26 April 2015
by Jem Mawson

When is Cheryl's Birthday? (Scala)

This puzzle was popularised recently and caused many people (especially in my immediate family) headaches. You've probably heard about it. I explain herein how to easily come to the solution for this puzzle and give an implementation in code.

06 December 2014
by Chen Mawson

Making a Distinction Between MVPs and Prototypes

I believe it is worthwhile to make a distinction between the two. In this post, I highlight the different strategies for determining whether to build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or a prototype. It is a conscious decision that needs to be made during the concept phase.

08 November 2014
by Chen Mawson

Encourage Creativity Through Collaboration

Many creative people (e.g. artists and writers) I know prefer to work on their own. In the technology space, in order to take a sizeable creative idea from inception to implementation, it usually takes a team of people collaborating closely together. It is through teamwork and a clear common vision that a creative concept gradually takes shape, with input from everyone in the team who has complementary skills.

21 April 2014
by Jem Mawson

Cluster Singleton in Akka

In a highly-available application, it is occasionally necessary to have some processing performed in isolation within a cluster, whilst still allowing for processing to continue should the designated worker node fail. This is trivial with Akka clustering support for the Cluster Singleton pattern.

05 March 2014
by Jem Mawson

TDD without Unit Tests

Many years ago I was walking through the office when I passed a colleague talking to our manager. I overheard him as he was putting forward the case for using Ruby - "The great thing about dynamic[ly typed] languages is that they force you to write tests", he said. Because our manager was already committed to the importance of high test coverage, the idea of putting natural pressure on developers to write tests was probably quite appealing.

This blog is co-authored by Chen and Jeremy Mawson. Jem is an agile software engineer and technical lead. He is a specialist in software development with wide interests and currently focusing on Scala and the Typesafe stack. Chen's interests are in Strategic Business Analysis and Product & Project Management. Together they are based in Australia, assisting innovative and socially positive companies to achieve their technology goals both on site and remotely. Learn more about us at Loft in Space.