MVC Framework as comedy-lesson videos!

[Mr. Analog]

NON-PROGRAMMER TYPES VEER AWAY

               ,'``.._   ,'``.
              :,--._:)\,:,._,.:       All Glory to
              :`--,''   :`...';\      the HYPNO TOAD!
               `,'       `---'  `.
               /                 :
              /                   \
            ,'                     :\.___,-.
           `...,---'``````-..._    |:       \
             (                 )   ;:    )   \  _,-.
              `.              (   //          `'    \
               :               `.//  )      )     , ;
             ,-|`.            _,'/       )    ) ,' ,'
            (  :`.`-..____..=:.-':     .     _,' ,'
             `,'\ ``--....-)='    `._,  \  ,') _ '``._
          _.-/ _ `.       (_)      /     )' ; / \ \`-.'
         `--(   `-:`.     `' ___..'  _,-'   |/   `.)
             `-. `.`.``-----``--,  .'
               |/`.\`'        ,','); SSt
                   `         (/  (/


Okay, should be clear now...

If you're a programmer, chances are you know what the MVC architectural pattern is (if you don't, read all about it here or here). Anyway, here's a series of genuinely funny videos related to a classic software design:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91C7ax0UAAc

There are some subtleties even in this first video here that just made me laugh and do a double take. I mean, you should never send a cookie to the Controller for processing, that's crazy talk... I mean you could but then you're bloating the Controller with yet another implementation specific chunk of code.

Funny stuff that caught me off guard!

[Thorin]

LOL!  "Soap is so twentieth-century"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p30dcETXwD4&feature=related

[Mr. Analog]

LOL!  "Soap is so twentieth-century"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p30dcETXwD4&feature=related

[Darren Dirt]

Funny guys!
http://railsenvy.com/


Mac vs. PC ==> RubyOnRails vs. .NET
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z99EHyG2jQA


Maintenance contracts, summarized
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5EIrSM8dCA



- - - - -

PS: As a result of your MVC propaganda, I found THIS excellent blog...
http://codekata.pragprog.com/codekata/

How do you get to be a great musician? It helps to know the theory, and to understand the mechanics of your instrument. It helps to have talent. But ultimately, greatness comes practicing; applying the theory over and over again, using feedback to get better every time.

How do you get to be an All-Star sports person? Obviously fitness and talent help. But the great athletes spend hours and hours every day, practicing.

But in the software industry we take developers trained in the theory and throw them straight in to the deep-end, working on a project. It?s like taking a group of fit kids and telling them that they have four quarters to beat the Redskins (hey, we manage by objectives, right?). In software we do our practicing on the job, and that?s why we make mistakes on the job. We need to find ways of splitting the practice from the profession. We need practice sessions.



How can we help developers do the practicing that?s clearly necessary in any creative process? I don?t know, but my gut tells me we need to do two main things.

The first is to take the pressure off every now and then. Provide a temporal oasis where it?s OK not to worry about some approaching deadline. It has to be acceptable to relax, because if you aren?t relaxed you?re not going to learn from the practice.

The second is to help folks learn how to play with code: how to make mistakes, how to improvise, how to reflect, and how to measure. This is hard: we?re trained to try to do things right, to play to the score, rather than improvise. I suspect that success here comes only after doing.

So, my challenge for the day: see if you can carve out 45 to 60 minutes to play with a small piece of code. You don?t necessarily have to look at performance: perhaps you could play with the structure, or the memory use, or the interface. In the end it doesn?t matter. Experiment, measure, improve.

Practice.

http://codekata.pragprog.com/2007/01/code_kata_backg.html#more




also, ha ha!

[Thorin]

Maintenance contracts, summarized
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5EIrSM8dCA

Oh gods no!  That's how I feel most of the time looking at the codebase I'm currently on <sigh>