My Favourite Scientific Principle : Occam’s Razor

One should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.

So please, science dudes, get a grip.

The Computer Revolution Might Be Happening.

Reference : The Computer Revolution Hasn’t Happened Yet.

In Honour of Stephan Duncan

Simple songs are the best ones.

My Favourite Word in The English Language

Platypus

Don’t ask me why.

The World’s Forgotten Boy

I got some laughs earlier today when I informed a co-worker of mine of the existence of this blog.

The Search and Destroy phrase apparantly fits my personality.
Although, as some of you might know, it’s just one of many musical references that I tend to scatter around.

From my third favourite album of all time, Raw Power by The Stooges : Search and Destroy

But really, you should go get the album (preferably the Bowie mix imho), as the youtube version doesn’t do it justice.
And then turn it up to eleven (*).

I’m a street walking cheetah
with a heart full of napalm
I’m a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb
I am a world’s forgotten boy
The one who searches and destroys
Honey gotta help me please
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby detonates for me
Look out honey, ’cause I’m using technology !
Ain’t got time to make no apology
Soul radiation in the dead of night
Love in the middle of a fire fight
Honey gotta strike me blind
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby penetrates my mind
And I’m the world’s forgotten boy
The one who’s searchin’, searchin’ to destroy
And honey I’m the world’s forgotten boy
The one who’s searchin’, searchin’ to destroy

(*) Spinal Tap :
Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and…
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it’s louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it’s one louder, isn’t it? It’s not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don’t know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don’t you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

My Favourite Language : Anything You Can Do Haskell Can Do Better

F.i. : one of the canonical ‘wax on/wax off’ TDD exercises : ‘The Bowling Game‘

The Haskell solution :

score ([]) = 0
score (x:[]) = x
score (x:y:[]) = x + y
score (x:y:z:[]) = x + y + z
score (x:y:z:xs) = if  (x == 10)             then x + y + z +  score(y:z:xs)
                   else if (((x + y) == 10)) then x + y + z +  score(z:xs)
                   else x + y + score(z:xs)

My Favourite QuickGenerate Feature

public class CustomizeTypePluggableFunctionsTests
{
    private readonly DomainGenerator domainGenerator;

    public CustomizeTypePluggableFunctionsTests()
    {
        domainGenerator =
            new DomainGenerator()
                .Entity<SomethingToGenerate>()
                .With<SomethingToGenerate>(
                    g => g.For(
                        e => e.MyProperty,
                        0, val => ++val,
                        val => string.Format("SomeString{0}", val)));
    }

    [Fact]
    public void Works()
    {
        Assert.Equal("SomeString1", domainGenerator.One<SomethingToGenerate>().MyProperty);
        Assert.Equal("SomeString2", domainGenerator.One<SomethingToGenerate>().MyProperty);
        Assert.Equal("SomeString3", domainGenerator.One<SomethingToGenerate>().MyProperty);
        Assert.Equal("SomeString4", domainGenerator.One<SomethingToGenerate>().MyProperty);
        Assert.Equal("SomeString5", domainGenerator.One<SomethingToGenerate>().MyProperty);
        Assert.Equal("SomeString6", domainGenerator.One<SomethingToGenerate>().MyProperty);
    }

    public class SomethingToGenerate
    {
        public string MyProperty { get; set; }
    }
}

A shorthand for this particular, but very common, usage of the PluggableFunction feature is on it’s way .

On Validation

The CHECKS Pattern Language of Information Integrity

’nuff said.

My Favourite Quote ‘Tout-Court’, … These Days

If nothing else works, then a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.

General Melchett in Blackadder Goes Forth.

My Favourite T-Shirt Quote

All code is guilty, untill proven innocent.