More on the Software Assembly Question - Do Design Patterns Help?
One aspect of the debate over software productivity and assembly is whether or not visual tools can help. I think that they do - visual abstractions can be very meaningful - but I do not know of any visual system that actually solves the complete problem (i.e none have solved the customization/round trip problem). UML tools are furthermore too object oriented for some applications - such as services and REST.
The historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could come as soon as this weekend, moved to the forefront of the presidential campaign Saturday.
In the arena that night, the whole last minute was drowned out by cheers — and then when the soaring music swelled, the confetti rained down as the harbinger of balloons and the hopeful first family took the stage, forget about it — it was a perfect end to a convention that last Monday, no one even knew if it would happen. But it did, and I'm so glad to have been there.