Review of "Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Applications (MB2-868) Certification Guide" by Danny Varghese

"Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Applications (MB2-868) Certification Guide" is a helpful book in preparation for the MB2-868 certification. The author, Danny Varghese, gives a thorough overview of what Microsoft Dynamics CRM includes and he exemplifies the topics discussed by introducing the reader to business scenarios. The book covers the three main modules of Microsoft Dynamics CRM in great depth: Sales, Marketing and Customer Service. It also maps out the life-cycle of entities contained in these modules, the relationships between them, how you can get a clear view of your business by using the reporting and analysis features, and how this all plays together with Microsoft Outlook. In addition to the step-by-step guides  showing how you manage your entities, the reader can quiz himself in the "Test your knowledge" section at the end of each chapter. I will recommend this book to anyone taking the MB2-868 certification and to any professional working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM applications on a daily basis.

Review of “The art of unit testing” by Roy Osherove

I’ve wanted to read this book for ages, and I finally found the time to sit down and enjoy it to the fullest. I’m tempted to end the review here and now, simply by saying that this book is great and you have to read it. So if you trust me you don’t have to read on, just read the book!

Roy Osherove is able to explain the concepts of unit testing in the simplest way possible, starting with the basics and moving on to the more advanced topics like writing testable code before finishing with an overview of design and process. This makes the book relevant whether you’re new to unit testing or refreshing your knowledge. All good so far, but what makes the book really shine is his thorough focus on best practices, how to write clean and maintainable unit tests. In other words, how to succeed with unit testing in the long run. He also gives an overview of how to fail with unit testing, giving real-life examples from projects he’s been working on.

The book was published in 2009, so the tools and testing frameworks used are a bit outdated. However, as the book is not written to teach you how to use a specific tool or framework, this doesn’t matter. What’s important is understanding why and when the tools are helpful and in what situations they are applicable. If you really want the tools and testing frameworks to be updated, you’ll be glad to know the 2nd edition is on its way.

The tone of the book is very informal, and it’s one of those books you can read just for fun. You don’t need to stack up on coffee beforehand, the book itself will keep you awake. What surprised me the most while reading it was the chapter on “Integrating unit testing into the organization”, which gives you advice on where to start if your company is not yet accustomed to unit testing, and how to get the managers onboard. It also contains all the answers to those difficult questions you will be asked if you decide to be the one to push for change in your company. I wish more books had a chapter like this! Being convinced by reading the book is a piece of cake, but being able to convince the rest of the organization can be quite a lot of work, and this chapter lightens the workload.

I could go on and on about how great this book is, but I’ll keep it short. I know for sure that this is not the only time I’ll read the book, I will probably re-read it over and over again to remind myself of Roy’s best practices. And I’ll definitely keep it close whenever I’m writing unit tests so that I can look up all his helpful tips when I get stuck. So go buy this book and enjoy! Or even better: wait until June when the 2nd edition is to be released!

The dangers of forking and dongles

Three days ago, Adria Richards published a blog post about an incident that happened at the PyCon conference last week. Two guys made a sexual joke during one of the lightning talks and Adria responded by taking a photograph of them and posting it on Twitter. In a separate tweet she asked the organizers to address the issue, which they did. You can read her blog post here: http://butyoureagirl.com/14015/forking-and-dongle-jokes-dont-belong-at-tech-conferences/

Two days ago, one of the guys making the joke posted an apology and an explanation to Hacker News. It turns out he was fired from his job as a consequence: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5398681

There are several questions here that need to be addressed: Is making sexual jokes at a conference acceptable? If someone is breaking a code of conduct, is it acceptable to post their photograph to Twitter? What will this do to the developer community?

Is making sexual jokes at a conference acceptable?

No, it’s not acceptable. Frankly, I wouldn’t care if I heard someone make a sexual joke, but some people might find this offensive and therefore it’s a good idea to save your sexual jokes for a more private audience. As Adria states in her blog post, the PyCon conference had a pretty extensive Code of Conduct: “All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks.”

If someone is breaking a code of conduct, is it acceptable to post their photograph to Twitter?

Absolutely not, and I find this to be a much bigger offence than making a sexual joke. Public shaming is never an acceptable solution, and as we’ve seen in this case it can have terrible consequences. As Adria points to the Code of Conduct regarding the jokes made, I’d like to point out that the Code of Conduct also states that “Harassment includes […] harassing photography or recording”.

What will this do to the developer community?

This is the question that worries me the most. There are a lot of people working very hard to make more women interested in technology, and they have identified the need for more women in the business. There are, however, an alarming number of skeptics out there, and by skeptics I mean men who prefer the business to be male dominated and who don’t actually want more women to take an interest in technology.

My fear is that Adria’s reaction to the jokes at PyCon will cause the number of skeptics to increase. One of the jokes she perceived as being sexual was in fact not sexual at all. Should a male developer have to censor himself in fear of a female developer overhearing and perceiving what is being said as sexual? If that is the direction we’re going in, I’m not sure I want more women to enter the business myself. No one, neither men nor women, should have to censor themselves out of fear for being publicly shamed.

I sincerely hope Aria will apologize for posting the photography, and delete the blog post and tweets from the conference so that the man will not be affected by this when he goes looking for a new job.