stacyprowell.com

Programming

I need to generate multipart/form-data (see here) messages from Python. Never mind why. I dug around in the documentation for httplib, urllib, and urllib2, but it seems this is not currently supported (it’s Issue 3244). I didn’t like the code I found on the web to do it, because I needed to set additional headers on each piece. So… I wrote something. Here it is. If it’s useful to you, great! If you find bugs in it, please let me know. I think this is pretty easy to use.
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In “Embracing Change with Extreme Programming” (IEEE Computer, 1999), Kent Beck writes:

Some methodologies, like Cleanroom, prohibit programmers testing or in some cases even compiling their own programs.

As evidence of this he cites the text Cleanroom Software Engineering: Technology and Process, by, among others, yours truly.  I for one have never said that people should not run unit tests, nor does the above text say that.  I emailed Mr. Beck about it, and he confirmed that he did not get this from the cited text.  Whew!

Just to be clear, here is my position.  I would never tell anyone not to run a test they felt was necessary. I may personally believe there are efficient and inefficient ways to test, but I’m not an expert in every domain.  The people who create a product are responsible for the consequences of release of that product, and should act accordingly. Continue reading »

Apple

The hard drive in my Mac has failed.  Again.  For those of you keeping track, this is the third time.

It’s a hassle, but it is usually okay, since:

• TimeMachine is always there, making backups and keeping them up to date.
• Apple support is wonderful.  We can’t send back the hard drive, but they let me open the case and remove the drive without voiding the warranty.

Sadly it is also a pain because:

• The MacBook Pro is some of the most poorly designed hardware I have ever encountered for maintenance.

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