Why I Use Delphi

Every now and then someone will ask why I develop my software using Delphi. After all, there are more "modern" languages for Windows like C#. And besides, Delphi is going to die eventually, right? Funny thing is, 15 years ago when I was developing HomeSite I was getting razzed by some geeks for using a development tool that they said... [read more]

Thursday, July 09, 2009 in Software | Permalink | Comments (28) | Incoming Links

HomeSite Discontinued

Last night I found out that HomeSite has been discontinued. I was surprised to hear this, but not because I thought it was premature – truth is, I was surprised HomeSite hadn't been discontinued a long time ago. It's been almost 15 years since I created HomeSite, and I stopped working on it in 1998 when I left Allaire Corporation.... [read more]

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 in Personal, Software | Permalink | Comments (46) | Incoming Links

If You Want to Write Useful Software, You Have to Do Tech Support

Before I fell into the world of shareware, I worked in the bowels of corporate America developing client-server applications. And I hated it. Perhaps the thing I hated the most was that I rarely talked with the people who ended up using my software. I was given a list of requirements, told what was expected, and that was it. I... [read more]

Saturday, June 27, 2009 in Software | Permalink | Comments (14) | Incoming Links

Download Size Still Matters

Is it just me, or has the size of downloadable software ballooned ridiculously over the past few years? Call me old school, but this bothers me. It’s like some developers assume their software is so damn good that it’s okay if it takes a long time for you to download it. Their software is so fantastic that it deserves to... [read more]

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 in Software | Permalink | Comments (5) | Incoming Links

Anti-Virus Software Hates Us

One of the things I despise about Windows is how much time developers have to spend working around problems in third-party firewall and anti-virus software. Case in point: I’m seeing quite a few error reports about the new FeedDemon 3.0 beta that are caused by AV software locking files that FeedDemon is trying to access. Many AV programs monitor the... [read more]

Wednesday, April 01, 2009 in FeedDemon, Software | Permalink | Comments (16) | Incoming Links

It Sucks to Throw Away New Code

Earlier this year I wrote about the joy of throwing away your code. It’s true - as a rule, programmers generally love getting rid of old code. But I discovered a corollary to that rule: it sucks to throw away code that you just wrote. I know because I had to throw away a ton of code I wrote last... [read more]

Monday, December 29, 2008 in FeedDemon, Software | Permalink | Comments (11) | Incoming Links

Smart Software Should Get Out of Your Way

I shudder when I hear about how software needs to be “smart.” It’s not because I think today’s software is smart enough already (it’s not), but because all too often “smart” translates to “intensely annoying.” If you believe the tech pundits, “smart” software should predict what we’ll do so it can perform the next action faster. “Smart” software should automatically... [read more]

Tuesday, November 25, 2008 in Software | Permalink | Comments (18) | Incoming Links

The Increasing Importance of Discoverability

It’s incredibly easy to try out new applications these days - especially web-based ones since they don’t even need to be installed. And the more applications that people try, the more important that discoverability becomes. People who try out an application don’t want to spend any time learning it. They want to get started with it now, see what it... [read more]

Tuesday, November 25, 2008 in Software | Permalink | Comments (7) | Incoming Links

Favicon Hell: Small Feature, Big Code

A couple years ago, FeedDemon started displaying favicons – you know, those little 16x16 icons that web sites use to brand themselves. It was a popular addition, because it’s much easier to tell your feeds apart when they don’t all use the same generic feed icon. It seemed like such a simple feature at the time. Just check the root... [read more]

Sunday, November 23, 2008 in Software, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (12) | Incoming Links

The Value of Automated Error Reporting

The past few releases of FeedDemon have an included an error reporting feature which captures unexpected problems and sends us detailed reports on what went wrong. If you’ve never seen this feature in action (and I hope you haven’t), it looks like this: I’ve been going over the past few months of error reports, and much to my surprise, I... [read more]

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 in FeedDemon, Software | Permalink | Comments (14) | Incoming Links