I will be presenting a half-day master class for the JCSE on 27 May 2009 in Johannesburg.  It’s titled Credit Crunch Metrics and aimed at geek managers.  But it’s all about your code.  It will be an interesting 4 hours.  We will read a lot of code, look at a lot of pictures of designs.  Examine the workflow of teams.  All of this with the explicit intention of determine the cost of writing and maintaining your software.

Why Credit Crunch Metrics? Because we, as an industry, are contributing to the global financial slump.  We need to critically look at how we produce and maintain software by examining “environmental” signs that are commonly ignored.  The cost of development lies in your code, your design and your workflow.  I will show you how to look at these signs and learn from them.  And then, just maybe, we change our industry for the better – one code base at a time.  Otherwise, we might as well substitute “software developer” for “lawyer” in those old lame jokes.

Why am I targeting management in corporate teams? Because managers have the access to the boardroom and they should be fighting the battle for their developers.  So, get your “manager” to sign-up.  Better yet, come along with your “boss” and then take the battle to the boardroom together.

The JCSE and I and both hoping for 15 or more people to attend.  This is not a hard rule, but anything less than 10 will most likely force us to cancel the event.  That would be a sad reflection on the priority thinking of people in our local community.