Richard Feynman::Thinking
Richard Feynman gives one great example about 'Thinking' in one of his famous lectures.
Feynman alludes to the great difference about - what goes on in one's mind when different people do the same thing like - as simple as, counting numbers from one to sixty in a minute.
It is very difficult for me to paraphrase his lecture any differently than simply transcribing it verbatim. But you would be better served if you watch the video clip your self. It is a short 6:23 minutes video.
Why I am talking about this ? you may ask !!
Here is my context: I am working on a project for Mozilla that tries to simplify the task of 'targeted test development' activity. In short, the project would provide various vital stats for each source file in the browser executable -- like code coverage, number of fixed general bugs, regression bugs, security bugs, number of times the file is modified etc., Using one or more of these criteria as filter points, source files can be stack ranked and grouped by component /sub-component. This way, each module team can identify six to ten top files and study the coverage gaps, coverage effectiveness and improve the product quality with new tests development or re-factoring existing tests or even re-factoring the existing source code.
However, few people have asked me the following question : What is the need for this exercise !! Already many developers and module leaders have the intrinsic knowledge of this information by virtue of their long and dedicated association with the code. What extra benefit do they derive from this data ?
This is a serious question and this deserves a serious answer.
Here is my answer : As Feynman proved above, that if a task as simple as counting numbers could be done so differently in the minds of two learned men ... how differently people would perceive such a complex information as identifying hot spots in a humongous code base ?
In order to normalize the infinite internalizations of the knowledge in multiple brains and to provide a common ground to start looking at things in the same way, the project information is provided. The findings from our study correlated with the 'tribal knowledge' that already existed in the minds of module 'elders' when we presented our findings to a couple of important modules' teams.
So, we hope that all module leaders/teams would take benefit from our study and findings.
Happy analysis ....
Feynman alludes to the great difference about - what goes on in one's mind when different people do the same thing like - as simple as, counting numbers from one to sixty in a minute.
It is very difficult for me to paraphrase his lecture any differently than simply transcribing it verbatim. But you would be better served if you watch the video clip your self. It is a short 6:23 minutes video.
Why I am talking about this ? you may ask !!
Here is my context: I am working on a project for Mozilla that tries to simplify the task of 'targeted test development' activity. In short, the project would provide various vital stats for each source file in the browser executable -- like code coverage, number of fixed general bugs, regression bugs, security bugs, number of times the file is modified etc., Using one or more of these criteria as filter points, source files can be stack ranked and grouped by component /sub-component. This way, each module team can identify six to ten top files and study the coverage gaps, coverage effectiveness and improve the product quality with new tests development or re-factoring existing tests or even re-factoring the existing source code.
However, few people have asked me the following question : What is the need for this exercise !! Already many developers and module leaders have the intrinsic knowledge of this information by virtue of their long and dedicated association with the code. What extra benefit do they derive from this data ?
This is a serious question and this deserves a serious answer.
Here is my answer : As Feynman proved above, that if a task as simple as counting numbers could be done so differently in the minds of two learned men ... how differently people would perceive such a complex information as identifying hot spots in a humongous code base ?
In order to normalize the infinite internalizations of the knowledge in multiple brains and to provide a common ground to start looking at things in the same way, the project information is provided. The findings from our study correlated with the 'tribal knowledge' that already existed in the minds of module 'elders' when we presented our findings to a couple of important modules' teams.
So, we hope that all module leaders/teams would take benefit from our study and findings.
Happy analysis ....
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