Optimizing Your Software Code

Hocus, Pocus! To many folks software seems like magic. To many managers who do not have a software background, estimating and managing software projects is NOT a desirable task. Time and cost overruns are much to frequent. However, software is not different from hardware development projects. In both kinds of projects, the end goal is known, but that path to achievenment is often fuzzy.

For this reason, I recommend software coders and programmers take a look at this fee online course named "software carpentry". A number of fine organizations funded this effort to help take the magic out of coding, and more importantly help bring some more methodlogy to the process. Here is a brief excerpt from the course outline:

Many scientists and engineers spend much of their lives programming, but only a handful have ever been taught how to do this well. As a result, they spend their time wrestling with software, instead of doing research, but have no idea how reliable or efficient their programs are. This course is an intensive introduction to basic software development practices for scientists and engineers that can reduce the time they spend programming by 20-25%. All of the material is open source: it may be used freely by anyone for educational or commercial purposes, and research groups in academia and industry are actively encouraged to adapt it to their needs.

Here are some key links with respect to this course:

• The Course (including lecture podcasts and materials)
• The Blog (monitor the upcoming and updated course)