development lifecycles

Better Software Magazine Articles

Write Sweet-Smelling Comments

All code is not created equal. Learn from a master of the craft how to spot bad code and mold it into good. This month, Mike Clark explains how to sniff out stinky code and write comments that count.

Mike Clark
Tame the Name

All code is not created equal. Learn from a master of the craft how to spot bad code and mold it into good. In the first iteration of this monthly column, learn why selecting names for classes, methods, and variables is an art you'll want to perfect.

Mike Clark
Open Source Disk Imaging with Frisbee

Need to get the scoop on the latest software tests and trends? You’ve come to the right place. Get one reviewer’s opinion of Frisbee as well as some facts straight from the developer’s mouth.

Chris McMahon's picture Chris McMahon
2004 Salary Survey

Each year we ask you, the readers, to tell us about your job, your experience, and your compensation. We then present our findings in a format that makes it easy to compare yourself to your peers. Check it out.

Francesca Matteu's picture Francesca Matteu
Welcome, Programmers

We're pleased to bring you technical editors who are well respected in their fields. Get their take on everything that relates to the industry, technically speaking. In this issue, read about the changes we're making to Better Software this year.

Brian Marick
Damage Control

Turn to The Last Word, where software professionals who care about quality give you their opinions on hot topics. This month, read why perhaps software should come equipped with seat belts and an air bag.

Eric Rescorla
Getting to the Root of Software Security

Vendors try to protect their source code from would-be attackers, but it takes only one chink in the armor for a good reverse engineer to penetrate all the defenses so carefully put in place. Find out how to methodically uncover patterns to help you predict where the attacks will be focused and how they will be carried out.

T. B. Gillette
Continuous Integration—Your Project's Unlikely Hero

Code sandboxes of the world, unite behind a new leader: Continuous Integration (CI). Automated and customizable, CI gives you the ability to know at the push of a button whether your application is working or whether it needs a tweak. It brings together the disparate code of countless developers and provides a real-time gauge of your application's health. Never fear nightly (or, egads! weekly) builds again. Rely on the strength of CI.

Jeffrey Frederick
A Look at IntelliJ IDEA3

Get the scoop on this refactoring tool from JetBrains.

Andrew Geweke
Location! Location! Location!

In real estate, it's not so much which house you buy as where you buy it. The same is true for bugs—the bug itself isn't as important as pinpointing where the bug lives and breeds. Learn one way to track down a bug's true source and prevent it from recurring.

Adam Kolawa

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