Software application development
This blog is intended to provoke discussion and exchange between like minded software application developers, engineers, architects, project managers - and keen hobbyists too.
Wednesday 2 July 2008, 1:23 PM
Should developers care about e-commerce?
I have to admit that my ability to carry through online shopping cart transactions all the way to the till is probably as bad as anyone else. The most annoying thing I find is when I’ve looked up a couple of products, checked for their availability at a local store, changed my mind, looked for something else and then found that the previous items are still in my cart.
Play.com seems to have got the gist of it so why are the web developers at Argos.com so woeful in comparison? NB: I only shop for generic things like garden hoses or maybe a SCART cable in Argos OK?
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In search of the truth I Googled around with various terms such as, “why are some web sites a bit rubbish”, “online shopping sucks” and the slightly more productive, “10 tips to stop carts being abandoned.” Until finally I hit upon some good advice. Maybe some of the below will sit well with web developers who don’t remind themselves of these points.
Simplicity is key – no surprise there. Upfront availability of contact details and quick replies to customer mails are also high up on the list. Terms and conditions for guarantees and returns should be easily visible. Also, communicate your postage and packing costs early in the transaction and provide alternative ordering methods… presumably for those web virgins who will look but won’t spend until they can finally pick up a phone.
British ecommerce company Actinic (who, list the above points as key drivers) also says that web developers need to make sure that they employ exhaustive security and encryption process – and tell the customers that it is there! NB: This could come from using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or bank-approved software with 128-bit encryption.
Actinic also says, “Make the checkout process as easy as possible. Ensure that the site is not dynamically database driven unless this is absolutely essential – nothing is faster than doling out straight HTML.”
I’m sure we all remember how we felt the first time we gave our credit card details out to make a web purchase. I’m sure there are analyst reports out there saying that we now have better functioning and more secure web sites that will mean we will spend more online in the coming year. I’m sure Argos will get better – and, finally, I’m sure Jeremy Clarkson won’t be giving out his credit card details again.
Tuesday 1 July 2008, 9:09 AM
Presentation Layer Cake
Don’t you just love the presentation layer? Back at Microsoft PDC (professional developer conference) 2005 Bill Gates received rapturous applause for the Windows Presentation Layer (WPF) demos he was touting on screen, many of them using Infragistics technologies. Well, it could have been that – or it could have been the excellent Bill Gates goes to College skit he did with Napoleon Dynamite.
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Image courtesy of Sony Pictures
So, if you’re a developer with an innate desire to get your hands on a user interface component toolset available for the WPF, where do you turn? I spoke to a couple of developers about this and they do typically use a web interface or a stand alone application – but it’s often down to the language they’re in, rather than the whistles and bells offered by a particular solution itself.
That said, Infragistics still pumps out version after version of its NetAdvantage for WPF – each one with more “depth and functionality” (lovely terms – I wish I had either facet) so they say.
Ask Microsoft about this and no doubt you’ll get a cheesy comment like, “It’s all about the user experience!”
Ask someone with a little more vision and you might get, “Developers want end users to have the flexibility to reconfigure their user interface making the most effective use of screen real estate.” Well – the real estate bit is still cheesy, but I read that somewhere and thought it was OK-ish.
In search of the truth, tonight I spoke to Peter Lindsay, managing director of Infragistics Europe and he told me…
“Our goal with Infragistics NetAdvantage for WPF is to leverage the power of WPF to make the user interface of line of business applications easier to use which creates a very positive user experience. With NetAdvantage for WPF 8.1, developers get the controls needed to meet the goals of producing high-fidelity, full-featured line of business applications with re-usable, stylable components.”
Stylable? Is that a new word Peter?
In search of a third party opinion, I spoke to the nice independent chap called Geoff Hirst who runs a developer shop called 64Bitz Computer Consultancy Limited. Geoff said, “You know, it is all about the experience - and if there’s a tool or user widget out there then go get it. After all, guys like Infragisics and DeveloperExpress have the expertise that brings all these features within the developer grasp, plus these products have many many man hours of testing behind them.”
“The downside, if there is one, is at the moment the actual demand for WPF and other glitz is pretty subdued. We are making this stuff available in our new applications, because we want to be seen to push the envelope, but it’s not something we are being asked for,” added Geoff.
So what have we learned? GUIs are interesting and all things presentation layer related are pretty interesting too. Infragistics is deeply in cahoots with Microsoft, but – wouldn’t you be if you had created some really good-looking technology and Gates (pre-departure) and Co. thought you were the best thing since sliced lobster?
Monday 30 June 2008, 10:13 AM
Help! My T-shirt needs re-booting…
Embedded software can sometimes sound a bit dull can’t it? You’ve just been offered a chance to read a case study from WhizzBang Technology Ltd about their new embedded solution to operate railway-ticketing machines or retail scanning devices – or maybe even intelligent toasters… and you know what? You’d probably rather not.
So, in my quest for “Embedded software stuff to read about that’s not dull” – I was pleased to find the new Sputnik e-clothing shirt, which (it says here) gives athletes the ability to analyse their training and performance statistics from sensors in the shirt itself.
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The shirt works by employing sensors to measure and record skin temperature, heart and respiration rates. The data can be stored in a small plastic unit housed in the garment and uploaded to a PC via a USB connection or Bluetooth.
Take this idea all the way then. Suddenly Joe Cole is streaking down the left and Fabbio Capello stoops over his ‘Boot-O-Matic’ readout display and he can see Cole is becoming dehydrated, he’s got two subs left and we’re 2-1 up against Nicaragua with 15 minutes to play. So there’s a chance he can bring him off and we’ll still win.
Oops, they’ve scored and it’s gone to penalties. You know what happens next. Not even embedded software can help England now.
Friday 27 June 2008, 4:03 PM
Dubai’s 360-degree rotating skyscraper: an algorithm too far?
Have you seen the BBC report on Dubai’s first ‘rotating skyscraper’ this afternoon? There’s some French architect saying how much he’d observed the wind affecting skyscrapers, so now he wants to use the wind to help shape the buildings themselves.
According to the Beeb, “The 420-metre (1,378-foot) building's apartments would spin a full 360 degrees, at voice command, around a central column by means of 79 giant power-generating wind turbines located between each floor.”
Do they honestly think this thing is going to stay up? OK, they may have employed huge layers of algorithmic logic in the design phase to make sure it is stable wherever the rooms stand in relation to each other… but what about the weather? You can’t predict ALL the effects that the building may face.
Although I know the weather pretty well in the UAE having spent three years there (it only rains for 10 days a year and when it does it all comes at once, there’s a bit of fog too but that’s about it apart from the sand storms and ‘shimal’ breezes) – surely this is one environmentally unquantifiable nightmare.
I’m sure our wonderful French construction architects used heaps of software to produce the design for this building, but I also think that there’s a cut off point between what software can help us to create in the physical world when the manifestation of our designs is something that faces nature in such a direct form.
Pepé le Pew, n'est-ce pas?
Wednesday 25 June 2008, 3:46 PM
Interesting archives and microfiche madness
To be honest I don’t find archives interesting do you? I remember my work experience job at 16 years old when I was despatched to our local government admin offices to work on their microfiche unit and, umm, write down stuff I think. That was the closest to an archive I’ve been for a while.
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Anyway, Forbes.com is apparently interested in archiving these days – more specifically, the topic in hand is email archiving.
IDC estimates the volume has increased from 9.7 billion in 2000 to 97 billion in 2007 – per day! Added to that regulation means that companies are now required by law to archive email. Finally companies need to be prepared for litigation and need to be able to comply with e-discovery orders.
I might think it’s as dull as a wet weekend in Wolverhapton, but it’s hot with the vendors too by all accounts. Proofpoint, a company that specialises in unified email ‘stuff’ (or solutions if you prefer) just snapped up Fortiva, a company that offers on-demand email archiving.
Just to clarify, this is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) so there’s development work to be done here – plus, this type of thing features a hybrid deployment model that, allegedly, delivers SaaS with the security of an ‘on-premises’ appliance. OK I’m starting to get (slightly) interested. So what are the key challenges in this space? Well, I’m glad you asked: email storage management, legal discovery and, thirdly, regulatory compliance.
According to Proofpoint’s web site, industry analysts have acknowledged email archiving as a ‘must have’ component of today’s enterprise email infrastructures. Record retention, electronic discovery and mailbox management may soon be terms that we are all more used to hearing then. I also hear that nearly a quarter of large U.S. enterprises were ordered by a court or regulatory body to produce employee email in the past 12 months. Yikes!
As for me, cutting as pasting from Gmail into Mac TextEdit and then backing up to Lacie seems to have been enough for now.
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