, nous avons décidé d’utiliser l’environnement de Ruby on Rails et de déployer les versions intermédiaires du logiciel sur Heroku. Le choix d’Heroku est très intéressant car il nous a permis de facilement permettre au client d’utiliser le logiciel.
André: Et finalement, comment entrevois-tu la prochaine itération?
Xavier: En enrichissant la fonctionnalité déjà livrée, en en ajoutant une nouvelle. Tout ça en pilotant le développement par les tests, parce qu’il ne faut pas l’oublier, ce n’est pas un prototype mais du working software. On s’attend aussi dans cette itération à améliorer notre compréhension de comment le client travaille, de manière a être mieux outillé pour lui faciliter la vie.
André: Et bien c’est super! Il ne me reste plus qu’a te souhaiter une bonne seconde itération !
Unknown method ‘+’ for a Hash…
Last week, during a little bit of downtime, I continued working on the Hibou, a project started during Codapalooza One (read more). As I introduced the concept of Family and the relationship it has with the Child concept, I started getting a rather bizarre error :
Unknown method '+' for {:family => "Famille"}
At first I didn’t understand what was going on. After a bit of googling, I stumbled upon the solution: ‘:family’ was not translated in my french locale and formtastic doesn’t play nice with untranslated keys (which is awesome! better fail early than late)
Lesson Learned : Always translate your application when you know it’s going to be used in something else than English
Deleting a User in Windows 7
Note to self:
To delete a user in Windows 7, don’t use the UI (the postgres installer complains that the user still exists). Instead run the following command:
NET USER postgres /DELETE