Some time ago I wrote about my search for the perfect Ruby IDE. I understand that the criteria for perfect is different for everyone, but in my previous article I outlined the eleven features that best describe my perfect Ruby IDE. I will admit that I haven’t kept up with my analysis. Like everyone else, I have a lot of other things to do and evaluating a dozen IDEs takes a lot of time. Apologies aside – I have found an IDE that fits all of my expectations. My search might be over.

Roman Strobl’s recently published article, NetBeans: Ruby Developer’s New Best Friend, highlights the features and improvements of NetBeans’ efforts in the Ruby IDE arena. I’m consistently amazed by the quality of writing published by InfoQ and Strobl’s work is a fine example. I recommend reading his article and then downloading the NetBeans Ruby IDE to test drive it yourself.

NetBean’s Ruby IDE has the best code completion I’ve found in a Ruby IDE. It rivals Visual Studio on the .NET platform. The IDE is lightweight. At no point during my testing did it ever slow down. Its source control integration works well. The default font is easy on the eyes and compliments the Ruby syntax highlighting scheme. My favorite feature is the garbage collection button located in the upper right-hand corner of the application. Some developers might think the application poorly designed for needing this feature, but coming from Visual Studio, I applaud it.

The NetBean’s Ruby IDE is still in development, but the testing I’ve done hasn’t uncovered any issues worth mentioning. While working on one of my side projects I haven’t noticed any appreciable difference between the Windows and Linux versions. Have I mentioned yet that the NetBean’s Ruby IDE is free? I’ve found my new daily driver. Kudos NetBeans!

Download it here.

Last Sunday I purchased a Linksys NAS200 network attached storage (NAS) device and two Western Digital 500GB SATA drives hoping to solve my problem with backups and provide a shared storage solution for my home network. After a precursory examination of five NAS devices, I chose the Linksys NAS200 based upon its feature set, price, and the reputation of its predecessor, the Linksys NSLU2. The NAS200 boasts features such as:

• Ethernet connected storage.
• Dual SATA hard drive bays.
• Two USB 2.0 ports for extra storage.
• Internet FTP and HTTP access.
• Built-in media server.
• RAID 1 and 0 disk configuration.

Before buying this device I had been leaning heavily towards the D-Link DNS-323, but hoping the Linksys NAS200 would arrive on the market in time for my purchase. I mentioned previously that it was out of my character to buy bleeding edge hardware and I have to admit that I was a little nervous that the device would not work out of the box on my network. As a Linux user, I don’t think I’ll ever get over the anxiousness of buying new hardware.

The device was packaged well. The box pictured was merely a container for the much sturdier packaging material that housed the NAS200, a Quick Installation guide, CDROM, network cable, power supply, and some promotional material. I glanced briefly at the contents before proceeding to unhinge the plastic doors housing the NAS200’s drive bays. The doors were a little hard to open single-handed. Plastic clips found on either side of the doors must be pinched simultaneously to expose the bays.

Peering within the first bay, I was puzzled by the length of “ribbon” found inside. Not knowing what this was for, I consulted the manual located on the CD. To my surprise, the manual did not provide directions for hard drive installation. Printed on the edge of the ribbon was the word “Pull”. My wife giggled as she often does when she figures something out before me. The ribbons’ purpose is to aid in hard drive removal. Pulling the ribbon will eject the drive from its controller. Later, in the Quick Installation guide, I found a screenshot of the Setup Wizard depicting the ribbons proper use. Her assumption was correct. Reading the guide now, I’m impressed by the clarity of the screenshots found within. They are small, but readable.

With the drives installed, I placed the NAS200 on the shelf that was to become its new home. I then attached the device to my router with the provided Ethernet cable. You’ll need a longer cable if you plan on storing the device more than three feet from your router. I plugged in the AC adapter and turned on the device by pressing a small button located on the back panel near the AC input. The NAS200 chirped loudly signaling it had been turned on. The device’s internal speaker is loud and its tone is similar to that of a smoke detector. Some lights on the front of the device began blinking and the two that looked like disc platters lit up. At last I could turn on my computer.

Like the NAS200’s packaging, the CDROM was neatly branded. I didn’t have high hopes for running the Setup Wizard, but I did give it the college try. From the command line, I navigated to the CD and typed “wine Setup.exe” and cringed as several error messages appeared in my terminal. I didn’t bother going any further with this. Knowing the NAS200 would be assigned an IP address via DHCP from my router, I launched Firefox and navigated to http://192.168.1.102. I felt a small measure of relief watching the NAS200’s administrative page load within my browser. This feeling was soon found fleeting as I attempted to log in. The default username and password listed in the manual did not work. A few curses later, I remembered the default login (admin / admin) used by my Linksys router and gave that a try. It worked.

Feeling elated, I navigated through the remaining administration within minutes. I first chose “Firmware Upgrade” from the list of options. I was slightly disappointed when clicking “Check for Upgrade” opened a new browser window and directed me to the Linksys.com website. In the days of Web 2.0 you shouldn’t have to search for firmware updates and install them manually. Updates should download and install with one click. I found the NAS200 on Linksys’ website, but at the time of this writing no firmware updates had been published. Screenshots of the Linksys NAS200’s administration interface can be found below:

1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10

Formatting the hard drives took little time. The “Disk Utility” section contained a set of simple controls for both drive formatting and the running and scheduling of Scandisk. I had prepared myself to wait at least a half hour for the formatting of two 500GB SATA drives, but only sat and watched the progress bar for about 5 minutes. Likewise, the “Disk Configuration” menu was also simple and configuring my device for RAID 1 mirroring was as easy as clicking a radio button. Soon after, my 1TB of raw storage became 465.29GB of mirrored drive space.

Once the drives were configured, I quickly changed the admin password and set a disk quota for guest users. Under “System Options”, I gave the device a more suitable name and assigned it a static IP address. I then created user accounts for myself and my wife. When creating user accounts, access to the device’s Download Manager can be set. I don’t remember reading about this feature within the product’s description before purchasing it. Not that I’m complaining, because the functionality is pretty cool. Basically it acts as an autonomous downloader. You provide the URLs, and it does the work. This single feature could end up saving money on my electric bill as I oftentimes leave my computer running all night to download large files. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I feel confident in saying that the Linksys NAS200 draws less power than my desktop PC.

To complete the installation I did a quick training session with my wife. She now knows to click Places -> Network within Gnome to find our network devices. Double-clicking “Thorbardin” (Yes, I was a Dungeon Master) displays her private folder and the public share entitled, “PUBLIC DISK”. Not being particularly fond of screaming caps, I tried to rename the folder, but was prompted with the following error message.

Unlike some other NAS devices, the Linksys NAS200 is quiet. I have to be standing within a foot of the device to hear any noise. The noise that does emanate from its internal fan is not of the jet engine variety. The fan within the NAS200 emits a low-pitched whir. I’m still quite impressed by this as my second story apartment is extremely hot. Its probably a good thing that the device has an operating temperature of 41 to 104ºF (5 to 40ºC). The surface of the NAS200 is not cool to the touch, but it is not particularly hot either. I can faintly feel air being pushed by the fan through the tiny holes dotting all sides of the device. That is a good sign.

I certainly feel more comfortable now that I have the Linksys NAS200 integrated into my backup strategy. With the NAS200 configured as RAID 1, I’ve all but eliminated the potential for single disk failure. My wife and I are already benefiting from the advantages of having a networked storage solution. We can finally share family pictures without the hassle of peer-to-peer file sharing between our computers. The NAS200’s product packaging and administration controls are both well designed and the device itself appears of exceptional quality. Any anxiety I had about the device communicating on my home network was unjustified. It works well with Linux and will undoubtedly perform just as well with Windows.

At less than 200 pages, I was concerned that this book would either not have enough detail or leave me hanging at the very end. Its brevity is a blessing. Practices of an Agile Developer: Working in the Real World (Pragmatic Programmers) is like one of those 1000 page monster tomes, but distilled into manageable slices of wisdom. I absorbed the subject matter without having to reread paragraphs just to plod through a chapter. This book contains no boring filler or meaningless fluff. Each chapter consists of a series of short lessons that can easily be read in a single bathroom session. Nearing the final chapters, my reading pace quickened. I’m not sure whether this was due to shorter chapters or my growing fondness for the book.

Agilists will be tempted by the Devil himself while reading the text. I’m not joking. The book reads as a point-counterpoint argument between opposing angel and devil caricatures. Some of the devil’s quips seem a bit absurd, but the point would probably be lost if other words had been chosen. Rarely is the software world black and white. To depict this, the authors have provided examples to describe what each anecdote should “feel like”. This format works well in purveying the dos and don’ts of Agile Software Development.

“Go ahead, take that shortcut. It will save you time, really. No one will ever know, and you can be done with this task and move on quickly. That’s what it’s all about.”

“Start with the hardest. Always tackle the most difficult problems first, and leave the simple one towards the end.”

The book’s authors are well known amongst the Agile community. Venkat Subramaniam is the founder of Agile Developer Inc., a frequent conference speaker, and professor. Andy Hunt is the coauthor of The Pragmatic Programmer and an author of the Agile Manifesto. Many coauthored technical works suffer from poor editing. Their text reads as if it the authors’ words are stitched together with nothing more than a Ctrl-c + Ctrl-v. While reading Practices of an Agile Developer my inner monologue was only disturbed by the many “Ahah” moments I had while pondering some of the book’s more poignant topics.

If Moses were a Software Developer, he’d have descended from the Mount Sinai carrying Practices of an Agile Developer in his hands. Maybe not, but it wouldn’t hurt developers to read this book. With subjects such as Agile feedback, coding, and collaboration, this book would be a welcome addition to an Agile team’s bookshelf.