0x7E0: The year in review

As 2016 winds down journalistic standards require a top N list. So while the points in my list are non-NULL I shall loop through them...

1.) Clarity and consistency are the corner stone of design: Many of you will have read this joke

There are 1o types of people in the world, those who know binary and those who do not...

For some there is a smug laugh, however this joke has bugged me for years. Every time I read it I think, "no, there are two types of people, those who write things clearly and those who do not." It is only natural that you would read "10" as "ten". If you wrote it as "0b10" then you could expect someone to know it is in binary.

Again and again I am reminded that providing the information that people need to make informed decisions is critical. Review the MAAB Style Guidelines more than 50% of the rules related to the clarity of the model. Look at naming conventions for variables, it is always about making it easy for people to understand what is being conveyed.

2.) Most people will embrace change: People resist change for valid reasons; a sunk cost, tight deadlines or it a simple lack of information. Let us break it down further, there are 0x10 types of people for this; those

Change involves risk, change can offer rewards. By offering people a plan to mitigate risk while maximii

3.) Listen to learn: So basic yet so often forgotten, this was the topic of last weeks blog post.

4.) Never confuse the metaphor with the thing itself: In these blog posts I have used home construction and juggling as metaphors for software development concepts. Metaphors are useful to the extent that they allow you to get your hooks into a new concept. However they have there limits and the use them beyond the bounds of accuracy must be curtailed. In the end you need to understand the concepts behind the metaphor (There is a wonderful clip from the movie "A Serious Man" that illustrates this)

5.) Spend some time down in the weeds: Much of the work I do now is guiding the companies with their higher level objectives.

However I try to spend at least 20% of my time working with the direct application so I have a root level understanding of the issues my customers face. This of course leads to...

6.) Old problems can have new solutions: If I don't spend time working down in the weeds I would miss out on many new technologies which make life better for my customers. Here are just a few of my favorite things...

• Simulink Test: MathWorks solution to integrated test management.
• The Init / Event / Termination blocks: Finally a method for controlling the initialization of data within the Simulink model
• The property inspector: Sometimes you don't know how much you want something until you work with it; the property inspector makes configuring the blocks in your model so much easier.

Happy Holidays one and all and Happy New Year as well,

Michael

BIO

Michael Burke is a consultant with The MathWorks and former coordinator for the MathWorks Automotive Advisory Board (MAAB). I currently focus on Model-Based Design Process Adoption and Establishment projects. Views expressed in this article do not represent the views of The MathWorks.