Software-Technology – Page 3 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Engineering Executive’s Primer: Impactful Technical Leadership

By Scott J. Pearson | September 24, 2024September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Encoding software is a highly technical task, but effective leadership is often anything but technical. Combining the two thus can be supremely difficult, but this pair of skills is necessary to fill roles like Chief Information Officer (CIO) or Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Unfortunately, advice is hard to come by in the literature since only a few extended books in this space. To better fill these gaps, Will Larson, known for his deep looks at…

Management-Business Software-Technology

The Software Architect Elevator: Redefining the Architect’s Role in the Digital Enterprise

By Scott J. Pearson | September 21, 2024September 21, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Traditionally, companies live and die by a fixed hierarchical approach where power and influence are garnered by climbing to the top of the ladder. However, recent decades have witnessed the rise of digital companies promising an economic disruption. Stereotypically, a smart young kid writes some code to change the way business is done and become rich in the process. We, in the public, then use their software for decades to come. Many companies still have…

Leadership Management-Business Software-Technology

Tech Leadership: The Blueprint for Evolving from Individual Contributor to Tech Leader

By Scott J. Pearson | August 13, 2024September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Typically, technical education prepares students for individual positions that require a lot of self-motivated thinking. They don’t usually prepare them for leading teams. Yet some new employees might find that they want to move beyond being an individual contributor (IC) into a leadership role. Getting an MBA would be an obvious educational direction, but that expensive route might not prepare a student for the exact kind of leadership role she/he desires. In this book, Andrew…

Presentation Software-Technology

Creating Software with Modern Diagramming Techniques: Build Better Software with Mermaid

By Scott J. Pearson | July 28, 2024July 28, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

As a computer science major in college, I learned about Unified Modeling Language (UML) as a way to visually document software. However, I soon found designing and maintaining those images to be more of a pain than they’re worth. I had to reshuffle images on graphics programs for every minor change, so keeping documentation up to date proved to be impossible. Recently, however, I discovered that someone invented a language, called Mermaid, to convert a…

Software-Technology

Systems Analysis & Design

By Scott J. Pearson | July 23, 2024July 23, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Information technology (IT) is a fast-moving industry. Its impact on the modern world is also immense, whether in personal, business, or governmental domains. Almost no medium-sized businesses can survive without a robust IT policy. Despite being critical, those interested in joining the IT workforce will find their skills, gained through education, become quickly outdated. Twenty-five years ago, I gained knowledge from textbooks like this by earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science, yet the field…

Management-Business Program Management Software-Technology

Managing IT Projects: How to Pragmatically Deliver Projects for External Customers

By Scott J. Pearson | July 19, 2024July 28, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Business projects involving information technology require their own set of required skills. The product is electronic, not physical, but the implementation is very abstract and technical. Planning and monitoring the work itself pose their own set of risks. Further, because everyone uses software, many think that designing software does not require special expertise, so projects become improperly designed from the start. Project management education does not routinely cover this niche of practical problems, but in…

Software-Technology

Data-Oriented Programming: Reduce Software Complexity

By Scott J. Pearson | July 7, 2024July 7, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Professionally, I write code for web applications in PHP for biomedical use. Thus, data play a central role in my professional life. At first, I tried to design my programs around object-orientated (OO) principles, but soon found that data played a strong role that OO actually restrained. Years later, I found how React divided itself between immutable data, state information, and code. Though I no longer code in React, I find this division still helpful…

Indie Management-Business Software-Technology

Intellectual Property: A Handbook for Startups

By Scott J. Pearson | June 27, 2024June 27, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

New businesses, especially in technology, are often driven by new inventions. Thus, they require an inordinate amount of attention to intellectual property (IP) issues. However, being a new business, these companies are often the ones least able to afford the advice of an IP expert or a patent attorney. Groups that identify a stated IP strategy are shown to be much more likely to attract investors’ interest. So IP is more about getting a business’…

Healthcare Software-Technology

The AI Revolution in Medicine: GPT-4 & Beyond

By Scott J. Pearson | June 24, 2024June 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Artificial Intelligence is changing the way information is handled worldwide. The advances pose particular opportunities for medicine, where descriptive texts are the norm, research expands knowledge exponentially, and paperwork is a main product. Of course, new dangers uncover themselves, too. Will AI merely exacerbate existing health inequities, or will it provide better quality care for anyone with a smartphone worldwide? These subjects need to be thought through in order to secure positive outcomes. These authors,…

Indie Management-Business Software-Technology

Intellectual Property Law: A Practical Guide to Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks & Trade Secrets

By Scott J. Pearson | June 21, 2024June 21, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Intellectual property rights serve as a bedrock of a society that encourages innovation and economic advance. They protect inventors’ rights to protect their name and earn a financial profit from their work. Without copyrights, patents, and trademarks, businesses would fall prey to shady business tactics to discredit their efforts. Many of us are interested in understanding the legal frameworks around intellectual property, but lack the time and money to seek formal education in these topics.…