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Showing posts from March, 2008

User Stories (really) Applied

I don't remember the first book I read on Extreme Programming, but I clearly remember two sensations: enthusiasm and confusion. Indeed, I felt there was something great in it, but I was unable to grasp many of the real practices they were talking about; it was like I was looking at them through a thick fog; user stories was one of those practices. Many years have passed from that day, five, maybe more; my understanding of user stories expanded from a shape in the fog to a paper card. However, as many things you learn on the Net, some parts of the card were very clear, while other were still difficult to discern: for example I was not sure how big the card should have been or how many details I should have put on it. Less confusion and a little more enthusiasm. Then my twin brother brought me this book, and told me "read it". And as I always do with everything he gives me to read, I put in on the shelf, and I forgot it. You may wonder why I do it; you're welcome: I won

At least, On Writing Well...

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When I was in high school, my grades in written italian were bad. Not so bad to become a problem, but bad nonetheless. The strange thing is that I loved to write. It was my favourite way to spend my free time. But I was not able to write in good italian when I started high school. And I was still bad when I finished high school. I've always wondered why. After reading this book, I understood: no one taught me. Ever. Writing is a craft, with its rules and its tools, and this book shows you them; you still need to practice them: just because you know what you should do to drive does not make you a good driver; but knowing it allows you to practice, to acknowledge your mistakes, and to fix them. This is a book for us all. We all have to write, be it an entry in a blog, a report for a manager, a mail to a friend, or a recipe of our favourite dish. Or, even, an howto on installing Linux on the latest notebook from Alienware. We all need to write. Better then if we can learn to Write Wel