I am regularly asked by folks throughout the UK CF community, "We're hiring, do you know anyone?"

Typically, I'll tell them to explore the various avenues of mailing lists and user groups, I'll blog about the job and I'll have a quiet word with various contractors etc, that I know in case they are interested.

Lately I've been changing tactics, and today was the latest situation that I gave a different response. I was again asked, "We're hiring..."

My response was "Do you want access to 100+ potential ColdFusion developers? Then attend a conference."

Seriously. Conferences are a great place to find talent, regardless of whether you are after an experienced developer or someone to cross train.

Sure, my answer is another way of pushing Scotch on the Rocks, but it's a genuine answer. You've got a venue packed full of developers. Instead of shelling out X amount of money on a recruitment agency, why not put that money to good use yourself and head along to a conference; Scotch, Flash on the Beach, dConstruct, whatever...

The simple fact is the best developers are very rarely available. They won't be sitting on a recruiters list as they will be snatched up before the recruiter even gets the chance to pick up the phone, so you need to be pro-active about finding someone - head to where the developers hang out.

You're going to have to poach them, and a conference is one, if not the best way of doing so.

I'm sure a few managers are thinking,"God, my guy could get poached by going to Conference X". Sure, if they're not happy with their job, in which case you've got bigger issues. If they're happy in their job, then you have nothing to worry about. One way of keeping them happy, is to send them to conferences ... it's a strange, almost catch 22 situation, but it's the truth. Invest in your developers, they've more important than you, the manager.

Back to the company who approached me in regards if I knew anyone available. I asked if they were coming to Scotch on the Rocks, and they said no. They're looking for a ColdFusion developer, yet they aren't attending an event that will pull in 100+ ColdFusion developers??? I asked them straight to the point, "Are you really that stupid?"

They're now sending two people. Even if they don't find anyone, the two guys coming along will have had 3 days of learning and networking. It's a win-win situation.

Today will see the last Windows native machine here at Fuzzy Orange shut down for good. Yes, today see us become Windows free. At least natively.

Whilst we will continue to run Windows in a VM environment - predominantly for clients - we are now exclusively running Linux on all our machines; Servers, Desktops and Laptops.

We're running a mixture of Ubuntu (desktop/laptops), Fedora 7/8 (for fun) and CentOS (CF/DB/SVN/Trac). All in all, it's been a smooth transition. Our next step is to bring our email in house, and get it up and running on Zimbra.

Happy days.

I blogged around a month ago stating "Version Control: You're a Fool If You Don't Use It".

Whilst the comments to that posting were pretty much all in agreement, I got some emails/IMs that weren't as enthusiastic, and thought I was being quite bold and abrasive in my claim, well....

...I'm about to make another...

If you aren't using bug tracking software you will continuously, and consistently release poor software.

The simple fact is that you need a proper way to organise all the things currently wrong with your code. It also gives you a way to record enhancements you or your customers would like to see. NO, a list of emails doesn't cut it.

Companies I have worked for in the past didn't maintain any formalised record of bugs - again, NO a list of emails doesn't cut it. Looking back, we simply were nowhere near as productive as we could have been, and yes, as far as I'm concerned, we released crap software. Fact.

The last company I worked for, before founding Fuzzy Orange, I put in place both Subversion and Trac. I put them in place before I did anything else, much to the annoyance of management. Given time though, management discovered that by doing so we ended up with a much more stable, maintainable and performant product. Don't get me wrong, they still complained about new features not being developed fast enough - what's new - but the product had regained credibility whereas before there was countless server restarts per day because the software was. Crap.

By using Trac, I had given the development team a centralised and searchable system whereby, we could all see:

• All the (reported) outstanding bugs
• Progress of each bug
• What milestones we were working to, and how many bugs/enhancements we still had to squash

For management, who had read-only access, they could see reports that told them:

• What our milestones were
• An estimation of when these milestones would be reached
• A count of just how many bugs were in the system
• How many bugs we had closed, and how many were closed in a given timescale

Again, a list of emails doesn't count. It doesn't give you the information you, or your fellow staffers need. You need a way to record bugs, prioritise them, assign them to developers, assign them to milestones, and you need a way to search them. So once again I will state, If you aren't using bug tracking software you will continuously, and consistently release poor software.

So, there is a question that needs to be asked. Why do software development teams operate without a bug tracker? And believe me, there are a lot who don't.

1) I'm a single developer, so I don't need one

This argument is given often, not just for bug tracking, but also when discussing version control. However, you're 100% wrong. Nope, no argument. You're plain wrong.

Even if you are the sole developer at a company, think of yourself as a development team that currently has a single person. This team may grow, and if you don't act now you'll just make life harder for yourself down the line. Additionally, using a bug tracker can allow you to track and prioritise your time and this will lead to you becoming more productive.

2) Don't have time to put one in place

Complete cop-out. You can have bug tracking software up and running in an hour.

3) All the bug trackers out there are way too complex

Then write your own. Create a single database table with the following fields.

• Short Description
• Date Created
• Steps to Reproduce
• What Should Happen
• What Does Happen
• Bug Owner
• Who is it Assigned to
• Is it fixed

Now just throw together a simple interface for this.

4) They cost too much

Absolute rubbish.

• Trac
• Bugzilla
• Lighthouse

5) We don't have the expertise, environment, resources to put this in place

Then use a hosted solution such as CVS Dude to do it all for you.

There is no excuse for not having bug tracking software in place.

We've been having a right good old natter on the ScottishCFUG Google Group, in particular about why Version Control is essential to all software development.

One of the group members asked:

All that you mention sounds very cool but i want to see what benefits it can bring a sole developer.

A reply by Alan Williamson, in my opinion, was so important I wanted to repeat it here.

and there in is the trap that many lone consultants/developers face; stop thinking of yourself as a single entity, but as a member of a team that, at present has only one member.

Alan also followed this up by stating:

I really don't know how anyone can work without version control and still claim to develop software. Bold statement? yes, but i stick by it.

I agree 100%. Any software development company who is without Version Control is ... well, it is appauling. Not only are they putting their clients at risking by not taking their business and indeed livihood seriously, but they are also inflicting damage to themselves by not making themselves as proficient as they could be, but they are also damaging their own reputation... I look on any software development firm who doesn't use Version Control as one who shouldn't be in this business. Calling them amateur, well I think I'm being rather generous.

In the past, when I've been the client, one stipulation I've also insisted on being in any contract is that the company doing the work has a Version Control system in place. If they didn't, end of conversation.

Even as a sole developer you should be using Version Control.

So, just to finish up, here's a couple of reasons why you should be using Version Control. Feel free to add more by leaving a comment.

• Provides a history of all changes
• Recover accidental deletions
• Helps co-ordinate new releases by deploying a build corresponding to a specific revision.
• Supports development by X number of developers
• Enables remote working if your repositories are public facing (and secure).
• It's not just for code. You can store all your contracts, legal documents, staff policies in Version Control.

I'm in sunny London on business right now, and tomorrow night I'm out for a few beers with some splendid fellows like Kev McCabe and Mark Drew. Make sure you come along. Next week (Tues 10-Fri 13th, oooh scary), it's Belfast's turn to host me and I wonder if there's any CF developers there who want to grab a beer at some point??? If so, leave me a comment.

Following on from my last post, which highlighted Nick Bradbury's posts on tips for Independent Developers, I just want to say that he's released a few more.

• Tip 4 - Get a Life
• Tip 5 - Think Small (But Act Big)
• Tip 6 - Learn from the Wii

Essential reading.

Nick Bradbury, author of some of my favourite applications over the years including Homesite and Topstyle, has an interesting series of posts of Tips for Independent Developers. This is of particular interest to me right now as I've recently went full time with my own company, Fuzzy Orange Ltd, and whilst I don't operate as an independent consultant as there is more than just me to the company, there's still a lot of good relevant information. You can find the first couple of posts here:
Tips for Independent Developers
Tip 1 - Build Something You Need
Tip 2 - Build Something You Can Support
Tip 3 - Don't try to be cool