Eclipse Finance Day 2012/Session Abstracts

Why Model When You Can Just Program?

Ed Merks, Eclipse Modeling PMC Lead and itemis

As a software developer, programming is as natural as speaking and listening. Java code rolls from your fingertips accelerated by Eclipse's excellent tools. In contrast, modeling is an arcane art focused on strange rituals: rendering diagrams that never scale no matter the monitor size or navigating a maze of menus and dialogs that never yield a comprehensible overview. It's not surprising that there is a strong aversion to modeling: it simply goes against the grain. In this presentation we'll learn that nothing could be further from the truth. Programming and modeling are one and the same.

What makes an application a “good” application

Christian Campo, compeople

There are many aspects of software quality a developer applies when creating “good” software. Examples are maintainability, security, and reliability. However, it is not immediately clear to everyone using the software that these aspects are paramount to “good” software design. Especially end-users tend to judge software by intangible qualities, such as whether they “feel comfortable” using the software. In this talk we will present the "other side" of software development - usability. What are the aspects that make your software more usable? What should I consider when designing my software? When done right, and considered early on in the software development lifecycle, usability can make your software even better. I will be discussing software usability and its relevance to software engineering. Touching on different topics, answering such questions as: how to structure information, how to visually communicate effectively, how to best support a user’s workflow, and how to make design decisions. This talk should give you a basic understanding of the skills involved in creating more usable software. By doing this, it should supplement your skill-set or at least broaden your horizon.