Douglas Auclair
Hello, all, I had a page for the VisualWorks SWiki
- send me an email at mailto://dauclair@hotmail.com. That's where they dont talk about ObjectShare's Smalltalk (of which I'm a fan ... I use it, teach with it, and enjoy it). I'm also very excited about SqueakSmalltalk and the progress it's made.
Of course, I'm looking forward to the day when SELF is on as many platforms that Smalltalk is. :-) ('cause prototyping objects sounds like a whole bunch of fun as compared to creating classes and then instantiating and initializing objects ... I just finished an enlightening paper about metaclasses that had me thinking: "Butbutbut, aren't traits a simple and elegant way to handle all this?" (my opinion))
I'm a CORBA systems designer at work (IONA's OrbixMT). I'm heavily into Design Patterns ISBN0201633612 using them to build distributed systems. I use UML to model my designs, so I'm a good customer of http://www.rational.com since I'm on Rose everyday. Then I prototype my design in Smalltalk. Since, however, I'm working on the SGI currently, I implement my systems in C++ (*SIGH*). So, Bjarne's book ISBN0201889544 is a constant friend at work during my implementation phase, as well as Rational's Purify. I use the RogueWave Tools.h++ library to get as close to Smalltalk as I can for the collection storage and iteration work.
I'm INFJ/INTJ (I really should retake the MyersBriggs ... people think I'm very dynamic and outgoing), which makes me a shy KentBeck (I wear a bracelet with the inscription WWKD -- WhatWouldKentDo). I've absorbed as much SmalltalkBestPracticePatterns as possible; it's amazing how much quicker my C++ code compiles (!) and how much more flexible the system is. (Yes, the ExtremeProgramming stuff works even for C++.) Lotsa small functions/lotsa small classes.
I've just completed a Genetic Algorithm implementation in Smalltalk for Windows NT and Linux. I prefer work that emphasizes OOAD and mathematics (e.g. I finished a gig at Raytheon working with Greg Weidman and JohnVenable for a distributed system. One of its components was an RF monitor. John designed it, and I implemented a simulated RF spectrum using a fractal algorithm -- good stuff).
NVCC Classes I Teach/Taught
- Java Programming I (Java: How to Program [ISBN0138993947])
- Intro to Java I & II (The Java Tutorial [ISBN0201310074])
- Fasttrack Java (Core Java, Vol I [ISBN0130819336])
- Advanced Java (Core Java, Vol II [ISBN0130819344])
- Developing Java Beans (Developing Java Beans [ISBN1565922891])
- Intro to Perl (Learning Perl [ISBN1565922840])
- Unix Internals (Design of the Unix Operating System [ISBN0132017997])
- Discovering Objects with Smalltalk I & II (intro courses) (DiscoveringSmalltalk [ISBN0805327207])
Pages on the WikiWikiWeb to which I've contributed:
Books I'm reading (besides the ones listed above):
- Lincoln on Leadership [ISBN0446394599]
- Rediscovering American Values [ISBN0525942270]
- Tao Te Ching (the new 25th anniversary edition from Jane English) [ISBN0679776192]
- The C Programming Language [ISBN0131103709]
- SmalltalkObjectsAndDesign
- The Bible
Books I've read (several times each) and recommend:
- UML Distilled [ISBN0201325632] -- one of the ShortBooks; chapter 3 has illuminated use cases for me better than anything else I've read.
- The Moor's Last Sigh [ISBN0679420495] -- Salman Rushdie has a way of writing that challenges me, makes me cry and makes me hope at the same time.
- Lord of Light [ASIN0380448343] printed the same year I was born. Same reactions to a very different text.
- Testaments Betrayed [ISBN0060927518] -- a companion to GEB; gave me a new way of seeing modern works (painting/music/the novel). I read Salman's books again after this one.
- The Tao of Pooh [ISBN0525244581] -- who follows the Tao better?
- The World of Pooh [ISBN0525444475] -- ... so read the original, too!
- Lathe of Heaven [ISBN0380791854]
- Zen Flesh, Zen Bones [ISBN0804806446]
- Go Rin No Sho (or Book of Five Rings) [ISBN0517415283]
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : An Inquiry into Values [ISBN0688171664] -- actually, VERY western in its inquiry, but reads well along with Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters and Seymour : An Introduction [ISBN0316769517]. WARNING! Do not read these books one after the other, when sad, or when listening to Bach's Cello Suites [ASIN B0000025QM], or having viewed Vincent and Theo (currently not available)
- GoedelEscherBach (GEB)
- Fermat's Enigma [ISBN 0385493622] -- a tale of mathematics, modern and ancient, and the trail of inquiry that let to the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
- being digital [ISBN0679762906] -- an out of date book :-) that's a good read anyway. My laptop is worth a lot more than I thought it was!
- Summa of the Summa [ISBN0898703174] -- an honest summary of the Summa Theologica (i.e. Peter Kreeft doesn't pollute the Summa with his views or writing style). Explores fundamental questions: "Does God exist?" "What makes us happy?" etc.
Hi there Douglas - are you still here? You last edited this page on 2000/11/25 and it looks interesting, so I was wondering if you might update it. Not least, lots of the links are broken 8-(
See his review: