Wednesday 24 October 2012

Natural Semantics

Whilst doing some background reading on AMQP, I came across the following little tidbit. (from http://www.imatix.com/articles:necessary-changes-in-amqp)


"There is a concept I call "natural semantics". These are simple patterns that Just Work. Often they take a little while to appreciate. Natural semantics are like mathematical truths, they exist objectively, and independently of particular technologies or viewpoints. They are precious things. The AMQ exchange-binding-queue model is a natural semantic. A good designer should always search for these natural semantics, and then enshrine them in such ways as to make them inviolable and inevitable and trivial to use."

The notion of natural semantics resonates with my experiences as a developer:- which makes me happy, because something that I for so long felt to be true but could not articulate, now has a name.

Thursday 11 October 2012

Character Flaws.

My Modus Operandi is to identify my own serious character flaws, then exploit them for fun and profit!

I have mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies. I exploit this to help organize and categorize source documents & data, and to improve the discipline and quality of my work.

I also have mild bipolar tendencies. I use my mania to get lots of work done, then my depression to fix all of the bugs that I introduced during my manic coding sessions: My own personal (psychological) Carnot cycle.


We are all flawed in some way. But sometimes we can find real strength in apparent weakness.