Does the number of lines of code a good measure of a programmer's productivity?

The main concern being brought in is whether then number of lines of code being made by a programmer is the correct method of measuring his productivity. And as a reply, I truly think not. Although there's definitely some relation with productivity and lines of code, but it's far from direct thus source lines of code is the poorest and most ineffective way of measuring one’s productivity.

In Wikipedia, programming productivity is defined as a variety of software development issues and methodologies affecting the quantity and quality of code produced by an individual or team. From this definition alone I can adhere that my opinion is well justified since number of lines only refers on quantity and does not directly relate to quality of coding or work done.

Source lines of code (SLOC) is useless if we use this software metric in programmers doing the same design but different languages since different languages can produce different numbers of lines of code for implementation of the same design. If a same program is to be done in Java and C++, it can be foreseen that Java programmers can create lesser lines of codes than C++ programmers since it has more built in functions and classes than C++ (or vice versa depending on the program to be done). From this example, we can say that even if the quantity of code is lesser but if the quality is the same therefore the programmer is still productive.

Source lines of code (SLOC) is also rendered ineffective when the code is still not complied, tested or implemented, simply stated “Productivity in lines of code cannot be measured until implementation begins.” Why? Basically because a programmer could write hundreds SLOC but then if it is wrong then should one still consider that as productive? This situation is analogous to a question “Would you measure a chef on the volume of spaghetti used per day?” Clearly not.

Furthermore, if one keeps using SLOC as software metric to measure a programmer’s productivity, a programmer may just type away or just may structure code to meet productivity goals. Which in reality it refers that no serious work is done.

From my experience, the trend nowadays is to make your source line of code shorter but still keeping up with the quality of the program. Shorter and more concise programs make it easier for programmers to debug and manage their programs. The best programmer is generally the one who takes the most code away, not the one who adds the most code. A measure of when a product is stabilizing is when it "turns the hump" from growing to shrinking code size.

Registered Nurse na Sila.!!!

(Pic above: Kyle (my cousin) and Cristal (my ate))

Just want to share to you the happiness that me and the rest of the Hernandez family is feeling at this moment as three of my cousins namely, Kyle, Nick and Richard and my ate Cristal passed the Nursing Licensure Exam at their first take. A shoutout to Jake, my ate's boyfriend, whom we also consider as a part of th family also passed.

As my aunt would describe it, "It was a success". A lot of things have happened to our family last year and we were wondering if that would affect their performance in the exams and we only hoped that God will guide them in this undertaking and fortunately God was kind to our family.

To the now registered nurses of our family, I wish that you keep up all the good work you have been exerting lately since upon passing this exam means more and tougher things are to come to your lives and career. "Paburger naman kayo dyan"

Facebook mishap

Last February 16,2009, a news leaked that a popular social networking site, Facebook, stated in their terms of service that if you want to be a member of this site then all your pictures, files and personal information that you will post in the site will be legally in their disposal.

The TOS says the following:
"You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof."

English translation: "All your stuff will be theirs and at their disposal anytime, anywhere with or without your permission"

People joining such sites never really read the the terms of service that the site offers that is why this information was discovered just recently. Some members of the said site and even non-members are now actually thinking of (or is already) boycotting Facebook.

Howerver, the folks over at Facebook are now working quickly with their legal team to fix their "terms of service"

The following message is the greeting when you now login to Facebook:

Terms of Use Update

Over the past few days, we have received a lot of good feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago. Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous Terms of Use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.


All is well, for now.

Lesson learned: Next time read out the Terms of Service of the site you want to join.. you'll never know what they might want in return.

Source

Deathnote: Kira should be... Zac or Chace??

Death Note a popular manga, anime series and live action movie in Asia will be seen in a different light. A very different light. Because of the popularity and hype Death note gained in Japan and its neighboring Asian countries, Hollywood now craves for the Deatnote madness as making a Hollywood, American version of the series will be brought in the theaters.

The news is really great for Deathnote fans (like myself) who are still hungry for more of the famous series but after the new development from the Deathnote Hollywood production changed all the excitement to anger. What might this news be that is receiving a lot of hate mails from blogs, forums and other sites?

Guess what Deathnote fans... the lead character of Kira or Light will be played by .... ZAC EFRON.!! Horrific right?? Well, this info actually leaked out before 2008 ended, but I just got the wind of it just recently.. hahaha.. Still, for those who knew this before me or to those who just found out like me, I know we all have the same reaction: "Hell NO.!"

I really wish that Zac isn't the final choice, Chace Crawford looks better for the role. They are both hotties but Chace certainly have the goodish but also devilish looks that Kira has. He also looks more mature than Zac which the role certainly needs. I'm already cringing at the thought that Zac might just do a sing and dance while killing people or while talking to Ryuk. Totally dreadful. Why don't they just call it Deathnote Musical,if that's the case.


The only news I am waiting to hear now is who would play the role of L?? I can't think of anyone yet at the moment though if Robert Pattinson gets the role he wouldn't be new to "ionizing" his face to make it pale white and make his hair untidy (L's hair is untidy right??!!) since he already does that in Twilight. It is a fun idea though, right?? I love Rob but I certainly hope he will not be L, he's too busy in New Moon anyway.

Well, if you read this post please comment on who would be the better Kira: Zac or Chace??And who would be your preferred L..!!

13 year old kid embraces FATHERHOOD

The picture above is family picture above is not a picture amongst siblings but a family picture consisting of mom Chantelle Steadman (15 years old), dad Alfie Patten (13 years old) and their baby daughter Maisie.

Chantelle and Alfie, who was just 12 at the time, had a single night of unprotected sex which led Chantelle in conceiving baby Maisie.

Alfie said that when his mum found out, he thought he was going to get in trouble. He and Chantelle wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react. He also adds that even if he doesn’t know how to be a dad, he would try to be a good one. Actually I think that his decision not to resort to abortion already reflects that he maybe a good father, since he wants to be responsible for the consequences of his actions, even though the true weight of fatherhood hasn’t dawned on him yet.

Truth be told, Alfie cried a lot when he told his father that it was the first time he’d had sex, and he didn’t know what he was doing or the complications that will come from it. Alfie’s dad was heartbroken for his son, saying that just a few months ago he and Alfie were playing games and boxing and now his kid is having a kid of his own. He also added that both families — the Steadmans and the Pattens — will help and support in raising the child

Admittedly, Chantelle said that they could be accused of being grossly irresponsible but they will make up for it. She said, “We know we made a mistake but I wouldn’t change it now. We will be good loving parents.”

I first heard this news on a radio station and since it sounded really far fetched, I sought the help of the web to search for the “truth”. About 85,000 hits about Alfie Patten showed up, all referring to the boy who lost his childhood and now faces fatherhood.

My initial reaction as I read the articles and seen the picture was: “Holy crow!! What is the world coming to!! That innocent faced 13 year old boy who looked like he was still 8 (and stands 4ft in height) can’t be the father of that baby.”

I just want to still think of it as an internet news hoax, I mean for crying out loud I already 20 but I don’t see myself having a baby now or in the near future because the complications will be tough so how can this 13 and 15 year old kids handle the pressure, it is just downright horrifying. But it’s the truth and I only hope the best for them.

At these times, parents should orient their sons and daughters about the birds and the bees and the complications that come with it so as to if not eliminate, just lessen the occurrence of this serious case.

SOURCE

Two Major Reasons Why a Project is Late

Employee turnover refers to a ratio comparison of the number of members that “must be” replaced or left in a given time period to the average number of total members in the team. This raises questions such as “What happens if they leave?”, “How dependent is our schedule on people with these exact skills?”, “Will information be lost with the person?” and “How can we keep them / replace them?”

Huge consideration is given to this idea since it is seen to not only increase cost and expenses but also making a project late. Why? Simply because, if a member left during or halfway through developing a project it will certainly incapacitate the team. Before making a project, the job is divided equally thus if one member will leave it will leave a gap or additional job to another member. This problem also relates to employing another person to balance the tasks again but then we already know (from our Activity 1) that getting a new person to do a project has it own disadvantages and also makes a project late, especially, if that person isn’t familiar with the project at hand. Therefore, employee turnover and the supposedly “solutions” to it creates problems and tends a project to be late.

Changing of requirements or requirements volatility or instability results to certain complications that can really make a project late and even fail. The instability of requirements can be fine if its only changes minor details of the project. Minor adjustments or simple solutions can be enough but then these cannot be if major details are to be changed. It can result to certain degrees of changes such as from changing a whole task, or adding a new task, or having one or more section rendered useless by this new development and the worst of which is to have to do the project again from the top. Sometimes when certain project requirements change it tends to delay, or use up a lot of time in adjusting and mending the project.

New paths and strategies that weren’t considered at the first might be taken and used now thus making study and testing time longer which can lead to making the project late or fail. It can be analogous to cooking, if we cook a dish faster if we stick up to its traditional ingredients but if we were going to use other untraditional ingredients we have to taste and test it before putting it to the pot to be sure that the taste will be the same. Certain details such as the heating the pot more or simmering ingredients linger or shorter can be implemented when such recipe change is done. So it is with requirements volatility or instability.

Expediting IS implementation

"You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan."

Honestly, I am a bit of confused by the question above, whether is refers to me having to "sell" my IS plan for it to be implemented or it is already approved, but "expedite" being defined as "speed up the progress of" I would just assume the latter.

Given the question above, I will now assume that the Proposed IS plan is now approved and now subject to implementation. Therefore, all that is left to think about is how to ensure successful and fast IS plan transition from its paper-plan stage to the implement stage.

Key considerations to do:

Project management:

In this step, it refers to considerations such as where would the project/system suitable to be
implemented or placed in, budget on executing and maintaining it, who are going to manage it and are they suitable to handle implementation of the project?

Such inquiries are supposed to be answered even before it was approved and even before the project completion. The answers are going to make implementation faster since all grounds are seemed to be covered already like personnel to be hired, placement of system/project and its needed support and back-up.

Data Conversion:

In this step, questions such as is there data needed to be put into practical terms or layman terms than the technical terms the development team used. Data or the information on how to use the project should be stated in a clear and understandable manner, it must be remembered that the user of the system might not understand the professional jargon used.

Training of personnel:

User of the project are not IT professionals that is why time and training has to done to guide them in how to use and manipulate the project. If the person is knowledgeable or has received appropriate training then implementation if IS plan will be done faster.

Stephen King Says Stephanie Meyer as not so Good of a Writer

The online battle between Harry Potter and Twilight grew more pronounced as one of most successful novelists, Stephen King ignited the tension more by saying that JK Rowling is a terrific writer while Meyer is not very good or effective as a writer.

Heated online battle between Harry Potter fans and Twilight fans started last year when the two movies were thought to be shown in theaters in the same month and hate mails have been sent from one camp to the other. With these new events, that now is directly targeting the authors of the famous novels, JK Rowling of Harry Potter and Stephanie Meyer of Twilight things sure fired up the debates again.

According to Stephen, “Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people… The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”

King well known for his blood and gore, monster filled stories stated that “People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it’s not particularly threatening because it’s not overtly sexual.”

He further explains, “A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet.”

My own personal opinion about the matter is that I certainly agree to King in saying that Rowling is a much better writer but with some reservations. Rowling's writing specializes in action and adventure, ingenious plotting and theme that Meyer seems to have a little of but I can say that Rowling lacks an element than Meyer has tons.

Meyer isn't very good in writing a detailed and action paced fight scene but she knows how to make the reader fall in love and be dazzled by it whereas Rowling shies away from this concept. There should be absolutely no competition since these two authors and their books have a different style, theme and target audience. Harry Potter revolves around adventure, bravery and loyalty while Twilight shines in on mystery, sacrifice and love above all things. For the heated bulletins and forum entries about this topic I can only say that I know we love these books and we should just be thankful for their authors for sharing their novels, ideas and passion with us for they are certainly the most fantastic novels of their time.

SOURCE

Are we still friends?

Getting along with friends are supposed to be easy as air and bright as the brilliant sunshine that warms one's cold heart even in the fiercest of winds and strongest of waves, especially if one's feelings are free from malice and true. There is no sadder man than one without a friend. Unhappiness brought by loss of money or waning of one's health can't be compared to the sorrow one might get without a friend and even in one's most successful times aren't complete with people whom you can share your happiness with.

Friends are supposed to be your pillars of support in times of need and distress but then if a that special person shrugs a comforting shoulder at you during these times does that make that friend a fake one? Is there any limitations to one's support and understanding to a friend? Can you still extend welcoming arms to a friend whose decisions and actions have pained not only both of you but others as well? Is there really a time as such when one realizes that the person she considers a friend is someone who suddenly becomes a stranger?

If one is in a clear state of mind, she would certainly say that to condemn a friend is a from of treachery, unacceptable and against moral obligations to a person. True, and I whole-heartedly accept that even if how badly another person acts one should understand it if she is really true to that other person and any excuse is a poor one. But something in me says that sometimes a friend doesn't have to keep consoling and understanding the one at fault. I believe that sometimes a friend have to abandon another friend so as to let her learn on her own. As Oliver Wendell Holmes stated,"Except in cases of necessity, which are rare, leave your friend to learn unpleasant things from his enemies; they are ready enough to tell them.

Its hard to turn away from a friend in need especially to rub salt into her wounds but I am keeping by decision to stand firm and do it with the only excuse to let her learn her lesson. I have been disappointed by some of my friends actions and decisions many times already and I learned to accept it because I know that though friends, we are different and unique individuals. Her beliefs maybe different or same to mine and I can't put it against her but what I can't readily accept is when my friend does things that will certainly impair her in a lot ways than one and bringing with it other people outside from ourselves.

If you read this, (you know who you are) I just like to say that I know we can't take back anything that happened and I won't say sorry for my rude behavior because I believe that you need a healthy dose of it. I still don't think your repentant yet, no matter how many tears you shed in front of me. Please please try to prove that you are really sorry not only in tears and words but more importantly in actions. Its for you too.