MarkHing.com

 

I’m Mark Hing and I’ve been developing software for more than 30 years. Over that time I’ve seen projects produce awe-inspiring results as well as dismal failures, and both these outcomes have greatly influenced how I approach software development.

In the murky world of Information Systems projects, that oft-times have more to do with politics than technology, I’ve picked up a few things (some mundane, others iconic) that have made architecting and delivering software far easier.

So I thought I’d give a little something back to the software community by sharing ideas and perhaps providing intelligible inspiration to others .

Frequently, projects are so rushed that software craftsmanship doesn’t just play second-fiddle, it’s entirely ignored.

Yet well-crafted software has many benefits, including significantly lower total cost of ownership, easier maintenance and enhancements plus the ability to deliver updates into Production on a continuous basis.

But while many aspire to the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle, most implement the WET (Write Everything Twice) way of doing things.

This Blog has a number of sections, but it mainly focuses on value. And the value of well crafted software is one of its main tenets — how to craft software so it provides the best return on investment and creates maximum value.

For Smallworld GIS developers, head on over to the articles about Smallworld.

For more general software best-practices, check out the Software articles.

And feel free to explore the rest of the site too. My hope is you’ll find interesting information you can put to use right away.

 

For most people, investing for themselves usually means not really knowing when to buy or sell. But when they do decide to buy a stock and it rises in price, they’re torn between selling now and taking a profit or waiting in hopes of an even bigger profit.

If they sell now and the price rises higher, they regret it, but if they don’t sell and the price falls back to where they purchased the stock, or even worse, below their purchase price, they kick themselves… because they don’t actually know what the stock is worth and they’re simply buying and selling based on emotions and gut feelings, not on logic and value.

That’s a terrible way to invest. But all is not lost, because there is a better way — and that way was made popular by the Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffett.

Value Investing is the safest way to build wealth in the stock market. So if you’re tired of not knowing what to do and dislike the uncertainty in your investment portfolios, read through the Investing Articles section and see if you don’t pick up a thing or two.