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Anna-Jayne Metcalfe - Professional Profile



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I haven't always written software for a living. When I graduated from Surrey University in 1989, it was with an Electronic Engineering degree, but unfortunately that never really gave me the opportunity to do anything particularly interesting (with the possible exception of designing Darth Vader's Codpiece * for the UK Army in 1990).
    * Also known as the Standard Army Bootswitch. But that's another story...
Since the opportunity arose to lead a software team developing C++ software for Avionic Test Systems in 1996, I've not looked back. More recently I've been involved in the development of subsea acoustic navigation systems, digital TV broadcast systems, port security/tracking systems, and most recently software development tools with my own company, Riverblade Ltd.

One of my personal specialities is IDE plug-in development. ResOrg was my first attempt at a plug-in, but my day to day work is with Visual Lint, an interactive code analysis tool environment with works within the Visual Studio and Eclipse IDEs or on build servers.

I love lots of things, but particularly music, photography and anything connected with history or engineering. I despise ignorant, intolerant and obstructive people - and it shows...I can be a bolshy cow if you wind me up the wrong way...Laugh | :laugh:

I'm currently based 15 minutes walk from the beach in Bournemouth on the south coast of England. Since I moved here I've grown to love the place - even if it is full of grockles in Summer!

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Riverblade is a UK based Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and Microsoft Partner established in 2004 and specialising in:
<ul>
<li>Development Tools </li>

<li>notably integration within Microsoft Visual Studio) </li>

<li>Bespoke Software Solutions </li>

<li>Code and Process auditing </li>
</ul>

<p>Riverblade are also members of the Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) Programme and have significant experience in the integration of customised solutions and third party tools within commercial IDEs including Microsoft Visual Studio.</p>

<p>We are based in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England.</p>

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GeneralSometimes articles take as long as products to write.... Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe30-Sep-08 23:19
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe30-Sep-08 23:19 
The first time we attended the ACCU Conference back in April 2007 I was rather struck by how much I would enjoy writing for that audience. I actually started writing an article (something I've not done in a while due to time pressures) while I was there. If I tell you that I started writing it on a PDA using a stylus, you'll probably have an idea of how enthusiastic I was about it at the time).

After the conference ended the draft sat there for months. Every so often when I had a spare few minutes I'd fire up Pocket Word and write a bit more. By this year's ACCU Conference I was feeling guilty about it, and after being rather heavily "leaned on" to present a session at ACCU 2009, I decided to get a bit more serious about it. As ever, work got in the way (specifically, the development of Visual Lint 2.0) so it wasn't until the summer that I had something I was reasonably happy with.

In late August Gail Ollis wrote to me to tell me she was guest editing the next edition of the ACCU journals CVu and Overload, and asked if I'd be interested in writing a "Visual Studio 101" type article.

That was the kick I needed - and as I had something almost ready, it made sense to submit that rather than write something new. As a result, part 1 of "Taming the Lint Monster" was submitted to the editor for publication this afternoon. Smile | :)

I've reproduced the introduction (entitled "An All Too Common Story") below to give you a flavour of the article:
"It's such a common story. Partway through a project, the company starts to become anxious about the number of defects that are being identified in the product, and how long they are taking to fix. Even worse, customers are beginning to notice.

Something must be done. Additional resources are thrown at the problem, but somehow it doesn't ever seem to be enough. The codebase is large, complex and hard to understand and maintain. It is - for all intents and purposes - a "Big Ball of Mud" (not that anyone in the company would know such a term; after all - they are far too busy firefighting to read tech blogs and keep up to date with current trends in software development).

After several months of throwing additional firefighters at the problem, someone has the bright idea™ to find out just how much hidden nastiness is lurking in the code base waiting for the right moment to let loose it's wrath on the unsuspecting team.

An appropriate tool is identified and procured, and then the real fun starts - actually using it.

Inevitably, it never quite turns out the way the team (or their managers) expect. Not only does it turn out to be an absolute nightmare to configure and use (after all you never appreciate how much work compiler project files can save you from until you have to maintain something comparable yourself), but when the team do finally get it working to their satisfaction the results it produces are so volumous that nobody quite knows what to do with them. Worse, they contain some really bad news <super>(TM).

As all too often happens, dealing with the issues the tool raises is deemed to be a) too expensive, b) too risky and c) not as much fun as writing new copy-paste code (though nobody is ever quite honest enough to admit to the latter).

The team conveniently forget about the whole experience and go back to compiling at warning level 3 as they always have done. The installation disk for the offending tool is quietly hidden away in a desk draw and forgotten...and of course, the Big Ball of Mud grows ever bigger until the inevitable "lets just re-write it in language 'X'" event a year or two later. With an eye on what language 'X' would look like on everyone's CV, of course...

But it sure did seem like a good idea at the time..." Roll eyes | :rolleyes:
Incidentally, if you are interested in software quality and innovation and haven't joined ACCU, you really should...

Anna Rose | [Rose]

Having a bad bug day?

Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter

"If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"

GeneralWe've been "Podcasted" Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe1-Sep-07 0:47
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe1-Sep-07 0:47 
GeneralProducts, the Universe and Everything Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe6-Jan-05 18:00
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe6-Jan-05 18:00 
GeneralWarplucking Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe29-Aug-04 13:31
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe29-Aug-04 13:31 
GeneralAfter 6 years away, it seems that I still know how to fight Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe28-May-04 4:55
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe28-May-04 4:55 
GeneralRe: After 6 years away, it seems that I still know how to fight Pin
Roger Allen28-May-04 5:20
Roger Allen28-May-04 5:20 
GeneralRe: After 6 years away, it seems that I still know how to fight Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe28-May-04 6:21
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe28-May-04 6:21 
GeneralRe: After 6 years away, it seems that I still know how to fight Pin
Roger Allen28-May-04 6:45
Roger Allen28-May-04 6:45 
GeneralRe: After 6 years away, it seems that I still know how to fight Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe28-May-04 10:01
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe28-May-04 10:01 
GeneralResOrg 1.5.3 Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe11-May-04 0:23
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe11-May-04 0:23 
GeneralOne of those days... Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe4-May-04 6:47
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe4-May-04 6:47 
GeneralRe: One of those days... Pin
Marcie Jones4-May-04 7:06
Marcie Jones4-May-04 7:06 
GeneralRe: One of those days... Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe4-May-04 13:59
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe4-May-04 13:59 
GeneralTechnoclutter Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe23-Apr-04 12:04
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe23-Apr-04 12:04 
GeneralRe: Technoclutter Pin
Marcie Jones29-Apr-04 4:22
Marcie Jones29-Apr-04 4:22 
GeneralRe: Technoclutter Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe29-Apr-04 9:05
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe29-Apr-04 9:05 
GeneralRe: Technoclutter Pin
Marcie Jones29-Apr-04 9:08
Marcie Jones29-Apr-04 9:08 
GeneralRe: Technoclutter Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe29-Apr-04 10:45
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe29-Apr-04 10:45 
GeneralRe: Technoclutter Pin
RichardM125-May-10 7:35
RichardM125-May-10 7:35 
GeneralRe: Technoclutter Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe25-May-10 8:13
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe25-May-10 8:13 
GeneralThere's nothing like trying something new Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe14-Feb-04 9:02
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe14-Feb-04 9:02 
GeneralHello from Thailand! Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe28-Nov-03 20:06
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe28-Nov-03 20:06 
General8 weeks to go! Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe18-Sep-03 2:41
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe18-Sep-03 2:41 
GeneralRe: 8 weeks to go! Pin
Nish Nishant18-Sep-03 5:39
sitebuilderNish Nishant18-Sep-03 5:39 
GeneralRe: 8 weeks to go! Pin
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe18-Sep-03 8:43
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe18-Sep-03 8:43 

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