Software Engineering

My interest for software engineering has heighten significantly today which is amazing considering I tend to lose interest in thing rather than gain interest the longer that I explore them. There are two aspects of software engineering that don’t have any direct relation to the web (who would have thought) and that have sparked my interest.

• Source Code In Database or SCID is a concept for managing program source code in a database or repository type structure instead of in files. Having read the linked article which essentially outlines the types of things that might be available for developers if an appropriate system was implemented — I am totally on board. Apparently the idea has been around since the 70’s or perhaps earlier, but it goes back to the saying that the cobbler’s children have no shoes. While we strive to create a perfect usable interface for our clients to use, we developers are often left hunting through dozens, hundreds, or thousands of source files, man pages, documentation files and who knows what else. Add into the mix other programmers, over a distributed geographic area, old documentation and inconsistent styles and you have a veritable mess. This is certainly an area in which I might devote some brain cycles. Link via Michael McCracken

• Secure Design is idea of designing software with security in mind. While this might seem obvious, this is not how much software is written. As many security experts will tell you there is no absolute security. It is more or less a best effort game that you are either winning or losing. However you tackle it, you really shouldn’t run into it wearing your pants on your head — naked but for a large target painted on your chest. I don’t claim to know much about secure design or even what some of the best practices are, but I do know that any aspect of design certainly interests me and I am willing to learn more. This was mentioned in a security talk that was given earlier today by Alfred Huger, a senior engineer for Symantec. It certainly seems like an interesting topic.

So those are the ideas that have me a bit hot under the collar and a bit more comfortable in my plans to complete a Masters degree. If you have any thoughts on either of these areas please comment via the forum and I will be glad to banter about it. :)