moving along – really

moving along – really

Well, it’s as I suspected. The project for Client X is a pain in the ass but
it is going much, much faster this time around. I still hate it and I am sick to
death of the problem and the application but at least this time I will feel good
about turning the code over.

"I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work." -
Thomas Edison

Well, in this case it is more like, I found a few ways that work less than
optimally. For instance, during the re-write (and I had to re-write it, they
changed it too radically for the old architecture to work) I managed to change
the method of how I handle user interface events for mouse rollovers. In this
case, I managed to eliminate approximately 360 events per second, with each
event leading to at least one expensive (cpu time wise) IF test and possibly a
graphic memory copy. Needless to say, it is a much faster, happier tool now.

Ah well, as the sun sets (metaphorically, check the timestamp) on the day
before New Years Eve I feel good about this code now. I am in the groove and it
will be much easier to keep going from here. I have almost all day today
(Monday) and all day Tomorrow (Tuesday) as well as the overnight hours Tuesday
to finish this and deliver it for testing. If need be I can use Wed as well to
touch up any bugs.

The work sucks, but it is do-able and it will be a good tool.

With any luck, this is the last of these things I am going to have to do. I
am really tired of pulling off the near impossible for clients who know almost
nothing about what they are asking except that I am the only one they can turn
to to get the job done.

If you’re lucky, I’ll make some predictions for the new year later today.

Night!