Reading Blog - The Mythical Man-Month Ch 1 -3

Summary:
Ch 1
The chapter discusses how programming can be enjoyable for some. For example many enjoy the prospect of creating something. Another reason is the joy of making things for people that they find useful. The whole chapter deals with the joys of programming.


Ch 2
The chapter talks about how it is sometime difficult to time a project as we may not know how long it would take. For the most part, programmers are optimists. It describes the title of the book, man-month. This is a unit of measurement for time taken to complete a task.

Ch 3
This chapter discusses that solving a large project doesn't mean throwing more team members on the project. This sometimes will make the process slower. Instead, teams should divide up tasks by having a main programmer, a co programmer, tester and many other jobs in order to avoid confusion and speed up the process.

Discussion:
I'm glad the tile of the book makes sense now. This sounds like another extreme programming book so far. I still don't have an opinion of the book. I will need to read further.

Reading Blog - The Inmates are Running the Asylum Ch 1 -2

Summary:
Ch 1
The book opens up by discussing problems many people face with using computers. The example of a digital that is hard to use due to new features being added is given. The standard functions are hidden under all the new extra added features. Sometimes programmers may make non intuitive programs for the users unintended. Programmers must understand their users and frame of references and step outside of theirs.

Ch 2
This chapter discusses cognitive friction which is intellect engaging in a complex system that changes as the rules change. There are different users that encounter this. The apologist which desire a challenge and the computer illiterate which want ways of doing things easily.

Discussion:
I found this book so far interesting. I agree with the different types of users who encounter cognitive friction. I could be a bit rage educing. I look forward to reading the book further to see other type of computer and system users.

Reading Blog - Extreme Programming Installed Ch19 - 21

Summary:
Ch 19
The chapter discusses unexpected changes that may arise when developing. This may make tasks take longer than expected. It is always important to adjust deadline and charts to make way for the unexpected changes. having leeway for adjustment is always good.

Ch 20
It is important to have stories get completed to the end. It is better to focus on a single story to completion opposed to having several almost completed stories. Also, you must check on members to see their progress on their stories.

Ch 21
When releasing, it is best to check up on your stories and see how much of them have been completed.  The most valuable stories should always be put at the top of the to do list. This will drive better releases.




Discussion:
The chapters are finally slowly starting to focus more on the release. I found these chapter more informative than previous ones.

Reading Blog - Design of Future Things Ch 6

Summary:
Mechanical devices, with their moving parts provide feedback to the user to describe their function and use. These help the user make up a mental model and indicate what the device does/is doing. It should be intuitive and natural.

Discussion:
Signal are important as described in the chapter. They help us by giving us an indicators to whats going on. I know i have relied on my indicators to see what a device is doing, or not doing.

Reading Blog - Design of Future Things Ch 5

Summary:
The chapter starts off with talk of Norman's smart home example. It talks about how the inhabitants of the house take about as much time getting use to the smart house as the house takes in learning the inhabitant's routines. The talk of artificial intelligence come up explaining how if not incorporated, the house may make bad calls and for example shout off lights in the house when users are in the, causing an undesired effect. It is all about the communication between the user and the system.

Discussion:
I like the points he talks about but I feel he needs to get more examples besides cars and houses. I like how he talks about the need for AI in order for systems such as these to work as intended.

Reading Blog - Extreme Programming Installed Ch 16 - 18

Summary:
Ch 16
The chapter talks about how at the end of an extreme programming project, you will end up with a very well designed project that is structured and tested thoroughly. Focus on documentation.

Ch 17
The chapter talks about when tackling a big project, it is always best to break up the problem into smaller manageable parts to solve individually. Estimate the time taken for each sub problem and the time worked on.

Ch 18
The chapter tells programmers to keep track of all their user stories. Graph the number of tests as well as the success rate. Also, track releases and plan out a schedule. 

Discussion:
It seems like it is very repetitive. I have already heard all this in the previous chapter. It is just saying it in a slightly different way. We are implementing this process though with our project.

Reading Blog - Design of Future Things Ch 5

Summary:
This chapter discusses the automation of things. The author starts of with a simple example of a coffee machine. He explains how this has changed the way humans prepare coffee. From this example, he jumps to a more elaborate smart house that is automated to fit you needs based on your physical actions, such as the example of going to bed. The idea of ethnography to do these automatons introduces with a Microsoft teams doing such a study to cater to a family to make a more intelligent living experience. The book then goes back to a simpler example of the refrigerator and introduces the idea of augmentation. This is the idea that a task is not automated but it is smart enough to help you through your task, thus augmenting its function to the user.

Discussion:
I thought it was interesting how they brought up the ethnography research. It makes more sense how ethnography can be applied to computer science and I can see what direction it is heading to. I feel this gave me a better picture of what to do and/or expect from an ethnography for computer science.