Code craft: February 2008 Archives

Here's how to not do a Changes file:

http://search.cpan.org/src/FELICITY/Mail-SpamAssassin-3.1.5/Changes

That tells me nothing about whether I want to upgrade my SpamAssassin install. :-(

Oh, look, I wrote about this before, and how great Tim Bunce's Changes files are.

From David Fetter's page at http://fetter.org/optimization.html:

1. The first rule of Optimization is, you do not talk about Optimization.
2. The second rule of Optimization is, you DO NOT talk about Optimization.
3. If your app is running faster than the underlying transport protocol, the optimization is over.
4. One factor at a time.
5. No marketroids, no marketroid schedules.
6. Testing will go on as long as it has to.
7. If this is your first night at Optimization Club, you have to write a test case.

Of course it's company policy never to imply ownership of a performance problem. Always use the indefinite article: "a performance problem", never "your performance problem."